Kansas City suffering an epidemic of ‘crotch rocket’ motorcycle thefts

KC suffering an epidemic of ‘crotch rocket’ motorcycle thefts
By JOE LAMBE - The Kansas City Star
8/8/10

Michael Hiatt never drove his 2009 black Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle very fast, opting instead for leisurely rides on back roads. Only once did he drive it on a highway.

Now his $8,000 dream machine, which had only 400 miles on its odometer, could be speeding in illegal races or starring in an Internet stunt video.

Thieves took the Overland Park man’s motorcycle in June, part of a recent rash of sports bike thefts in the area.

In Overland Park over the last five months, thieves took 29 bikes, compared with 19 thefts in all of 2009.

In Lenexa, police report a dozen sports bikes stolen since April 15. Seven bikes have disappeared in Kansas City, North, in the last three weeks.

With a nationwide recovery rate of only 30 percent for the sleek machines known as “crotch rockets,” the owners probably will never see their bikes again.

These thieves don’t want Harleys. They go for the crotch rockets — powerful, aerodynamic machines known for their hunched-over seating position. Stunt riders like them because they are light and easy to perform tricks.

Capable of reaching a speed of 165 mph, the bikes that cost anywhere from $8,000 to more than $12,000 new are coveted for several reasons. Hiatt’s bike could be anywhere in the world, shipped whole or in parts. In London, stolen sports bike engines sometimes power small custom-built cars.

Some thieves first steal a minivan and rip out the seats, making room for their intended target.

The van-bike theft combo, long used in some other areas, has arrived in Johnson County in force. The vans — generally older models and easy to steal — are later found abandoned.

As with some other Johnson County cases, police said, thieves likely stole a minivan and loaded Hiatt’s bike inside on June 30. A van vanished nearby about the same time.

In Lenexa, vans stolen elsewhere were probably involved in motorcycle thefts as well, police say.

“It’s a pretty good bet that it’s the same group,” said Dan Friesen, police spokesman for Lenexa.

Police have no evidence that vans were used in the Kansas City, North, thefts.

Kristopher Monti, who is in the Army and has served in Iraq, was the victim of a recent theft. Thieves took his Honda from outside his Overland Park townhouse on July 1, but strangely left his wife’s Ninja that was parked next to it.

Darcy Monti thinks her husband’s bike might have been taken because the Honda has a better engine for racing.

The stolen bike was not insured, so the theft leaves them with a $10,000 loss, she said.

The crimes mesh with others nationwide.

In Baltimore’s suburbs, the sports bike problem is so bad that police stake out “bait bikes,” said Baltimore County police Sgt. Robert Jagoe.

The stolen vans provide privacy and keep anyone from getting crooks’ license plate numbers, he said.

But bad guys “also use pickup trucks, cars and sometimes push them away on foot,” Jagoe said.

The crimes yield easy money, he said.

“You’re even seeing the vehicles flowing out of the United States going to Third World countries. You can sell those motorcycles or the parts all over the world,” Jagoe said.

The engines even power some custom cars in the United Kingdom, he said, as well as a big domestic market for underground street racers and stunt riders.

Among police, feelings are mixed about the bikes, said Gladstone Police Sgt. Kenny Buck. A small percent of riders give the crotch rockets a bad name. The engineered speed machines allow outlaw riders to harass officers and then leave their police cruisers in the dust.

“I’ve had them come up beside me, flip me off and then just take off. They’ll do that for fun,” Buck said.

Although some hate the machines, Buck said, “there are a lot of officers who ride them,” including Buck and his sons.

“It’s like being able to buy a Formula One or an Indy car and driving it back and forth to work,” he said.

Darcy Monti started riding a sports bike last year partly for that adrenaline rush, she said, but it’s also a stress reliever.

Hiatt said his rider days ended that June morning when he discovered his bike gone from a carport and the tarpaulin on the ground.

Like Kristopher Monti, he did not have any chains on the bike or use a GPS locator or other anti-theft devices. Police say the devices may not have deterred the thieves anyway.

“I’m not going to buy another bike until I get a house with a garage,” Hiatt said.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/06/2134578_kc-suffering-an-epidemic-of-crotch.html#ixzz0w1uo3TEt