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HELP! Passport, driv lic, bike paperwork stolen! HELP! Passport, driv lic, bike paperwork stolen!
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 14 Nov 2003
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HELP! Passport, driv lic, bike paperwork stolen!
Unbelievable, lockable top box pannier stolen of fell off today travelling from Santa Cruz - 150 miles down hwy1 in big sur -stopped for gas, filled her up, got a coffee, approached the bike and noticed it was gone!

Laptop and clothes, all gone. Anyone know how long it might take to get a UK passport re-issued, I have a copy of that and other paperwork luckily.

Will call embassy tommorrow, site says 10-12 days turnaround!! Got a spanish course starting in 10 days in Mexico - just to add pressure to my poor head.

Thanks for any help, going to drink some tea and chill out.

Brian
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  #2  
Old 14 Nov 2003
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"Stuff" happens huh?!

Kind of sounds like it just fell off. Thieves don't usually try to take the whole thing - they don't want to be seen carrying a big motorcycle box around! Go for a drive, you might get lucky.

Tip re documents - scan them all and put the .jpg's in your webmail file - if the docs ALL get lost/bike stolen and all copies etc gone, just login and download and print.

I suspect the Spanish class folks will be kind enough to reschedule in the circumstances. Worth a try.

Good luck,

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  #3  
Old 14 Nov 2003
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Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

You might find that the loss of the passport is not as great a problem for border crossings Canada-America-Mexico as you may first think. It is possible that if you have sufficient other picture ID (driver's licence, etc.) and photocopies of your passport, the Mexicans will let you in if you explain what happened. Reason I say this is because Canadians and Americans don't need passports to enter Mexico, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine a border official letting you in also, because having people present a passport at the land border crossing into Mexico is the exception, not the routine.

Whether the Americans would let you back into the USA or not is another question...
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  #4  
Old 14 Nov 2003
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You could try to back track to your last stop and try to find the missing panner. Unlickly, but possable. Also call the local sheriff office in the counties you went through. Someone may have found it and turned it in. Again not likly, but it is worth a shot. I recentl dropped my ATM card and it was turned in, so don't lose hope yet.

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  #5  
Old 20 Nov 2003
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Thanks for all your help guys.

Thanks to a HU meet last year in Derbyshire, I did scan my docs to a safe location on the internet. Thanks Grant, it made my doc retrieval speedier. Got my passport back today - 4 days after I reported it stolen from the consulate. Now just got to wait for the driving lic. and registration docs.

Anyone know if a need the international drivers lic. to get through Mexico to Argentina (I know it is a lot of countries to consider)

Been calling the Highway patrol every day - no sign of it yet.

Cheers again,

Brian
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  #6  
Old 20 Nov 2003
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Happy to help Brian!

Good to hear the idea works too! You won't need the international drivers licence - it's good to have, but unlikely to need it. Get it when you can, but don't sweat it. So long as you have your national drivers licence and registration - errmmm photocopies that is - you'll be fine. NO need for the originals unless you've really blown it big time and in jail... and probably not even then.

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Old 20 Nov 2003
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By the way, the documents should always be on YOU - as you discovered, the container can be lost, or someone could steal the whole bike.

Keep a muggers wallet in an easily accessible and obvious pocket to protect the real docs, (well hidden in a very slim wallet under your clothing,) and short of a strip search that's the safest you can get.

The loss of the laptop is a bummer - I have heard of other top boxes coming off, and even saw one fly off over a big tope in Ecuador, right past the shocked rider.

I like to keep my laptop in the saddlebag, in close to the bike. Less risk of crash damage or loss.

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  #8  
Old 20 Nov 2003
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To get an international drivers lic here in the states go to a AAA office with two passport photo's that you can get taken anywhere. It costs about $20.00 US if I remember right. I'm not sure if they issue you one since your not a US citizen, but it wont hurt to ask if you want one.

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  #9  
Old 20 Nov 2003
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throughout my trip (incl the americas) i pretty much exclusively used colour photocopies (which were laminated) of bike reg doc and dl (i had one of the old pink, non photo licences)...

if your scans are of high enough resolution and you find a good enough printer, then you might not need to wait for new originals.

just about every border person was so desinterested/ uninformed as to what the real mccoys look like, nobody ever checked.

good luck
ChrisB
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Old 20 Nov 2003
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Did you ever check with Cal-Trans or the county maintence crews about finding your box? They do the maintence and clean-up on the highways and do not communicate with the police about lost and found. Just a thought. Sorry for you troubles.

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  #11  
Old 23 Nov 2003
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Thanks for all your help and kind words guys.

I've taken ALL your advice and have bought a security wallet, p/copied docs - and am now armed with a sense of security that I have not posessed before - even when travelling around Asia!

Got all my docs back - bar one and am picking up a new notebook on in a couple of days. So all in all, back to speed 10 days after it happend.

Will call the Trans-co road guys on Monday, got their number.

Getting colder along the south Cal coast, so next week I'll be southbound, Go Go Go!

Brian

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  #12  
Old 14 Dec 2003
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My god, would you believe it, the givi box has turned up on Santa Cruz broadwalk. I got a mail from the british consulate in San Fran....apparently it was open when found and the only thing missing is the notebook pc. No suprise there then.

So it either fell off that day when I set out from Santa Cruz, or it WAS nicked 3 hours later from Big Sur and then dumped in SC. Hmmmmmm I've heard a lot of stories recently about the fact that givi make poo racks.....
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Old 15 Dec 2003
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addendum/correction to my earlier note about "other top boxes coming off" - they were all Givi...

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