Topbox Theft - is it a thing...?!

[KickStarter]

Morning All!!

So, when I purchased my F800GS, the chap I purchased it from had the two side panniers, but not the top box, stating it had been stolen from the bike.

I since bought one from a member on here, but it left me with the perception that top box theft was commonplace, and as such I haven't been leaving the box on my bike.

I commute and park my bike on a residential yet busy street every day, part of the reason I love having the older bike, more likely to stay there....


So my question is this, has anyone else heard of, or worries about theft of the top box?

I've searched around on the forum and found a few comments of people having their box broken into, but with regards to the box itself, it sounds like my bikes last owner was just very unlucky?!

 

[DJ123]

Had a top box for years, Never had it stolen or broken into......

Its probably just as quick to steal the whole Bike rather than steal someone's A-Z from their top box

 

[KickStarter]

Ahaha exactly

 

[squibb34]

It's a rare event, but yes. It's pretty easy to lever them off with a small crowbar.

Who suffers - usually commuters parking at the local station, probably for the rich bounty of some skanky wet gear & a knackered helmet, so a bit pointless really.

Most of us don't leave anything of intrinsic value to a thief locked in a top box on the bike, overnight in say a dark parking lot. Like others say, the bike itself is the more likely high value target.

 

[KickStarter]

I wouldn't have anything of value in the top box itself, not even my helmet, so much so that I might decide to leave it unlocked rather than run the risk of someone breaking into it, I'll ponder that one...

I was more worried about someone helping themselves to the box, but it seems my pervious owner was just very unlucky in that sense.

 

[JJH]

If someone steals your top box and it’s keyd alike to your bike they could use it to make/procure a key for your steering lock. I know that most bikes these days have a chip in them but being able to unlock the steering lock without breaking it must have some value to a thief. JJH

 

[theoneandonly]

i drill and bolt them on now , after ...i lost an empty one coming home from work one night.

 

[Vern]

There was a spate of thefts quite a few years ago. One carries a walking stick or pole of some sort and another carries a length of webbing with a loop in the end of it. Wrap the webbing around the box,thread the stick through it and twist. Nice top box off the bike,that's why mine are bolt on. If you have a top box and a sat nav bracket on your bike,chances are the satnav is in the top box,along with helmet, gloves and anything else you leave behind when you park up

 

[richardbd]

I have never had a top box stolen. However, I vote that they should all be pinched because all top boxes are abominations (even mine)

Show me a photo of a bike that was ever improved(visually or handling-wise) by the addition of a big plastic crate, 2' behind and 2' above the rear wheel...

 

[KickStarter]

I have never had a top box stolen. However, I vote that they should all be pinched because all top boxes are abominations (even mine)

Show me a photo of a bike that was ever improved(visually or handling-wise) by the addition of a big plastic crate, 2' behind and 2' above the rear wheel...

Sadly I agree with you.
Dispite having the bike for over a year I rarely used the top box, but after a packet of raw chicken opened in my backpack on my way home from the shop, I started using the topbox for groceries... and well it's just so much easier..

But yes it looks like shite, and I feel like a commuter.. ..but then that's exactly what I am...

 

[KickStarter]

Cheers guys, think I'll bolt it on, easy enough.. ..just means it's never coming off

 

[theoneandonly]

I have never had a top box stolen. However, I vote that they should all be pinched because all top boxes are abominations (even mine)

Show me a photo of a bike that was ever improved(visually or handling-wise) by the addition of a big plastic crate, 2' behind and 2' above the rear wheel...

i bet you leave panniers on with nothing in them. topboxes give you the ability to carry things without making the bike wider . most of my bikes have topboxs fitted

 

[richardbd]

i bet you leave panniers on with nothing in them. topboxes give you the ability to carry things without making the bike wider . most of my bikes have topboxs fitted

Wrong.

I have a different solution - carry less shit...

 

[Gavla04GS]

So my question is this, has anyone else heard of, or worries about theft of the top box?

I first yielded for a top box fifteen years ago with a Givi V46 on my ZX-12R. Rarely took it off the bike when I parked up.
Had same model box fitted on my Tiger 1050 and subsequently the three GS’s I’ve owned.
I was at the BSB test last March at Snetterton and left my lid in it whilst there, no issues.

 

[Chalky723]

Never had a top box nicked or even molested in over 25 years of commuting into London. My current one is metal & bolted on so, as people say, probably easier to nick my bike (please do, I fancy a different one )

D

 

[theoneandonly]

Wrong.

I have a different solution - carry less shit...

i use a bike 95% of the time , i did 2k miles in my car last year , 15-18k on bikes . do tell how i do less shopping on my bike.

 

[richardbd]

i use a bike 95% of the time , i did 2k miles in my car last year , 15-18k on bikes . do tell how i do less shopping on my bike.

fair comment