Possession is nine-tenths

[Hitcher]

A highlight of my television viewing this weekend was watching one of Wairarapa’s finest sons uplift my helmet and gloves off the tank of my motorbike, place it in the boot of his mate’s blue Falcon AU XR8 and drive away.

This footage was revealed, courtesy of the Greytown 4 Square’s carpark CCTV coverage, and answered a particularly troubling question I had had a few minutes’ earlier: “Where did I put my helmet?”

A short while later, this footage was shared with a Constable from the NZ Police, who remembered seeing the car in question earlier in the day. Investigations are underway. One helmet and a pair of gloves stuffed inside it are still missing, presumed trashed.

The reason for my belief that my helmet has been biffed, rather than sold in a pub or usefully recycled, is that it is quite large. It needed to be, as I have a rather large cranium. If my head was any larger it would have orbiting moons – it lives at the far end of the head-size bell curve. Whoever nicked off with it probably tried it on shortly afterwards and would have discovered that there was enough room inside for his mate’s head as well, pinheads that they are.

New Zealand law says that one cannot ride one’s motorcycle without wearing a securely fitting helmet. As of 12:33pm on Friday afternoon, I no longer had one of those and was effectively marooned in the middle of a small New Zealand town with lots of cafes, women’s fashion stores, antique dealers and a well-stocked garden machinery business but nothing else of any use to my immediate predicament.

In a wardrobe, 74.1km away in Wellington, I had a spare helmet and pair of riding gloves. My Loyal and Devoted Riding Companion mounted her steed, strapped on her unstolen helmet and rode off to retrieve these for me. Bless her! I spent the next couple of hours entertaining the local constabulary and sitting in the sun, cogitating, and waiting for a blue Falcon XR8 with clear rear indicators to drive by so that I could record its registration details.

Once I was re-helmeted we resumed our travels, arriving at our evening’s destination a few hours later than originally intended.

My next task is to have a conversation with my insurance company. I suspect that they may take a dim view of a motorcyclist who leaves their helmet and gloves unattended atop a motorcycle parked in view of a CCTV camera in a trendy country village. Me? I take a dim view of opportunistic criminals who impose significant cost and inconvenience on others, particularly when what they have stolen will have little real value for them.

At best, the Boys In The Falcon will only get for this helmet and gloves what they can hock them off for at the local pub, probably about $50 plus or minus. On the other hand, we’ve now got to fork out many hundreds of dollars for replacement items, not to mention the cost of fuel involved for Mrs Wonderful’s return trip to Wellington.

Lessons have been learned. We won’t be leaving our helmets unattended on motorbikes in Greytown again, or anywhere else for that matter.

[Paul in NZ]

Darn - what a bloody annoying thing to happen....

There are a lot of these idiots out there so i hope they get caught....

[unstuck]

Probably traded for a couple of tinnys by now. Help stop crime, legalize weed.:2thumbsup

[swarfie]

Darn - what a bloody annoying thing to happen....

There are a lot of these idiots out there so i hope they get caught....

Years ago on a summer trip around the South Island the missus and I locked our helmets on the bike at Punikiki Rocks, only to return and find some A..hole had stolen my gloves from out of my helmet :angry2: A quick ride south saw us arrive in Greymouth at two minutes to closing time at the bike shop where the only ones I could buy were winter weight but at least we got some. Don't ya just love these light fingered pricks!!!!

[Grashopper]

Bloody bastards.
I used to take my helmet with me all the time, but lately I've gotten lazy at the gas stations and left it on the bike. Think I will take it with my again from now on.

So the CCTV footage was not good enough to see the license plate?:( Quite possibly locals though. If it is just a small town, hopefully there won't be to many of those Ford Falcons around.
Please let us know what your insurance company says.

[BigAl]

Unfortunately the only thing that deters these mongrels is naming and shaming, legal deterents are a joke.

Maybe possible to get a still from the footage, replicate and display in many of the towns shops.

Even offer a small reward for information, won't get gear back but might stop others suffering same fate.

[Grizzo]

Blatant scumbaggery:mad:

[Swoop]

At petrol stations, the helmet stays on the head.

Anywhere else it is with me. The same applies with glubs.


Good luck with the insurance company! Hopefully they will be sympathetic to your situation.

[duckonin]

Why not a simple bike cable through sleeve of jacket (if left behind also) then through D ring on Helmet, Hitcher ? THEN SECURED TO YOUR BIKE. Your right about sizing, most would have given that thought; 'may not fit.

