How long do you think it takes a couple of young scrotes to steal your chained-up pride and joy? 

The answer, sadly is much less time than you’d imagine. This daylight theft happened to a scooterist in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire two weeks ago. The Vespa GTS was parked outside the owner’s workplace – a busy chemist’s shop. It was ‘secured’ with a chain. Owner Michelle told us “The scooter was secured where I have parked one every day for the last 10 years. In view of double doors (glass) with a chain through wheel and handrail, it can be seen by staff and customers. Unfortunately, that day the customers were blocking its view. Cutting through the lock and snapping the steering lock took just over 30 seconds.”

Although the Vespa was spotted being ridden shortly after the theft it’s currently still missing.

Polite thief!

During the theft, when confronted by a customer and asked if it was his bike, the brazen thief said “Thank you” before quickly pushing it away. It was out of sight in 60 seconds, the lock and steering lock were off in just 32 seconds.

Earlier that same day the thieves had tried to steal a bike from the local hospital but somebody stopped them. They then stole another bike from the bike cage at the nearby Amazon distribution centre before arriving two up to steal Michelle’s Vespa.

Thief on fire

Only a few weeks previously, a stolen bike with three helmetless riders on board had ridden through Sutton town centre (a couple of miles from Mansfield). The bike was ridden on pavements and through pedestrian areas at speed, scattering shoppers as it went. The bike was then ridden onto an estate where the rider lost control and crashed into a fence. The bike caught fire very quickly and the 17-year-old rider was seen engulfed in flames on mobile phone footage from the scene. As he screamed, his two ‘mates’ ran off, although one was also injured and was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The rider was airlifted to a specialist burns unit in Birmingham, where he received (and probably is still receiving) treatment for third-degree burns.

GoFundMyCriminalSon

Incredulously, his mother immediately started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for her to be allowed to stay close to the hospital while her son was receiving treatment. After lots of local outrage, the crowdfunding page was taken down, the video of the crash was also removed by all platforms so we can’t share the footage.

Vermin everywhere

The internet is full of bike theft stories, like the one above. The owner used her taekwondo skills to pin one of the robbers down for 10 minutes, a passing patrol car drove by without stopping and she eventually released the lad who claimed to be 10 years old and being forced to rob.

I’m sure wherever you live you’ll see bike thieves riding around, usually with the trademark scruffy trackies, and a ‘safety balaclava.’ I see them regularly as they travel through local villages looking for their next target.

I also still see a worrying amount of bikes left out overnight in people’s gardens, or unsecured at shops and supermarkets.

Scooter rally thefts

Of course, we’re all potential targets on scooter rallies. Our chosen destination will have hundreds of scooters chained up, (or not as the case may be) outside B&B’s. Back in 2022 at the final National of the year, a scooterist had his Yamaha TMAX stolen outside his digs in Southport. More recently a Lambretta was stolen from Redcar the night before the LCGB Coast 2 Coast event.

Make it hard for them

As we’ve seen from the video above, it only takes a few seconds to cut through a standard lock with an angle grinder or bolt croppers. Use locks that carry a good Thatcham or Sold Secure rating (like the Litelok Core Moto). A higher rating is achieved by the lock being more resistant to attack – every few seconds you can slow them down is a bonus. Bennetts Bike Social is the go-to place for honest and very thorough lock reviews.

In Michelle’s case, she’d secured the scooter with a popular type of lock. It was cut off in seconds. A better-quality lock would probably have stopped her bike being taken. Covering the scooter is also a good, cheap deterrent. If it can’t be seen the scumbags don’t know if it’s a high-value, theft-worthy machine or not.

SLUK Security Products

At ScooterLab we use, recommend and sell the following security products:

• MoniMoto: The MoniMoto tracker gives great peace of mind. It’s rechargeable so doesn’t need wiring in and can be used on any scooter, classic or modern. SLUK readers have got their stolen scooters back very quickly when a MoniMoto was fitted.
• EasyBlock: These rear wheel locks are very simple to use “kick to lock” so there’s no excuse for not using it when you leave the scooter. They’re only available for modern bikes and scooters but using one means a thief can’t wheel your scooter away.
• StopMyEngine: This anti-hijack device works on Bluetooth so your scooter can’t be started if your mobile isn’t in range, if the scooter is taken from you it’ll automatically cut the engine as soon as it goes out of Bluetooth range. We fitted and reviewed one in this article. It’s currently on offer at £125 in the SLUK Shop (retail should be £150).