Cutting a long story short, they whacked the bars to break the steering lock, appear to have tried to wheel it forward (presumably into a waiting van), found it had a disk lock on and abandoned it. Maybe they were attracting attention, it was a busy street in broad daylight.
The casting around the barrel broke, and the steering lock pin was bent. I couldn't get the key to turn because of the bent pin (so couldn't start the bike), so called the RAC out, who took me and the bike home on a truck.
So, opinions please (and sympathy, if you feel so inclined )
I'm guessing as the entire casting would need replacing, that this isn't going to be cheap to fix properly. I'm also thinking if I take the thing apart, remove the steering lock mechanism altogether, and am theoretically left with a working barrel, but no steering lock, I'm not really losing much.
Logic being, the steering lock is pretty useless anyway if someone can just whack the bars to break it.
Insurance - I have an excess of about £400, so it may be that it's not worth claiming for, and losing my no claims into the bargain. I made a claim for theft 2 years ago, so I'm probably not their favourite client anyway.
What would you do? I'm thinking to do a quick fix and leave it as it is. Everything else works, as far as I can see.
Have to say, I've never had a bike that has caused me so much grief. If I have to fix it, I'll take it as a sign and get rid of it.
The casting around the barrel broke, and the steering lock pin was bent. I couldn't get the key to turn because of the bent pin (so couldn't start the bike), so called the RAC out, who took me and the bike home on a truck.
So, opinions please (and sympathy, if you feel so inclined )
I'm guessing as the entire casting would need replacing, that this isn't going to be cheap to fix properly. I'm also thinking if I take the thing apart, remove the steering lock mechanism altogether, and am theoretically left with a working barrel, but no steering lock, I'm not really losing much.
Logic being, the steering lock is pretty useless anyway if someone can just whack the bars to break it.
Insurance - I have an excess of about £400, so it may be that it's not worth claiming for, and losing my no claims into the bargain. I made a claim for theft 2 years ago, so I'm probably not their favourite client anyway.
What would you do? I'm thinking to do a quick fix and leave it as it is. Everything else works, as far as I can see.
Have to say, I've never had a bike that has caused me so much grief. If I have to fix it, I'll take it as a sign and get rid of it.