[SPman]

These light fingered arseholes are not averse to removing helmets attached to the motorcycle, by the method of cutting the straps!!! A friend had her helmet removed in such a way from Alfred St, by Auckland University not many years ago....! Someone saw the little brown turd jump out of a passing car, run to bike, saw through said strap and abscond with a helmet, useless to man, woman or small furry animal!

Intelligence is not a strong point among these fucktards!

[5150]

Meh, nobody would steal mine. I got nits.... :shifty:

[Hitcher]

Meh, nobody would steal mine. I got nits

The offender in question didn't do a nit check

[Big Dave]

Sad bit, but i tell ya, I never leave my helmet on the bike, anywhere.

I suspect you won't again either?

[Flip]

I recovered a girlfriends nicked bike one day in wellington by stopping the vehicle in the road, standing over the 16 yo rider and taking his-my ride. I then called the rozza and told them I was taking the bike home without safety gear. The command staff just put a call out telling the rozza to lay off.

[nzmikey]

At petrol stations, the helmet stays on the head.

Anywhere else it is with me. The same applies with glubs.


Good luck with the insurance company! Hopefully they will be sympathetic to your situation.

Yeah the staff get pissy with me when I do that ... even tho the bike is parked at the pump closest to the window ...
something about staff safety bla bla bla ... I told him I could not be fucked taking it off middle of winter @ 11pm ... you can see my bike & plate ... here is the fuel card ... :yawn:

[unstuck]

They refuse to serve you down here in servos if you dont remove your helmet, all good if you have the right cash though, just chuck it at them and leave.:shifty:

[\m/]

They refuse to serve you down here in servos if you dont remove your helmet, all good if you have the right cash though, just chuck it at them and leave.:shifty:
Here in Hamilton most petrol stations are OK with me leaving my helmet on, those that don't just lose a customer.

[caseye]

Greytown not that big Hitch, suggest an annual visit by a large contingent of KB or similar and a bit of a witch ( read thief ) hunt.
Helping out the local rozza and all, couldn't be a bad thing, unless of course they found where we buried em.
Getting so you can't trust anyone/place in God's own anymore.

[Quasi]

Bugger! thanks for this Brett. I always leave my helmet and glubs on my bike. And in the summer my jacket too. I am normally sitting within viewing distance, but now I may reconsider.

[Mom]

Far out! That sucks big time Hitcher. I have always been a bit scared of leaving my gear on my bike, so will carry it in rather than leave it. I don't have a back up position and would have to ride home bare headed and handed should something like that happen to me. I get earache in cold air, so can't imagine what a world of pain I might be in, riding bare headed.

Look no emoticons...

Like you say, opportunist theft, that will gain the little shits nothing, or a few bob if they are lucky enough to find a fat head to fit the hat :love:

Ooops.

[Mom]

They refuse to serve you down here in servos if you dont remove your helmet, all good if you have the right cash though, just chuck it at them and leave.:shifty:

We had a weekend away, weekend just gone. I could not take my right hand glove off, without taking my claw hand glove off. With my gloves on I can't take my helmet off. The effort involved in putting on, and taking off the claw side glove, was not worth the effort of taking anything else off if I did not need to. I have paid for gas, fully gloved up several times over the weekend. Had to get the people at the servo's to reset what I was doing a couple of times, gloved fingers don't make it easy to enter pin numbers :rofl: and without my specs I can't read the buttons to clear transactions :clap:

Old age is so amusing sometimes :lol:

[Robbo]

They refuse to serve you down here in servos if you dont remove your helmet, all good if you have the right cash though, just chuck it at them and leave.:shifty:

Just throw a Burka over top of your helmet and head and you can walk in anywhere.
Problem solved. :laugh::laugh:

[Smifffy]

Any screen caps of the CCTV you could post up? I'd be happy to upload it to facebook with a blurb, and am sure it'd get well shared around.

[pritch]

Hitcher, sorry about the lid, and the inconvenience, but pleased you found a replacement as easy as you did. I leave my helmet on the bike, it hides the radar detector and the gloves cover the GPS if it's fitted. Generally I try to sit where I can watch but that isn't always possible.

Kathmandu sell a plastic covered wire with padlock, and I have several of these, have used them in the past to lock luggage to the bike. Easy enough to cut with a wire cutter, but I'm relying on the opportunist thief not carrying his tool kit. Should I encounter a light fingered bastard who already pinched a Leatherman I could be in trouble though.

