By Talya Adams

The past two weeks have been incredibly stressful. It all started on a Thursday night when my license plate was stolen off my bike while parked in a garage that I pay way too much money for in the first place. A garage where I purposefully hide my bike behind a pillar to deter unwanted attention from potential riff raff, and keep a wheel lock on at all times. None of those things mattered though as my license plate was still stolen.

The reason I decided to pay a monthly charge to park in a private garage is because my motorcycle kept being vandalized while parked on the street. After a few incidents added up to more than I was willing to keep paying in repairs, I decided to move my bike into a more secure situation. So, you can imagine my frustration with this theft and the damages sustained to my license plate mount.

I was instructed by the parking attendant to file a police report as soon as possible and to change my parking location to a perceived safer location within the garage. After over half an hour attempting to get in touch with the closest police department via phone, I decided to drive down to the station and file my report in person. This took about an hour, and afterwards I had a document to show police in case I was pulled over while driving without a license plate. This report would become vital during the next two weeks.

Why two weeks? Well, it’s the earliest the DMV could schedule me for an appointment. Unfortunately, I didn’t have spare time to risk walking into the DMV without an appointment, as the lines generally mean you are there for hours.

During the time before my appointment, I still had to drive to work, and I was of course stopped by the police. It seems even with a police report, they still didn’t believe I wasn’t driving a stolen motorcycle. I had my information run more times than I’m comfortable admitting, but it was definitely annoying.

In the end, my replacement license ended up costing me $22 despite the police report. Nothing is free in CA!

My spirits are higher now since I have a plate on my bike. I’m less paranoid around cops but concerned more about the well-being of my motorcycle while parked. I’m at a point where I have no idea what more I can do to keep it safe. I’m sure I’ll spend the next few weeks brainstorming ideas on the matter.

Hope my tale of misfortune helps someone else.

Stay safe in these streets!