Last Friday afternoon Mrs Ridaz called me to to say the mancave had received some unwanted visitors having first through I had been stupid enough to leave the doors open overnight.
I got home to find one of the the door locks and handle smashed and the doors damage from them being ripped open. On closer inspection inside the cave it appears I got very lucky with nothing at all missing. They had lifted the covers off the front of a couple of bikes (Ducati Paso 906 and XS500) which leads me to believe that either they were disturbed or this this was a targeted break with a clear 'prize' in mind.
I have talked with a few neighbours, one of which recalls hearing what he believed sounded like a flat bed truck parked alongside his house around 4 am that morning and that he had looked out of the window a few times but could not see anything. Another house over the road has CCTV pointing in this area and I have been trying to see the people who lie there to ask them to check.
North Yorkshire police have been brilliant. I hear stories of a lack of police interest etc but I cannot fault them. They offered an officer to come visit but I declined as I didn't feel the need for reassurance. They sent out a CSI team who dusted for prints (none found) and took away the broken handle and lock as they can get a 'print' of the mole grips used from the damage found.
The doors were made secure/repaired that night through the insurance company and an assessor is coming out on Weds to survey any further damage to the doors which are slightly bent out of shape. I'm £200 down currently with the excess to pay.
My gut instinct tells me this was targeted towards the TTR, and even more so as a number of similar attacks, many successful have been reported in a closed Facebook group I recently joined for off road riding. I may be wrong but have since left that group anyway as a precaution.
In all a sad event but I got really lucky and will only now be beefing up the security but as is often the case, this is a reaction to an attempt and too late.
If you only take one thing away from this post then please let it be to check your own security and ask yourself if it is enough.
Martin (other Admin are available) can you re-title this to take away my 2nd post comments please. The forum never lets me start a thread with pics attached.