[bluninja]

Had to get the people at the servo's to reset what I was doing a couple of times, gloved fingers don't make it easy to enter pin numbers :rofl: and without my specs I can't read the buttons to clear transactions :clap:

Old age is so amusing sometimes :lol:

Quick tip from a much younger person :laugh: ....use your ignition key to put your pin in when wearing your gloves. Of course tap and go cards are even better.

[baffa]

Yeah the staff get pissy with me when I do that ... even tho the bike is parked at the pump closest to the window ...
something about staff safety bla bla bla ... I told him I could not be fucked taking it off middle of winter @ 11pm ... you can see my bike & plate ... here is the fuel card ... :yawn:

This is probably because you're a dodgy looking mofo =D

I always rock the helmet into petrol stations, but I make an effort to be as friendly as possible after hours, some of the attendants can look a little intimidated.

As for the bike, When I remember I have a cheap wharehouse bike chain I used to lock the helmet(s) on to the bike, works pretty well.

[Wingnut]

If possession is 9/10ths than your 1/10 don't mean Jack! Serious note... I hope karma gets up and starts biting these fuckers! Hard! I hate thieves... One got my XY Falcon... Since then I have had a significant hatred towards them. They are the scum of the world. If we started lopping hands off we might get somewhere against them some day.

At least it was at a 4 square.. You may have some luck getting the feds there. Asuming they stock donuts and the like... Nom nom!

[roogazza]

The offender in question didn't do a nit check

So no reg number yet ? Hope you get hold of it, and then them.

I'd be visiting.

[Road kill]

Quick tip from a much younger person :laugh: ....use your ignition key to put your pin in when wearing your gloves. Of course tap and go cards are even better.

Quick tips from an older person:msn-wink:

#1 If I don't take my helmet off as soon as I stop the bike I'm likely to fall over,,forget about walking in the fucken thing.

#2 Some folks fingers only bend so far,,,or bend to far,,,gloves come off.

#3 I have no hair and a full beard,,I can scare the curry munchers without wearing a helmet.

[G4L4XY]

Thats really sad to hear Hitch! As someone whose left their helmet and gloves inside of helmet a lot. I shall think twice next time, sure it was always in the back of my mind however the being stuck somewhere without a helmet is a real problem.
I don't see the point in cutting the strap to take the helmet but as said previously they musn't have a lot of brains! For me I shall begin to drag it with me everwhere I go.
Goodluck in finding another helmet for your humungous cranium!

[kinger]

Regarding the cable tips and strap cutting. Just lift the visor and loop it round the chinbar.
As for carrying your gear everywhere.....get a topbox.

[Smifffy]

Regarding the cable tips and strap cutting. Just lift the visor and loop it round the chinbar.
As for carrying your gear everywhere.....get a topbox.

That's what I do when I do leave gear with the bike, still take me gloves usually. Thick long cable through rear wheel, around outside of panniers and through chin bar of helmets.

Often though if I'm somewhere nearby/feeling trusting, I just sit my helmet, with gloves in,over the top of the sissy bar.

[russd7]

They refuse to serve you down here in servos if you dont remove your helmet, all good if you have the right cash though, just chuck it at them and leave.:shifty:

thats only for gore locals, they don't seem to mind us from further south wearing our helmets in to pay for gas:msn-wink: or maybe its just that they happy someone is actually prepared to pay for the gas :sleep:

[Juniper]

And to think I go to my local supermarket and leave my helmet and gloves on my mirrors, my tail bag on and when I come out from doing my quick shop realise that my keys were still in there.

[Juniper]

thats only for gore locals, they don't seem to mind us from further south wearing our helmets in to pay for gas:msn-wink: or maybe its just that they happy someone is actually prepared to pay for the gas :sleep:

I have to remember if I'm wearing the balaclava to pull it down a bit, But even still they still serve me wherever I've gone. Being a chick maybe....?

[bluninja]

And to think I go to my local supermarket and leave my helmet and gloves on my mirrors, my tail bag on and when I come out from doing my quick shop realise that my keys were still in there.

Maybe they don't like bikes with green lights under the tail? :) This post sounds a bit implausible to me.......female and quick shop???? :bleh:

[Juniper]

Maybe they don't like bikes with green lights under the tail? :) This post sounds a bit implausible to me.......female and quick shop???? :bleh:

Hehe ok you got me. I'd gone in with 2 other bikers who had also parked up........and by the time I came out they were both gone..... It was quick for me!! Well it was meant to be!!

[the oldstuff]

What a pain in the arse!! These losers don't realise that what goes around comes around. You will have some good fortune shortly I'm sure. As for the scumbags, well....