vespa fuel theft

[matty40]

anyone else had the fuel drained from their scooter in the last couple of weeks??.

[Primula]

This seems to be a fairly consistent problem. It has happened to me twice in the last few years and I know it has happened to others. Unfortunately Vespa fuel lines make it easy for the little shits to make a quick get away with your fuel. The police aren't likely to pursue this type of crime. It will happen again so you'll need to work out your own deterrent!

[Marwood]

I caught a kid and his mates (in 2 small cars) taking mine a while back, they sped off leaving my petrol (all ?3's worth) in the gutter. I reported it to the police, obviously wasn't much they could do, but they were very understanding and speedy in their response.

A couple of years back I had my battery nicked too, very inconvenient.

It's just so easy to do.

[thejournalist]

Yep, my vespa was drained some point over the weekend as well. Landells road gets hit all the time. Has happened to me at least 4/5 times in 2 years. Police no help. I'm buying a cctv camera to stick on my house so next time I can get evidence.

[Earl Aelfheah]

you can get motion sensitive, alarmed padlocks (and they're not as expensive as you may think. I used to use one to secure the bike cover at the bottom with. Any attempt to move the cover would set it off.

[rch]

It's always worth reporting to the 101 police number. When there are enough reports to form a pattern, a location can get logged on the radar for police patrols.

[labtam]

i had mine drained a few months ago luckily, none of the fuel pipe was cut to get access to the ?1 of petrol left in the tank. Only option I am afraid is prevention, like chain the right hand side of the bike next to a thorny bush, alarmed with covers, or beat the scum at their own gain, drain it yourself first.

[thejournalist]

Anyone else get hit AGAIN overnight. Mine was drained but luckily i managed to ram the fuel line back in so got to work.

[Willard]

Thejournalist - is your Vespa parked on the road or front garden? Can you rig up a cheap hidden security camera? Or better still rig your scooter up to the mains?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/wifi-security-camera

[thejournalist]

Thanks for the tip - cctv is an option, but i thinking rigging up to mains may be illegal!

[Willard]

Yes, that was a (not very funny) joke. Alarmed padlocks attached to a cover are also a good idea.

[JohnL]

Someone just said on another website - label a petrol tank as diesel and vice versa.

Don't lend your car to a mate :)

[aj693]

yes... mine was done last night. Police coming round in the morning. I will show them this thread.

[AcedOut]

Yes this happened to be a few years ago outside my house near The Gardens. :( And all for 1 tenner's worth of fuel...

[ Edited to remove method for stealing fuel ]

[AcedOut]

Tbh, The Piaggio engineer who designed that system should be strung up for that design. I've not even bothered to replace the bumper in fear of it getting destroyed again. I'd rather they took the fuel with no damage.

The annoying thing for me is that I didn't notice until taking it to a petrol station, filling up and then looking down to discover?12 worth of petrol on the forecourt having drained from the detached filter.

[ruffers]

rahrahrah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> you can get motion sensitive, alarmed padlocks

> (and they're not as expensive as you may think. I

> used to use one to secure the bike cover at the

> bottom with. Any attempt to move the cover would

> set it off.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TripNeeds-Alarmio-Versatile-Sensitive-Personal/dp/B0056GK11Q/ref=pd_cp_diy_2 would do it.

[AcedOut]

From another forum:

"I would get creative with something like...

Connect up a fake fuel line to the point where it is being stolen, attach it to a bottle of something nasty like...

* Water mixed with a lot of sugar and a bit of colouring/fuel to make it smell right - I believe that will screw his engine and he will have no more need for fuel. "

I don't endorse this.

[giggirl]

I have CCTV at my property, which was installed by CCTV Camera Europe. Excellent service so I would like to recommend them, but my reason for posting here is that I had this rather unusual email this morning about them looking for people who want to tackle unusual problems using CCTV and appear on TV. I'm posting in case it is of interest to anyone.

"I have been approached by Channel 4 (CCTV in Britain) and Channel 5 (Caught on Camera) looking to film how CCTV can effectively deter and solve problems.

The bigger / more unusual the problem, the better, so if you are experiencing something like continual antisocial behaviour or siginifcant theft, then you could be suitable.

I'm prepared to install FREE HD CCTV upgrades, so final CCTV Installation will be seriously impressive and it is a WIN WIN situation for everyone.

If you or your business are interested in appearing on TV and want to tackle a problem using CCTV, please let me know?

Regards & Thanks

Eoin Clarke

Managing Director

CCTV Camera Europe (UK) Ltd

www.cctvcameraeurope.com

02076274402

07977177775

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[Jeremy]

CCTV sounds like a good idea... recently had my car wing mirror glass taken when it was parked in front of the house. (cost of the replacement part... unbelievably... ?300)

[Loz]

You mean for problems like this GG??

 

[thejournalist]

Petrol thieves are back. They ripped off panel on my Vespa and emptied the tank last night. Real pain in the backside. This must be the tenth time this has happened to me in 4 years living in ED.