Stolen Scooter Alert: Santa Barbara, CA

FYI, this scooter was stolen in the Santa Barbara area. Perhaps they will abandon it when it runs out of gas like lots of stupid joyriders do. New article from Noozhawk.

Phrase that I never want to hear again...

"Ride it like you stole it."

Who thought this up this lame saying?

First, I like my scooter and the last thing that I would want is for someone to steal it. So, why would I steal another rider's scooter?

Second, I've seen Cops and World's Greatest Police Chases (or whatever) and the people that are being pursued drive like self-centered jerks. Scoot! had a scooter stolen once and it looked like crap when we got it back. That kind of driving ability is not enviable.

Next, if it is your bike, why on earth do you need to put on some air and pretend to be other than the person that you are? If you wanna play Big Biker Dude or Macho Biker Chick, save it for the role playing at home (rahr!) since the drivers/riders around you don't care and anyone else who has to deal with you will think you are just an ass.

Maybe we should say, "Ride it Like You Earned It" or "Ride It Like You Love It" since those seem more like what we're really trying to do...

Scooter Thefts!

It was bound to happen, with scooters being in high demand and easy to pilfer, it's no wonder that they are getting stolen.
According to this news report from the News-Leader in Springfield, MO 20 scooters have been stolen in the lat 2 months! I would guess that several of them were not securely locked, but even with a chain it is possible. And if people have modern, plastic scooters and use those plastic body parts for securing the bike, it's not to hard to break it and go.

In Scoot!#31 from Spring '05 we ran an article on ways to properly lock your bike. This situation makes me thing that we need to run another article on it.

I say use a big lock, or two; make it hard to roll such as by locking the wheel or disc brake. In especially dodgy places, I have locked my helmet to by front wheel and removed my spark plug. Easier on a vintage bike. On newer bikes, an alarm isn't that hard to install.

Anyone out there had their scooter stolen recently? What were the circumstances?

Stolen Scooters in Austin

Just got an email from Adrien in Austin about stolen scooters. Keep an eye out, Texans!

My name is Adrian. I'm from Austin, Texas. On the day of Sunday December 16th 2007 my 1978 P125X was stolen from my apartment complex parking lot. A number of scooters were stolen on the same day in this area as well as some others around town in the past week.

Keep an eye out for people trying to sell stolen scooters. If you have any information, contact Austin PD.