Not a great day for me...

Walk out to jump on my bike in the morning on the way into work and find that it's gone...***king great!

After a bunch of calls to the police, insurance, family, etc.... I decide to go for a little walk around the area I live, it wasn't as if I was in any mood to do any work anyway and needed to just let off a bit of steam.

Maybe I was lucky but I was also chatting to as many passers by as possible for info and eventually found another motorcyclist who had seen a bunch of young lads riding bikes across some green land / rough park in the past and he recommended I check out the estates just off that.

Hour or so later and after walking around some pretty dodgey places I find my bike tuked away underneath some trees in a pretty bad way.

The front ECU (electronic control unit) is trashed, ignition ripped to pieces, wiring hanging out, bodywork cracked all over and the tyres are a complete mess to say the least. Also looks like they fell off at some point as the right hand side of the bike is scratched badly and the front brake lever broken.

I pushed the poor thing home (not an easy task I should point out....it at least felt like a good 2-3 miles) I'm now just waiting for a pickup to come and I'm taking it out of London to my parents while I wait for a bunch of forms to come through.

Really really pissed off at the moment, I've had some great memories on this bike and I've got a feeling because of the damage and worked needed to fix it, it will be written off :saddowns: also I'm not sure I want to ride it again, no idea what state the engine will be in now, most folks I know haven't got a clue about changing gear on a bike and I'd guess they ragged around in 1st the whole time, probably killed the engine.

I'm now more sure that they attempted to steal it last weekend but gave up because of the disk-lock, steering lock and leaving it in first, but seems they came back for a second go...just bah!

That's unfortunate. I'm sorry. I know the feeling.

That sucks, but I'm impressed with your detective work. That is the badass thing to do.

One time, when I was 10, some kid from the next neighborhood over stole my bike. I had left it leaning against a tree at the park that was situated between our neighborhoods. He stole it while I was playing on the slides. I saw him ride off with it. I had my baseball bat with me (we were at the park to play baseball, and were taking a slide break). I got my bat, following his direction. I walked around his neighborhood until I found my bike. He left it in his front yard, next to his bike. I got my bat and smashed his bike all up. Busted the rims, all the reflectors, the handlebars, everything. Then I rode home. He never knew it was me.

Moral of the story: find those kids and wreck them with a cricket bat.

He could probably tell from your bike being gone and his being busted up who did it. Question is does he know who's bike he stole.

In the long run, the only people you actually hurt are his parents. They might have deserved it for raising the kind of kid who steals bikes, but they might not. You don't know. All you do know is that your act of revenge made the world a little worse. Good job.

I dunno, you know my sense of justice, but I am completely okay with covertly ****ing up a guy's bike in return for him stealing your bike. It hurts his parents like everything a terrible child does hurts his parents. It hurts my parents when I fail, too. They just get it two fold because he's a criminal AND a failure.

sucks man, I've been there. had a car stolen and completely stripped. They are never the same after that and I just got rid of it.. ****ing *i****s

Well, I felt a lot better about it. **** that kid and his parents.

True, but his parents are indirectly responsible for his actions. If they've raised him in such a way (on purpose or not) that he thinks stealing a bike is okay, they're going to be teaching him a lesson after they have to buy him a new bike. Or don't buy him one. I dunno, it's tough to say what that kind of situation would actually do. Best to avoid it though.

good luck poley, I hope it wasn't your main method of transportation.

My dad made a single track bike trailer quite a few years ago and he'd keep it behind the garage. one day someone driving by thought it was for free sitting out there and grabbed it despite the padlock on it. eventually they turned themselves in after seeing the lost/stolen ad in the paper, after turning it into a box trailer for his four wheeler. it started getting chained down after being unconverted.

I think it is

Do you see what happens, Larry? DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS, LARRY? DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU **** A STRANGER IN THE ASS?

Poley, that really sucks, man. Maybe the insurance will get you a new bike?

A friend of mine had his Grasshopper lawnmower, 2 weedeaters, and a trailer stolen (the previous items were on the trailer). Someone literally backed-up in his yard during the day, hitched the trailer and drove off with the $13,000 load.

Get it here, I'll fix it.

I have ****ing thieves.... it should be legal to booby trap your own vehicles.

Do you see what happens, Larry‽ YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS, LARRY‽ DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MEET A STRANGER IN THE ALPS‽

Yeah it was my main source of transportation

Just waiting on a bunch of insurance forms to arrive for me to fill out and then it'll be up to the assessor to decide whether it's a write-off or not.

In my heart I don't want them to write it off but in my head, I don't know if I could get back on the bike with confidence and ride it like I used to. The majority of people have no clue about how to change gear on a motorbike, let alone a bunch of kids and I've just got this vision in my head of them ragging it around the wasteland in 1st gear banging against the rev-limiter.

I'll be honest and say if I would have found the kids I would have taken Steven's approach, the place I grew up (in the sticks in middle england) we rarely had police in the village, it was the local "old men" who kept the peace. I know of a few kids at school who changed their ways considerably after being "dealt with", maybe I'm old fashioned in this way but I think reason kids do this sorta thing is that they no concept of being held accountable for their actions, they don't get punished and instead it's all a softly softly approach....

bah...I'm just in a right fool mood tbh

You can't really **** up a motorcycle clutch.

The worst thing that could happen is that you now have burned exhaust valves.

Leave Lewisham. Seriously. In fact that whole general area of S.East London. I haven't seen a gang or street-fight since I left. It's awesome.

How's that? I saw some absolutely trashed motorcycle clutches when I worked at a bike shop. The worst ones were the Harley retards that liked to have "slow races" (that's exactly what it sounds like) and burned them up constantly.

How do you use the clutch on a bike?

I've never rode a bike before..

Is it just the handle bar twisting instead of a stick on a car?

It's like a brake lever but on the other side.

Clutch lever for your left hand, front brake lever and throttle for your right hand, rear brake pedal for your right foot, shifter for your left foot. It all feels really natural.

Motorcycles have wet clutches. The thrashed parts you were seeing were the clutch plates that are designed to be replaced.

Right. What were you talking about then? I thought you were saying the clutch plates would last forever.

It's very difficult to cause damage to the parts of the clutch that aren't the plates. (The basket etc)

Clutch plates are like brake pads, they are designed for friction and friction always causes wear.

Changing out the clutch plates and tensioning the cable is one of the easiest things I can think of next to an oil change, it's normal motorcycle maintenance. Even so, they last through incredible abuse. I have vintage race machines (My father raced motorcycles in the 70's, he was a national champion that built all of his bikes out of street machines) at my parent's house that have had the ever living **** beat out of them that still have good plates in them.

Wow, that's pretty damn impressive.

Drag race starts are the best way to ruin a set of clutch plates. By using the throttle to keep the revs high and using the clutch for control (which is the way best way to do a drag start) you build up a lot of heat. Heat is the enemy of the clutch plate. After one or two starts, it's not uncommon for the plates to be shot.