Motorcycle Thieves Burn Vintage Motorcycle After Demanding 1,000 Ransom

There’s a lot of old and barbaric punishments for certain crimes that most people in our ever-softening current society would consider to be too cruel or unjust by today’s standards. One such practice is cutting off a thief’s hand(s), which I think can be quite appropriate depending on what was stolen.

Thieves will always be out there, looking for that (in)opportune moment when we good-hearted, trusting people happen to let our guard down. But then again, sometimes there’s no amount of precaution one can take to deter some sort of thieving bastard from taking something that doesn’t belong to them.

Earlier this month, a group of youth scumbags in the Bristol, UK area stole a vintage 1951 Triumph Thunderbird right out of the owner’s garage. The bike is claimed to be worth between £7,000 to £10,000, and after bragging about the theft on social media, the thieves threatened to set the bike on fire unless the owner paid up a ransom of £1,000.

Before the Triumph’s owner even had a chance to plea with the scumbags, it was too late. The bike was burned and the thieves wrote the victim, “Told u give me a grand but you didn’t listen rude boy,” continuing on to say, “Uno the drill, don’t pay gets burnt.”

Fortunately, several members of the Bristol bike gang have been caught and prosecuted over the past year, however this latest account shows the thieves are still very much active. Everyone at some point has had something stolen from them, and that helpless feeling of being taken advantage of is one of the most infuriating emotions of all.

I’ve never had a motorcycle stolen from me, let alone an almost 70-year-old bike that undoubtedly possesses more than just monetary value, but if I ever caught the person(s) who did such a thing, only to destroy it for their own amusement, I’d go Liam Neeson on their ass by serving up my own slice of justice before notifying the cops.

Fortunately, reports say the owner of the 1951 Thunderbird thinks the burned motorcycle can be restored to its previous condition, which adds some sort of sense of relief, however justice is yet to be had. You can read more about the story from the Bristol Post here and here.

At 28, I may still be young, but what some of the world’s youth, both in the U.S. and abroad, is getting into these days is ridiculous and downright shameful, yet we somehow find a way to celebrate it on the internet more often than not, and allow them to get away with it. And what’s worse, is that a lot of impressionable youths don’t know any better, look up to and aspire to this shit, thinking it’s okay.

Take for example many of these “wheelie gangs” and “12 o’clock boy-types” who cause accidents, traffic and law-defying mayhem across America while riding more often than not, stolen motorcycles. Check your local Craigslist for how many different stolen or “keep an eye out for X motorcycle” ads there are out there. I’m not saying every one of those bikes are stolen, but I doubt the guy running red lights on that raced-out dirtbike on city streets with no helmet and only a bandana covering his face is the same guy riding it at the track.

Anyway, I don’t want to rant on any longer because I’m quickly veering off on a tangent – I digress. I just want to say, stay vigilant and keep your bike/helmet/motorcycle valuables safe, because you never know when some parasite might be be watching and preying on your good-hearted nature.