Racer Nate Kern, riding a BMW R1200S at California Speedway this weekend for Las Vegas BMW, says that an Ohlins rear shock was stolen from his checked bag when he flew out of Atlanta. “My Ohlins rear shock was stolen out of my bag that was checked-in and they (Transportation Security Administration) left a ‘courtesy’ note saying we checked your bag and yadda yadda…” wrote Kern in an e-mail to roadracingworld.com. “The two shocks were bubble-wrapped individually, a front shock and a rear shock. The front is worthless as the BMW is the only bike that has a front shock. The rear is an actual normal-looking Ohlins shock. It just has what I needed for this weekend’s WERA West race. Or at least in the ballpark!” At Fontana, Kern said that he has scheduled a meeting with a TSA supervisor at the Atlanta airport upon his return to the east coast. For this weekend’s Fastrack practice and WERA West races, Kern borrowed a rear shock from Brian Parriott and the San Jose BMW team. Kern may have actually run afoul of government regulations regarding the transportation of pressurized articles aboard passenger planes, although if the shock was confiscated for that reason normally he would have been notified and possibly detained. Ohlins shocks carry pressurized nitrogen in the fluid reservoir, which is either mounted piggyback-style on the shock or mounted remotely and connected to the shock by a hydraulic line. No comment was available from TSA prior to post time. Las Vegas BMW is one of several BMW shops Kern has worked with in the last couple of years. Examples of pressurized Ohlins shock absorbers can be seen here: ~http://www.ohlins.com/Motorcycle/Products/HyperSport/tabid/66/Default.aspx~