Boosting with power tools

Losing a motorcycle to thieves is perhaps one of the worst things that can happen to a rider. It's painful because many still buy motorcycles on installment basis, meaning that the owner will have to keep on paying for a bike they no longer have. Even if a rider does catch thieves in the act, protecting their motorcycle could be dangerous as the criminals could have guns.

While most of us take extra precautions, like installing locks or alarms, some thieves have become creative when it coms to boosting a bike. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple screwdriver to unlock the key slot. Some simply load the entire bike onto a getaway van to worry about carefully unlocking it later on. Whichever the modus, the objective is to take the bike as quickly and as quietly as possible to avoid being detected or getting caught.

Not in the UK. In a video that was shared by one rider, the thieves didn't seem to care about the noise they were making when stealing a blue Yamaha Xmax scooter at 4AM in Ewell, near London. 

The thieves used an angle grinder. Yes, the same one used in construction sites to cut off steel bars and other sturdy materials.

Even though the owner of the Xmax had locked his scooter’s steering and put a security chain designed to take at least 5 minutes to cut, the thieves still managed to bypass all that and steal the scooter.

What’s surprising is that, with all the noise that the angle grinder generated at 4AM, everyone, including the neighbors and the owner himself, were all oblivious to what was happening outside. The CCTV also revealed that it took the thieves more than 5 minutes to do their thing, which should’ve been more than enough to wake the owners and their neighbors.

Scooter theft continues to be a big problem in the UK, with authorities warning owners to avoid using cheap locks. Yet it seems even more secure anti-theft measures stand little chance against very determined thieves.

Do you think Pinoy thieves would be brazen enough to pull off a similar heist in this country?