{"id":24487,"date":"2023-11-22T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T08:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=24487"},"modified":"2023-11-22T09:57:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T17:57:02","slug":"physical-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/11\/22\/physical-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Security"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Mike Huber<\/h6>\n

Okay, so having served in the United States Army I am always aware of my surroundings, my gear, and most importantly physical security of these items.\u00a0 This is even more true nowadays as a fulltime traveler on my motorcycle.\u00a0 This involves not leaving sensitive items on the motorcycle overnight and parking it near me (usually line of sight) or in a garage.\u00a0 These habits have kept my gear safe over the past six years of traveling, not just in the United States but across the globe.<\/p>\n

Upon waking up in Baltimore on November 2nd<\/sup> and looking out the window from my bedside I instantly was shocked to see that my BMW GS1250 was not in the parking spot where I had left it the day prior.\u00a0 My heart sank.\u00a0 Not only was the bike gone but so was a lot of my gear.\u00a0 Non-sensitive items thankfully were inside my friend\u2019s house where I was staying.\u00a0 I combed the parking spot to see if I could find any pieces from the bike or any type of clue as to what happened.\u00a0 There was nothing.\u00a0 The bike was just gone.<\/p>\n

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I was devastated to say the least.\u00a0 The GS1250 still had its temporary tags on it; that\u2019s how new it was. What hurt me even more was the panniers with dozens of stickers identifying where I had traveled.\u00a0 They were gone along with some sentimental items from the Army that were kept locked in them.<\/p>\n

Within five minutes of calling the Baltimore police, three officers showed up, took the report, and fully understood my pain.\u00a0 They issued an alert for the missing motorcycle, which was my home.<\/p>\n

It only took two hours and my phone rang.\u00a0 \u00a0They had found the BMW two blocks away. I quickly ran down to meet the officer and was anxious to view what was left of the bike (if anything) and my gear.\u00a0 The bike had a few thousand dollars in damage, mostly from whoever took it snapping the steering lock to push it into this dark alley. Amazingly, most of my gear was intact, but the panniers were destroyed from the thieves prying them open with a crowbar (I\u2019m assuming).\u00a0 Some of the gear was still hanging off the panniers and some of it was thrown all over the alley.\u00a0 Fortunately, my losses only included my raingear, air mattress, tool kit, and my fishing pole. I asked the officer to alert the Coast Guard as obviously the thieves were going to blow up the air mattress and go fishing in Chesapeake Bay. \u00a0Even in times of darkness I find humor to lighten the mood, if for nothing else but my own sanity.<\/p>\n

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So the police found my bike, but it wouldn\u2019t start due to the steering lock being destroyed.\u00a0 That began a painful day of finding a local BMW dealer, calling a tow truck, and beginning the paperwork for the insurance claim. I was still extremely distraught and depressed over the whole incident, and rightfully so. Over the years my mindset has changed from the \u201cwoe is me\u201d negative thinking to a more positive one of \u201cmaybe this is meant to be and had the bike not been taken I possibly could have been injured or killed in a wreck that day.\u201d\u00a0 It sounds cheesy, but I do believe this. Having a positive outlook helps take a bit of the pain away, even if momentarily.<\/p>\n

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Luckily for me I have incredible friends pretty much all over the world.\u00a0 The decision to rent a car was a no brainer.\u00a0 It would be a fun way to kill a couple of weeks and Kia Kamp while the bike was being repaired.\u00a0 I could continue the \u201cMike Huber friends and family tour.\u201d\u00a0 This would not only occupy my time but reassure me that even though I was going through a difficult time, being surrounded by beautiful friends would provide the inspiration and confidence to move forward.\u00a0 This is not to say that a few times a day I don\u2019t feel an emptiness in my gut.\u00a0 Having traveled so much of the world and especially doing so by motorcycle where I am so exposed has provided much more good than bad throughout the years.\u00a0 If you get off your couch and go live sometimes bad things happen, but more often than not you meet wonderful people and build relationships with new friends for life.<\/p>\n

Lessons Learned<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly, this isn\u2019t the first time I had a motorcycle stolen.\u00a0 I had a brand new Suzuki GSXR750 stolen when I was in college at Boston University.\u00a0 That moto was never recovered, but I immediately bought a caliper lock for my next motorcycle.\u00a0 This provided comfort, but it would not stop three or four big guys from simply picking the bike up and throwing it in the back of a truck. I stopped using the caliper lock when I bought my first BMW GS (in hindsight, this was not a good move).\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think stolen BMWs were in as much demand as the Japanese motos.<\/p>\n

There are motion alarms, airtags, and a ton of other security devices out there that I am sure I will be writing about in the near future.\u00a0 For now the bike is back and the panniers have a clean canvas to start over and begin adding new stickers.\u00a0 My travels will continue after a brief hiatus as we await BMW parts from the Motherland.<\/p>\n

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