What happens with high end stolen bikes

[b-rad]

3 minutes ago, Oufy MTB (Roadie) said:

Back to the question, what happens to these bikes? 
A few years ago a team mate’s bike was stolen, next day it was advertised and my team mates set up a meet and got the bike back. 
I really would like to know what happens, this retrieval was the exception. 
not interested in insurance chat now

Some make their way across the border. You’d be surprised at some of the bikes you spot in places like Mozambique. Some of them probably get loaded into containers and taken across the seas.

[Pandatron]

Used to be quite far down the rabbit hole with Paintball (Speedball) before starting cycling, kitbags and markers used to get stolen. Never seen again in the community or FB Marketplace

The model airplane crowd sometimes gets held up while flying (standing out in lone fields etc) and there stuff taken, where does that go?

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, Two-Stroke said:

Is "theft from inside a car" an exclusion you opted for to reduce premiums, or is it a standard clause in the underwriting?

Which insurance company do you use?

 

My insurance is with Santam.  Confirmed theft of the bikes from inside the car IS covered, as long as forced entry can be shown.

 

I specifically asked because a friend previously had the same issue with a surf board stolen from inside the car .... his insurance did not pay. 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Some get stripped and sold in the classifieds, others get stripped and shipped across the borders, like they do with the motorcycles. Moz is a huge market.

[dave303e]

Willing to put money on someone sitting at a coffee shop describing how he managed to get a good deal on a part or a 2nd hand bike. Meanwhile it was liberated from someone else elsewhere.

Dirt bikes end up in Mozambique, this was well documented when a bunch that were stolen from a dealer were spotted in a trailer across the border.

I have yet to spot a really top end bike being used as a commuter bike locally. Plenty look like older models that are given to domestics to use( we have donated 3 of these). But I reckon the top end ones are either parted out or adjusted and resold to people looking for a bargain. Commuters don't like high end bikes because they are a pain to keep running and don't take abuse as well.

Same goes for a lot of our theft, a friend at a braai was bragging about getting barely used BF goodrich tyres for R800/tyre. We looked at them and they clearly had different amounts of wear on them. When I said there is a chance they could be various spare tyres stolen off bakkies(we have had 4 stolen over the last few years) the friend sheepishly admitted he did think it was slightly dodgey. He then went on to say it doesn't matter they could be stolen, if he didn't buy them someone else would have. Hence the issues in our country. 

[mecheng89]

2 hours ago, Two-Stroke said:

Is "theft from inside a car" an exclusion you opted for to reduce premiums, or is it a standard clause in the underwriting?

Which insurance company do you use?

Naked.

[mecheng89]

1 hour ago, Shebeen said:

mine is very much covered. why take the risk?

T&Cs for cover if the bike is stolen from a vehicle.

[cadenceblur]

Thanks for the clarification, so IS covered under those conditions.

[TyronLab]

29 minutes ago, dave303e said:

Willing to put money on someone sitting at a coffee shop describing how he managed to get a good deal on a part or a 2nd hand bike. Meanwhile it was liberated from someone else elsewhere.

Dirt bikes end up in Mozambique, this was well documented when a bunch that were stolen from a dealer were spotted in a trailer across the border.

I have yet to spot a really top end bike being used as a commuter bike locally. Plenty look like older models that are given to domestics to use( we have donated 3 of these). But I reckon the top end ones are either parted out or adjusted and resold to people looking for a bargain. Commuters don't like high end bikes because they are a pain to keep running and don't take abuse as well.

Same goes for a lot of our theft, a friend at a braai was bragging about getting barely used BF goodrich tyres for R800/tyre. We looked at them and they clearly had different amounts of wear on them. When I said there is a chance they could be various spare tyres stolen off bakkies(we have had 4 stolen over the last few years) the friend sheepishly admitted he did think it was slightly dodgey. He then went on to say it doesn't matter they could be stolen, if he didn't buy them someone else would have. Hence the issues in our country. 

One of my cycling acquaintances scored a miraculous "deal" at cash converters and paid 50% of the going second hand rate for a Scott Spark 950. He returned a few days later for some reason and the original owner of the bike (which was stolen) there, wanting to buy it back as he'd scored the insurance payout after it got stolen and bank the remaining cash, but was happy with my acquaintance just keeping the bike.

Unfortunately, all parties involved here are part of the problem. I think pawn shops are more unscrupulous than we think...

[droo]

33 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

My insurance is with Santam.  Confirmed theft of the bikes from inside the car IS covered, as long as forced entry can be shown.

 

I specifically asked because a friend previously had the same issue with a surf board stolen from inside the car .... his insurance did not pay. 

I learned the hard way with "cheap" insurance. Never again.

Now with Santam through a broker. Paying a fraction of the premiums for way more cover, an excess waiver, and claims get paid out in days.

Back on topic - I've also wondered where these things go. I had a one-of-a-kind build stolen about 5 years ago, and it's never been seen again. Frameset was the onl yone in the country, and even stripped I'd have been able to identify fork and wheels.

Gone.

I reckon some of them get loaded into containers and shipped offshore. How and where is anyone's guess. But somebody knows, cos stolen goods are useless unless you can move them.

[droo]

4 minutes ago, TyronLab said:

I think pawn shops are more unscrupulous than we think...

You set the bar pretty low there.

[Dexter-morgan]

2 hours ago, Two-Stroke said:

Is "theft from inside a car" an exclusion you opted for to reduce premiums, or is it a standard clause in the underwriting?

Which insurance company do you use?

Outsurance does cover your bike that was inside your car but there must be visible signs of a break-in.

[dasilvarsa]

Stole Bikes Are Mostly Stripped for Components and Sold Openly in Advertising Websites.

Worth More Dead than Alive.

 

[thijsrm]

Or taken to Mozambique and sold for R1000 with new plastic pedals

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

4 hours ago, Comrade J said:

My gut feeling, and has been for a while, is that they are stolen and broken up and sold as spares.

You do occasionally see high end parts for sale in dodgy Facebook ads. But almost never frames. What happens to those? In many years of scouring dark parts of the online classifieds I have never seen a top end, new mtb frame for sale that looked dodgy, but loads of tyres, brakes, groupsets etc. 

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

I mean, when my bike was stolen I was just looking for my frame set to recognise the bike and zilch came up, I even set alerts for the model and make, nothing came up. Its like they sell the components and bury the frames somewher