Future Security at Maxton - Possibilities ?

[Cajun Kid]

Hearing about two racers having there bikes stolen should make us all mad.  Maxton has a very long record and history of things staying safe and secure. But folks these are very differant times we find ourselves in now and we all must adapt to the current situation.  I am not sure what the answer is , but I know we are all going to have to take additional security steps both for the items we leave at the track overnight and things we leave in our rigs at the motels in town.

One thing I would like to suggest is just "looking into the possibility" of hiring private security or off duty police to stay on site from dark till daylight on Friday and Saturday nights.

I know that will cost "something" but in the small towns here in NC  the going rate for off duty security from either the local police or private firms ranges from $12 to $20 per hour (so 9pm to 7am is 10 hours each night) even at $20 per hour for 20 total hours that is $400... I know we don't take in much $ and spending $400 more is alot.

So if we just raise the gate fee from $5 for a weekend admittance to just $6 would that cover it ?
(where else can fans/spectators etc. have so much fun for 2 days for only $6 ? heck that includes parking good food at reasonable prices and access to the pits,,, a great bargin in  my humble opinion)

I have no idea if between the excess crew and friends that come with us , and general public spectators ,,if we get 400 paying folks through the gate over an average event ??  if we do the math would at least seem to work ?  if all other assumptions are correct?

Just a thought..

Charles

[t russell]

I think that is being looked at.
terry

[Jerry O]

I agree with you Cajun. I can't think of one event you can go to and only pay 5 bucks for admission. I would be more than happy to pay more if it helps this from happening again. For us that don't know the guys that lost bikes, if you could post photos and info on them, we can keep a eye out. 

[MiltonP]

What approximate time and where were the bikes stolen from?  I didn't hear about it and I was camped in the main pit area close to the food tent from Thursday night on.  There were also campers down at the next block south Thursday night on.  The Bluebirds were in before us up North.

[Johntsi]

WOW, that is really disturbing.  What bikes where stolen?  We left a lot of stuff unlocked hell with laptops out because its always been safe we thought.  Hard part even with security is like at a car show you see someone pulling off in a car you have no idea that its not thiers.

[RansomT]

WOW, that is really disturbing.  What bikes where stolen?  We left a lot of stuff unlocked hell with laptops out because its always been safe we thought.  Hard part even with security is like at a car show you see someone pulling off in a car you have no idea that its not thiers.

This just blows my mind.  Over the past 7-8 years, on average I have attended 3 meets per season.  Of those 3 meets, I normally "camp" with my bike trailer 2 of those meets.  I have yet to experience anything would suggest "thieving".  As a matter of fact, camping at Maxton is normally one of the quietest times of my life.  I have left everything just out in the open with not a worry, until now.

[sockjohn]

I've never been to Maxton, so if there is a defined "entry" it would be relatively easy to setup a camera watching who comes and goes.  If the camera (or recording device) records the time it's a pretty easy thing to narrow down "who did" or who could have done it.

There are plenty of good and cheap cameras on the market, and many will run on 12V.

Hate to think it comes to something like this, but anything that announces to the general public that expensive things will be at a certain location and time attracts thieves.

Are people insuring their race bikes?  Even if they are not street legal?  I assume a stated value insurance policy would work.

[McRat]

Problem with insurance is that it covers money.  Sometimes money just comes up short. 

Long time ago, I had a bunch of tools and gadgets that I had made over a couple decades.  When they stole my rollaway out of my garage, they did cut me a check, but it was like someone took a part of my life.

One thing about thieves, they are usually stupid, so don't be too surprised if they show up at next event.

[MiltonP]

I plan on camping in the same spot each event and have a line of site on the entrance.  My generator was on the blink this event but I shouldn't have any issue with battery power to cover recording the entrance.  I have a sony handicam and remote camera that works off the av inputs that I used for in-car video on the miata but am not sure about the setting options for overnight coverage.  I don't like to think of the impact of the other obvious choice which is chaining the inside entrance off from 11pm to 6am or whatever.  And there has already been one comment that it can be hard to tell who is legitimate even in daylight.

[DahMurf]

From the conversations I've had, it appears the board is already looking into hiring security. A few of us familiar with this practice have suggested hiring the off duty local PD and I know the staff spoke with the PD that responded to the track about it as well. So for now, consider it being handled from that perspective.

The bike that was stolen from the track I believe to be an R1. The "kid" that runs it has been racing with us for the last few years and is affectionately known as "Hollywood" by some of the staff. For those of you on the start line after Bill's oil down he was 3rd in line to run after a car & vintage bike. IE he was the first metric bike to run & was held in front of the staging lanes. (hoping this will help some with a visual) I haven't come up with a picture yet but if I find one I'll post it. I believe he had it as a street/track bike so I'm hoping there is at least some insurance. The bike only had 3100 miles. He was pitted about 4 pits up from us. So basically he was in the section of pits between the tech/impound lane & the gas vendor facing the track. We had the corner opposite of the tech/impound so go 4 pits towards short shut down & that's where they were. There were other race bikes, pit bikes & tools left out that were untouched so that one must have had appeal. They do run an open trailer so I'm not sure if or how well the bike was locked down. I was also told that another trailer had its lock cut but the bike its self was also locked and that's what prevented it from being stolen. I was told that it was down in the section near the food vendor.

There is more then one way to get into the track so a lock down I don't believe would be practical. It's time for us all to start locking down our stuff to the best of our abilities. The venue has grown & become public so we now need to step it up. It's devastatingly unfortunate that we had to learn this lesson as the result of a theft.

We've been racing here 9 years and we have heard of thefts occurring off track at the hotels & such but to my knowledge this is the first theft from our track.

I am deeply disappointed.
Debbie

[DahMurf]

Here ya go. I didn't realize that RChop captured a pic of the stolen bike. I'm used to looking at it from the top side. you can't really see but he cut the tank/tank cover down for this meet. It really has me wondering if it was grabbed with stunting in mind.    It's bike number 9443.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I think this is the bike.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  Okay, Deb, you and Randy beat me to it, but here's a pair of photos:

[Rchop]

I'll join in here...here's a link to a larger/clearer pic http://www.frsengineering.com/m17.JPG

[White Monster]

I heard one bike was taken from a locked trailer at the Hamilton.
We can't afford security for all the hotels !!
 

[sabat]

That really sucks. Rick has been coming to Maxton for at least 2 years, and is always working hard on his bike and technique to squeak out more speed. I feel terrible for him, he must be out of his mind.

The bike is a Yamaha R1 in case that wasn't mentioned before.