Modern Buddy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZhiybM4BJI

Last Sunday my Buddy was stolen along with about $500 of gear including my helmet, jacket and gps.

Obviously I did my best to protect my Buddy from theft by locking it to a pole, locking the steering column and locking the front tire with a disk break lock but none of that stopped the thieves from stealing it.

I've filed a police report and so far nothing has showed up, not even a lead. I thought it'd be pretty easy to find a bright red scooter with Florida plates but who knows if it's even in one piece.

I've been staying positive and making other moves while I wait to see what the police come up with but I'm find myself being a little less hopeful as the days go by.

Fortunately, I have Allstate insurance and lots of great agents working to resolve this situation as smoothly as possible. I've given them all the information they need to process the claim and they think it will most likely be a total loss since scooters are hardly recovered.

Thus far they've offered me about $3,000 in the event that I need to replace my Buddy but it cost about $3,200 not including the almost $1000 worth of aftermarket parts and the gear that was in it at the time of the theft.

If you didn't know this, but I've been paying for the tour out of my own pocket using scholarship money I receive to pay for my cost of living. Since I'm living on the road the funds are disbursed just as if I were living in Miami. Which basically means that I can't afford to replace my Buddy and equipment on my own.

So I am reaching out to you in hopes that you can donate some money to U R Awesome Inc. that will be used to keep this World Kindness Tour going. If you're interested in helping me/us out please make a web donation by visiting https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?c ... U9DJ36XC2W or by visiting http://URAwesome.org and clicking the donation button.

If you're interested in making a cash, check, or in-kind donation please contact me to make arrangements.

Any assistance you provide will be greatly appreciated.

With a heavy heart I thank you in advance for your help my friend.

Much love,
Kemy Joseph

This is awful!

Someone should alert a few media sources, get the story out. Your ride *is* awesome. To have it interrupted like this is truly sad.

URAwesome wrote:I've been paying for the tour out of my own pocket using scholarship money I receive to pay for my cost of living.

Which organization provided the scholarship funds, and what was the amount?

Kemy, where was it stolen?

When you filed the report did you ask if it might have been moved by order of the police for some reason?

What a bummer.

Why did you lock your scooter to that dinky little sign post when there were larger things to lock to nearby?

I'm surprised they didn't just pull the sign out of the ground and take the scooter, chain and everything.

It's easy to knock those kinds of signs down and it takes only seconds to load a bike as small as a buddy into a truck or van.

I am so sorry to hear this. I'm even more sorry to see that it must have happened up here in my territory, the great Pacific Northwest. Kemy's latest updates were in Portland. Sounded like he was getting ready to head north to Seattle, and I'm guessing it happened somewhere between here and there. I'll certainly keep an eye out for a red Buddy with Florida plates. That would indeed be a rarity around here. As for the insurance money and the cost of replacing it, I'd suggest looking for a used scooter. A quick perusal of Portland Craigslist actually shows a handful of decent looking used Buddys for sale that fit well within your insurance payout, if you happen to still be in this area. So sorry this happened.....

Wow. Total Suckage.

I have a bunch of "used" gear if you need any.
Just let me know what size and where to send it.

I would hope Genuine would give you a steep discount on one....

Genuine donated the first one.

This is really a bummer. Sorry to hear about it, Kemy. When I can, I'll make a donation.

Kate

Really?

That's from the realm of total bastards. I really wanted to see how THAT buddy performed over the length of the tour!

Between insurance and ourselves I'm sure we'll get you going again in no time.

Let's still hope it gets recovered!

I don't want to give Allstate any bad vibes, but at least the racks and stuff, shouldn't they cover it? I know Geico say's they'll cover 2k worth of accessories and gear, excluding performance parts.

skully93 wrote:I don't want to give Allstate any bad vibes, but at least the racks and stuff, shouldn't they cover it? I know Geico say's they'll cover 2k worth of accessories and gear, excluding performance parts.

It depends on whether he had accessory coverage on the policy. I have that on my Progressive policy and, when I crashed, they paid for everything I could document including helmet, gloves, jacket, windshield and deadlight adapter. For anyone else, if you don't have accessory coverage, get it and keep good documentation (receipts!) for everything you add to your scooter. It's well worth it.

pdxrita wrote:

skully93 wrote:I don't want to give Allstate any bad vibes, but at least the racks and stuff, shouldn't they cover it? I know Geico say's they'll cover 2k worth of accessories and gear, excluding performance parts.

It depends on whether he had accessory coverage on the policy. I have that on my Progressive policy and, when I crashed, they paid for everything I could document including helmet, gloves, jacket, windshield and deadlight adapter. For anyone else, if you don't have accessory coverage, get it and keep good documentation (receipts!) for everything you add to your scooter. It's well worth it.

How much of those accessory do they actually cover?

My policy claimed 3k$ of covered accessories but when it came time to pay they only paid out for 33% of the value :/

Lokky wrote:

pdxrita wrote:

skully93 wrote:I don't want to give Allstate any bad vibes, but at least the racks and stuff, shouldn't they cover it? I know Geico say's they'll cover 2k worth of accessories and gear, excluding performance parts.

