How common is scooter theft?

[devenex]

I just read a PM from another member, and in it he mentions having had his scooter stolen. Now this got me to wondering just how common this is, especially with Sprees because they are pretty small and light.

What I'm wondering is:
Has anyone else on this board had a scooter stolen?

What do you guys do (if anything) to prevent theft?

Any other advice about when/how the thefts tend to occur would also be great.

[mopedman]

well i really don't let my mopeds out of site if were in public because there so fast to steal

[sfzoo]

Here in San Francisco it is not common, but still happens enough to be worried.

everytime i'm out of site i lock the bars, and chain it up to a bike rack or a light pole. if no poles/racks are around i just chain up the back wheel.

[vonchuk]

I used to park mine on my front porch at night. I got up to go to work one moning and it was gone. It has not turned up yet. I now cable mine up when ever out of sight. My cable lock has an alarm that sounds if cut or disconnected.

[CharlotteSpreeRider]

I keep mine locked in an aluminum shed in the backyard at night. At work I leave it with the motorcycles in the parking lot (there's usually 10 - 12 of them). We have security cameras so I'm not too worried, but I'm lucky in that regard and live in an area where scooters are not very popular at all.

-aseigler

[danmdevries]

I live/work/go to school in a not-so-nice area. Pretty much anything on wheels will be stolen one way or another. I'm more afraid of a carjacking than a "normal" theft.

The problem I see is that you don't have do title, register or insure a scooter here, so if you're a thief, that's a free easy target that you can lift, paint and ride or sell with no way of ever getting caught.

With that said I park it with the motorcycles at work and lock the two wheels together with a cable. At school I park it in the motorcycle parking area and loop a cable around the frame and through a hole in a parking post and lock it that way. At home it's in the garage, but my garage has been emptied out overnight before, so I have scooter cabled together with my motorcycle to make it harder to take.

I've also removed most of the bodywork and will be spraypainting all the aftermarket parts: carb and exhaust with some flat bbq black to try and make it less appealing. Hopefully I can keep it for a while.

I knew a guy, a former coworker, who got in trouble for scooter theft. He would drive up to Chicago where scooters are alot more popular, load up every one he found into the back of a cargo van and then part them out.

[devenex]

He just filled a van full of them!

I'm glad to hear that chains are working for you guys, as that doesn't seem to be too hard to do. I guess it isn't too big of a problem as long as you take some precautions, which is what I was hoping to hear.

[Cubey]

Who all uses locks and what kind and where do you secure it around? Only "easy" place I can find for securing a lock/chain is around the hole in the kick stand. Next easiest places would be the frame under the running board or the frame just inside where the petcock is. Since the cover is missing on nearly all Sprees anyway it doesn't matter if you leave your chain hanging out from there.

[Kenny_McCormic]

Around the rims.

[Cubey]

Around the rims.

Yes, I was thinking that too. I have a good thick rubber coated with steel material in the core coil bike "chain" that I used on my 40cc scooter in Sacramento and I left it unattended in less than nice places and it wasn't stolen. It doesn't even use a key to start, just a pull start. And it weights about 40-50lbs, much lighter and smaller than a Spree. Someone once tried with a knife to whittle it down but barely got any of the rubber off before they gave up. Still a very good "chain" even with that one whittled spot. Besides using that, I also used one of those black shackle locks. However that scooter has special loops welded onto the frame for placing a chain through. You would think Honda (and other major companies) would do that as well for their scooters. It's not like it would cost much of any more to add a steel loop welded to the frame under the running board.

I suppose a combination of the locked steering, a good chain through the wheels and then chained to something large (a store's bike rack) or secured into the ground should be enough in broad day light in a smaller city like I'm in to prevent theft. I hope.

[CharlotteSpreeRider]

Chaining the front and back rims to something solid is pretty good deterant. Getting the rear wheel off is a pain in the * for some hood rat that doesn't have any knowledge or tools available.

-aseigler

[Cubey]

Chaining the front and back rims to something solid is pretty good deterant. Getting the rear wheel off is a pain in the * for some hood rat that doesn't have any knowledge or tools available.

-aseigler

Yes. The other thing I'd be concerned about is the chain being cut. Kind of hard to do in broad day light with people hanging around (ie: at a store) but someone might try and succeed. Or pick or bust the lock if it's not very good. I'm looking at some fancy and very expensive "Kryptonite New York" chain/lock sets but they are over $50. Some as high as or over $100. But then again, $50-100 chain/lock set (that comes with theft protection up to $750 for US powersports vehicles) for a $600 value scooter, I guess doesn't seem so bad.

[CharlotteSpreeRider]

That kind of stuff doesn't happen much around here. If you leave something unattended and unlocked, yes, it will probably go away. But if something is locked up, the wise thief would move on. People here have guns and they like to carry them around with them. FSM help you if you are trying to cut a chain and the owner walks up to you and hands you a knife by the blade...

-aseigler

[nparks]

What about insurance? Does any one have their scooter insured? I was thinking about doing so when I start using this as primary transportation as I will live less than 3 miles from everything I need when I move.

[justinnielsen01]

i wouldnt if you dont need it. it doesent cost that much to fix