12 replies to this topic

[des]

Would there be an interest in police checking bikes at a trial in an effort to recover stolen property, remember innocent purchasers could not only loose the bike but also the money paid for it.

second problem is if the bike has never been recorded road-reg then it becomes harder to confirm identification.

What are peoples thoughts, on this subject.

[totalshell]

cant imagine why the ACU dont insist that all trials bikes have an acu issued logbook no stolen bike then could ever be ridden in a competition

[des]

totalshell, on 21 March 2011 - 06:49 PM, said:

cant imagine why the ACU dont insist that all trials bikes have an acu issued logbook no stolen bike then could ever be ridden in a competition

I agree but when did you last have your bike looked over by anyone at a trial........what iam saying is hoiw would people react to having spot checks on their bikes....

[GII]

I've never found the Police to be very interested in recovering stolen property when I've been the victim, both privately and commercially.

An employee of mine found a bag at a bus stop containing several thousands of pounds cash, and a currency exchange receipt with an address.

When the police officer came to collect it, she made it very clear that doing so was a real nuisance to her.

[Andy M]

A load of dodgy bikes and engines were recently found at a Brands Hatch road race meeting, easier to trace as they came from bikes once reg'd on the road. Trials not as easy as many are never reg'd.
Mind you a helicopter and around 50 coppers turned up at Brands after a lengthy investigation, I would be surprised if you would find 1 bike at 50 trials, in the main people who nick trials bikes are not trials riders they are joy riders wanting a trials bike or chancers trying to make a quick few quid.
Probably too much admin for the acu to be involved unless of course there is a sudden surge in thefts maybe ??

[bdmc]

We tried this a few years ago at some of our trials. A discussion was had with the local police and it was agreed the club do a spot check on frame numbers and send them in . Did this for about 5 trials. Never recieved a acknowledement.

[chewy]

I wonder if recovering stolen property would be a good business idea in our new big society. In my (like other contributors first hand) experience the police are not interested, even if you find it yourself you have to proove beyond doubt that the property is yours. I can see no reason why all bikes shouldn't be registered with tha DVLA but then I expect the civil service make such a meal of it that the cost would be prohibitive to many.Since being in a position to buy new bikes I have insured and registered them; the key cost there which puts many off is the cost of insurance in order to pay the road tax. Is there a system in place to simply register your bike, I think it's true to say that we in UK are unique in so much as we are not required by law to register "field" bikes. it's why we get our bikes a bit cheaper (non homolugated spec.).having wandered through this problem our situation seems to be terribly british.

[craig10]

There is a scheme to register an off-roader with the DVLA purely for having the details registered, see this http://www.direct.go...t/dg_067209.pdf

I doubt the plod would be interested in spending a morning in a muddy field checking trials bikes, as already mentioned neds who nick off roaders are more likely to be tearing up the local parks etc than riding events.

As an aside, I do know someone who did get a BSA C15 back after 10+ years after a friend of his saw it on ebay. Took a lot to get the plod motivated though, the 'owner' just accepted the fact, it had been through too many hands to trace it back.

[chewy]

That registration scheme seems good to me, only time you may get a problem is the "homologation" proof when /if you want to tax it.

[scott_king]

It is rare but some people do acquire stolen bikes and turn up at trails events. I saw it happen at an event a couple of years ago. The real owner was their riding his replacement bike and someone came over saying that he thought he had seen the stolen bike in the paddock.

After much arguing and phone calls the the plod the guy who had "purchase" the bike ended up just handing the bike over. He was boosting that he bought this two year old bike for under £1000 to people prior to being discovered. This figure quickly rose as more people got involved to around its realistic cost price. He knew it was stolen so changed the plastics and handle bars but it was still easily identifyable. The owners post code and initials stamped in 10 different places certianly helped

I have know a few to turn up and Hare and hound races as well but it is a rare occurrence. Most bikes are simply stolen, wrecked and burnt out. I would be great to have a V5 for bikes that you need to show in order to enter but this is unlikely to ever happen.

In reality how many people put there frame and engine number on entry forms? Centres could operate a database by collecting these. Then if a bike is stolen and turns up to an event we would instantly know. However this assumes the numbers are left intact.

Sadly these people have always existed and always will. I hate them but in reality we have limited powers to stop them.

[Pete_Scorpa3]

The ACU started checking road race bikes back in the 90's, I wonder how many stolen bikes were found from this? Bear in mind that there are only one or two race meetings on at any one time and all road race bikes are scrutineered by trained officials anyway and that road bikes are generally more expensive than trials bikes, then you start to see the problems we would face try this at trials.
It's never going to happen. It would take too long to check every frame and engine number at every trial, never mind cross referencing the info with stolen bikes.

[des]

It would be far to say that the key thing is to security mark all major parts on the bike.

Record engine and frame numbers.

Take good photos of it.

and the more it stands out the better, different cheap quick mods help with.

I have even toyed with the idea of data tag like my road bike....

[Andy M]

As Pete said, it won't happen. If there is concrete evidence with no shadow of a doubt like the Brands incident they may get involved. If you see some idiot thrashing a stolen bike round a sink estate and tip off the Bill then they may send some one round in a week or two if pushed, in the mean time said bike has been blown up burnt and is now in the river...... Don't hold your breath