57 motorcycles stolen from KTM’s Montreal warehouse | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

57 motorcycles stolen from KTM’s Montreal warehouse

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regder said:
I agree, the logistics just don't make a lot of sense to me. Though clearly they do to someone as this doesn't seem like an amateur job. The headache of arranging transport, shipping, finding a buyer(s) for that number of bikes.

If I was a bad guy, much easier and simpler with the same profit to steal a couple exotics and ship them to countries that would be friendly.
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Someone wanted a fleet of bikes for their country retreat? Only those in the inner circle would ever see them even though they remained in canada.
 
regder said:
I agree, the logistics just don't make a lot of sense to me. Though clearly they do to someone as this doesn't seem like an amateur job. The headache of arranging transport, shipping, finding a buyer(s) for that number of bikes.

If I was a bad guy, much easier and simpler with the same profit to steal a couple exotics and ship them to countries that would be friendly.
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Yep. A Lambo to UAE is a no-brainer.

A KTM to Bulgaria...? Not so much.
 
Where do you keep getting Bulgaria? Is it like the Oshawa of Europe or something?

None of the articles I've seen mention anything about a destination
 
bigpoppa said:
Where do you keep getting Bulgaria? Is it like the Oshawa of Europe or something?
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Most of the Western European countries are highly regulated. There is virtually no way you are registering a fake VIN on a stolen vehicle in countries like Switzerland or Germany.

However, some other countries in the former Eastern Bloc, have very loose, if any, rules around registration.

We spent some time riding through Bulgaria and we marveled at how many Mercedes-Benzes were on the road, for such a poor country. After some research we discovered that almost all of them were stolen from Western European countries because there are no rules or checks for registration in Bulgaria.

There's a funny fake billboard sign/meme for Bulgarian tourism that reads, "Come to Bulgaria! Your Merecedes-Benz is already here!"

bigpoppa said:
None of the articles I've seen mention anything about a destination
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It's mentioned right in the article that's in the first post:

maybe they’re already in a shipping container headed back to Europe, to be sold to mafiosos in countries less worried about law and order?
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Lightcycle said:
There are some special edition models on that list that would be a crying shame to be chopped up.
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Thieves don't cry or care about throwing everything but the plastics, suspension bits and some motor pieces. Everything else goes in the dumpster.
 
Dirty Frank said:
Hope this passes the insurers smell test.
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I don't really see a reason or motive for KTM to disappear their own inventory. In these times of constrained supply and high demand, those bikes wouldn't have stayed on the showroom floor for very long.

Also, insurance money won't even begin to cover all the post-sales parts and service revenue that those motorcycles would have netted the dealerships. Definitely a lost opportunity for add-on revenue for KTM.
 
Back in 1997 something like 37 Yamaha YZF600 in crates on a trailer plus 20 or so Ducati. They just stole the trailer. Found the trailer with Yamaha bikes 15 years or so years later Ducati bikes gone.

Burlington Cycle was robbed over a long weekend years back. Cut the phone power backed up a transport and filled it.
 
killvino said:
what I was thinking. at $10,000 ave per bike fire sale price, that's $570,000. Not sure transport costs, maybe someone in logistics could break it down.
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'You think the people responsible for this theft are paying regular rates for shipping..?
For all we know the shipping entity is a partner in this endeavor.
 
Off road is very big in Quebec and so is organized crime. If someone shows up at the back door of the little KTM dealer with a van full of plastics and a price tag of $5k, the struggling to pay bills owner will most likely hand over the cash.
 
There a very viable market for stolen vehicles that get snatched off the street in Toronto, stuck in a container and shipped to Africa, Middle East or Eastern Europe. Reports say a significant number of high end cars, SUVs and trucks ripped off in the GTA and other major cities suffer this fate. Many of these vehicle end up moving through the Montreal port as it is. If they can make money doing this for Highlanders they can make money on KTM's.
 
ReSTored said:
There a very viable market for stolen vehicles that get snatched off the street in Toronto, stuck in a container and shipped to Africa, Middle East or Eastern Europe. Reports say a significant number of high end cars, SUVs and trucks ripped off in the GTA and other major cities suffer this fate. Many of these vehicle end up moving through the Montreal port as it is. If they can make money doing this for Highlanders they can make money on KTM's.
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ReSTored said:
There a very viable market for stolen vehicles that get snatched off the street in Toronto, stuck in a container and shipped to Africa, Middle East or Eastern Europe. Reports say a significant number of high end cars, SUVs and trucks ripped off in the GTA and other major cities suffer this fate. Many of these vehicle end up moving through the Montreal port as it is. If they can make money doing this for Highlanders they can make money on KTM's.
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High end, yes. But of those 57 bikes:

(4) SX 50: MSRP $4,449
(3) SX 125: MSRP $8,949
(10) 150 XC-W TPI: MSRP $8,999
(3) MC 250F: MSRP $9,999
(6) EE 5: MSRP $5,299
(4) TXT Racing 300: MSRP: $9,499

And most of the rest are all under $14,000

If they have to sell them for under MSRP, this is hardly a treasure trove of high-margin inventory.

It's like they stole the wrong crates, and missed the ones marked 1290 Super Adventure R and RC8...
 
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Lightcycle said:
High end, yes. But of those 57 bikes:

(4) SX 50: MSRP $4,449
(3) SX 125: MSRP $8,949
(10) 150 XC-W TPI: MSRP $8,999
(3) MC 250F: MSRP $9,999
(6) EE 5: MSRP $5,299
(4) TXT Racing 300: MSRP: $9,499

And most of the rest are all under $14,000

If they have to sell them for under MSRP, this is hardly a treasure trove of high-margin inventory.
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You're thinking like a businessman, looking at invt. value, COGS, margins etc......, not like a thief with low or no overhead. They stole them, they paid nothing for them, even if they net $50,000 they're way ahead of where they started. Maybe they squeeze a bike or two in each container with the SUVs, so there's no incremental shipping cost.
 
ReSTored said:
You're thinking like a businessman, looking at invt. value, COGS, margins etc......, not like a thief with low or no overhead. They stole them, they paid nothing for them, even if they net $50,000 they're way ahead of where they started. Maybe they squeeze a bike or two in each container with the SUVs, so there's no incremental shipping cost.
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Point taken.
 
That explains the smoking hot deal I just got. No pun intended.
 
Not the first heist like this in Montreal. They emptied Harley Davidson Montreal out of dozens of bikes many years ago. They wouldn't do it if they didn't have a destination in mind. Montreal is full of mob and MC clubs with worldwide ties. Home of some of the worlds most spectacular heists.
 
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