It depends on whether he had accessory coverage on the policy. I have that on my Progressive policy and, when I crashed, they paid for everything I could document including helmet, gloves, jacket, windshield and deadlight adapter. For anyone else, if you don't have accessory coverage, get it and keep good documentation (receipts!) for everything you add to your scooter. It's well worth it.

How much of those accessory do they actually cover?

My policy claimed 3k$ of covered accessories but when it came time to pay they only paid out for 33% of the value :/

I'm sure that also varies depending on what your policy says. In my case, they gave me 100% of what they determined was replacement value for the items I claimed. From what I can tell, on things like my jacket, gloves and helmet, they basically Googled them for current prices. I felt if was pretty fair. When I asked for my deadlight adaptor to be covered, I gave them the receipt and they added that full cost. I suspect I could have gotten more for the jacket, helmet and gloves if I had provided receipts.

pdxrita wrote:
I'm sure that also varies depending on what your policy says. In my case, they gave me 100% of what they determined was replacement value for the items I claimed. From what I can tell, on things like my jacket, gloves and helmet, they basically Googled them for current prices. I felt if was pretty fair. When I asked for my deadlight adaptor to be covered, I gave them the receipt and they added that full cost. I suspect I could have gotten more for the jacket, helmet and gloves if I had provided receipts.

After my accident I have searched far and wide for an insurance willing to insure me at replacement cost, but all policies they offered me were for 'fair market value'.

Lokky wrote:

pdxrita wrote:I'm sure that also varies depending on what your policy says. In my case, they gave me 100% of what they determined was replacement value for the items I claimed. From what I can tell, on things like my jacket, gloves and helmet, they basically Googled them for current prices. I felt if was pretty fair. When I asked for my deadlight adaptor to be covered, I gave them the receipt and they added that full cost. I suspect I could have gotten more for the jacket, helmet and gloves if I had provided receipts.

After my accident I have searched far and wide for an insurance willing to insure me at replacement cost, but all policies they offered me were for 'fair market value'.

Replacement cost for gear is generally the full retail price because you can't buy used. Vehicles depreciate, so they give you a price based on age, condition and mileage—what the insurer thinks it will cost to replace your scooter with one as close to it as possible.

You can get is "gap insurance." Costs more, but should the vehicle need replacement, it will cover the difference between the depreciated value and the cost of a brand new vehicle.

so sorry to hear this!!!

ericalm wrote:You can get is "gap insurance.

My CU requires gap on our car loans with any LTV of over 80%. It's a one time up front fee though and not a monthly payment adjustment.

reading this posting sickens me...I am so sorry that this happened to you considering the cause you were championing; it is great that you wish to continue this endeavor with public support, but if the insurace coverage isn't going to replace the vast majority of what was stolen it might be more prudent to call it a day and take pride in what you did accomplish vs what you planned to do

Or everyone could do what I did and toss in some sheckles, then he can continue!

I am so sorry to hear about this! What a crappy turn of events for such a heartfelt adventure. I hope there is an equally wonderful turn of events to turn this back around.

Your helmet, jacket and GPS as well as the aftermarket stuff and trip interruption should all covered by the Allstate policy. PDXRita's suggestion of going used makes good sense money-wise here that way you won't be out of pocket in the end result. There's a lot of awesome used scoot buys out there. Inconvenience aside (and that does stink) you might actually come out ahead money-wise here.

sooo . . . whatever happened with this?

not sure! I check out the main site for updates but he hasn't mentioned it in a while.

I was wondering the same thing. I can't donate unless had happens to be my size in gear... I still have a bed and kitchen for him, but I'm pretty sure he was still somewhere on the west coast.

Kemy, what's going on? Hope something's under way. Good luck!

From his blog, it looks like he's back on the road sans scooter.

Blog post of 8/31 states that he was able to procure a 220i and new gear five weeks after the Buddy was stolen and is now back on the road.

Hey guys, I apologize for not responding to this thread sooner.

Thank you all for you well wishes and support! As you may know, I was able to replace my Buddy with a Blur thanks to The Genuine Scooter Company, Allstate and several donors. The process took about 5/6 weeks and in the meantime, I got a rental car, which allowed me to keep the tour going.

Besides losing my Buddy, the worst parts of that experience were losing my gear, which I had to replace on my own, and feeling like I had been violated. The best parts were, getting a Blur plus better gear and feeling the support of you all as well as my friends and family.

In my toughest moments, I was reminded that I had so much love in my life that there was no need to be upset. So I focused my energy on being kind and was able to make the most of the situation; which, helped me gain a deeper sense of trust in the idea that everything is working out as it needs to.

Again, thank you very much for all your love, support and well wishes. Much Love My Friends. Be safe out there and keep the kindness in motion.

Ps. Here a video I made about the experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkqfLnO66iw. Enjoy

Hugs to you, Kemy!