Thieves Pass On My Paul Smart - Ducati.ms

SScowboy · Aug 31st, 2006, 7:34 am

I live on a ranch and I have a metal building that is 75 yards from my house that I park everything I own that has wheels except my wife's SUV which gets the attached garage. Thieves came in the middle of the night and took my two 4 wheelers. They cut 2 of my fences and 3 other fences on neighbors land to get to a highway 1.5 miles from my house. They could have simply gone 1/2 mile down my road to the nearest puplic road which is actualy less conspicuous than the highway. I never bother taking the keys out of anything I own when on my property simply because I never dreamed anyone would have the nerve to come that far off the road completely exposed getting in and out, and never dreamed someone would cross 1.5 miles of ranchland thru 5 fences. My Paul Smart, BMW R1200GS, Ford F250, Yamaha 450F, tractor, and mower were all there for the taking with the keys in the ignition. They actually moved my GS to get to one of the 4 wheelers. There was $600 in cash in my truck console from the sale of a bull calf to my neighbor that I carelessly left for the taking had they simply opened my truck and looked in the console. Homeowner's insurance dosn't cover the 4 wheelers because they wern't added to policy. My 100 lb yellow lab slept thru it as well at the foot of our bed. I told him I may as well have a hamster!
Needless to say I am disturbed that after 5 generations of crime free country living, we now have to worry about the scum of the earth going to great lengths to steal. I am thankfull my Paul Smart is still there even though it is insured, it is not easily replaced. Had my dog woke me, I'm sure I would have walked out there sans all but my skivies and flipflops and unarmed expecting to find a rat snake under a mower with a cat trying to get at it. Critters are the only thing that has alarmed my dogs. So if the thieves were armed, I might be dead.

Keep a close eye on your babies, other folks think they should be thiers!

Desmo_Demon · Aug 31st, 2006, 8:34 am

Sorry to hear of your loss. Since they were 4-wheelers, they were probably some punk kids that are too afraid of motorcycles and don't have the means to unload/hide full-sized vehicles.

**YellowDuck** · Aug 31st, 2006, 8:42 am

Kind of a good news, bad news story, huh?

Sorry for the loss, and especially the "violation" - it's not really the money, is it? It's the crappy feeling you get when someone invades your castle and takes your stuff. Real downer.

But honestly, I'd feel a lot worse for you if they had swiped the PS. That would have been a heart-breaker!

**amullo** · Aug 31st, 2006, 8:48 am

I think your gonna need to beef up security.

No doubt they will think of coming back after seeing that the keys where in your other vehicles..

One thing that usually scares the crap out of thieves is an automatic light with a motionsensor. Most hardware stores have them. Besides the anti-theft thing, it´s nice that the yard lights up when you pull in with your car/truck/bike or when your walking around out there in the dark.

I installed one overlooking the yard of my parents house after discovering footprints in the snow. No repeats..

//amullo

**BLACKBIRDXX** · Aug 31st, 2006, 10:05 am

Check out SCORPIO'S 2-WAY ALARM SYSTEM The 2-way system works up to 1/2 mile. There is a perimeter sensor option that you can crank the gain up so anyone that comes within 10 feet of it will set it off. You can also program the system so the audio alarm is silent and only the remote end will signal you.

Scorpio lists a "Plug & Play cable for the Sport 1000 which of course works great on the PS.

You could "protect" several of your rigs by having this system on one of your rigs given they are in the same location.

I have the SR-i500 system on my PS. It took me about 2 hours to do the install.

I ended up putting the alarm on the plastic sub-frame pan between the ECU and that large heat sink under the seat.

There were a couple of plastic supports that were not being used between the ECU and heatsink that were in way of my installation so I just used a hole saw and got them out of the way.

I then fashioned a piece of aluminum plate to cover the holes and mount the alarm. I used some RTV to "seal" the holes I cut as well as sealing the mounting screws for the plate. I wanted to keep water out of this area.

The OEM connector piece works great and the perimeter sensor mounts perfectly under the seat right up against the tank. A good central location.

The antenna is routed out of the plastic sub-frame pan and routes down along the battery case. Very clean!

PM me for details on installation on your PS if interested.

DrD · Aug 31st, 2006, 10:29 am

I'm so sorry to hear what happened to you.

Theives once stole a 4-wheel drive pickup of mine. I'd poured countless hours and a lot of money into making it into a very capable off-roader and show quality truck. As someone mentioned in a previous post, it wasn't so much the loss of the truck and everything it meant to me but the sense of violation that I felt up on waking up and discovering that it was gone that bothered me the most.

Our homes are supposed to be our sanctuaries. IMHO, having the five-generation run of crime-free comfort stolen from you is a far bigger loss than your quads. The quads can be replaced a lot sooner than you can restore the sense of peace of mind that developed over all of those generations.

Shortly after my truck was stolen I discovered Rottweilers and I've tended to have at least two of them ever since. They're very loving members of the family and perfectly fine with strangers when we're home and let the dogs know that a stranger is OK, just don't come around the house at night or when we're not home because these dogs don't sleep through much and they're very territorial. The dogs have done a lot to restore my peace of mind. I hope that you'll find a way to yours as quickly as possible too.

SScowboy · Aug 31st, 2006, 10:29 am

Thanks for all the replies. I don't personally know any of you, but I knew that you guys could relate to the thought of losing your pride and joy.

I will get some security hardware.

Yeah it's not the money, it's that my wife and 3 daughters now don't feel safe anymore.

Thanks for the different alarm suggestions. I have never "thought" I had the need so don't know anything about them, and certainly didn't know about any type of peremiter alarms.

Had they taken the PS, I would be very upset, that is the FIRST vehicle of any kind that I want to keep forever and pass on hopefully to a worthy son-in-law or grandson.

The thing is, they had to have something to load two 4 wheelers onto, plus a ramp to load them with. It had to be planned, so therefore I was cased. Makes me feels kind of creepy.

Reducs · Aug 31st, 2006, 1:11 pm

They didn't stumble into your remote garage by accident, sorry to say. Keep an eye out. If they think they scored easily, they might come back for some of the other toys.

Hate to be a pessimist, but you should consider it a possibility.

Sorry about your losses. I've been robbed... it makes you sick.

Xannadu · Aug 31st, 2006, 3:58 pm

I Had my house and my business robbed within a week of eachother last year. Stole the old beat up Ford Falcon instead of my mother's Jaguar...go figure. Sorry to hear that, makes us all mad!

BellaCorse · Aug 31st, 2006, 4:32 pm

Sorry to read about your loss Cowboy. Definitely sounds like the work of teenagers and not professionals. Don't mean to go paranoid on you, but most petty thieves ultimately return to the scene of the crime for another go-around.

The coolest alarm I ever seen features a speaker system that blares a siren, but also mixed into the audio is the sound of a telephone ringing, the police answering and a frantic homeowner's voice calling for help. That ought to freak-out any would-be thief. Personally, I would have added the sound of a 12 gauge being pumped.