Leaving your bike?

[tigertim20]

Where do you, if at all, leave your bike? I for one cringe if its out of my sight, maybe Im paranoid, or maybe its after at a place I used to do nightshift at, my boss and and I along with four other guys looked out the window as a van pulled up, two guys got out, and tried to lift the bosses custom chopper into the van. fortuntaly six angry men rather painfully outweighs 2 theiving men. Point is since then, I have a constant fear of leaving my baby anywhere I cant see it, or maybe im just a suspicious bastard. Went to the movies the other night, took the girl on the bike. was evening, and I found towards the end of the night that I was itching to go outside and make sure scarlet (the bike) was ok. I have personally had instances where I was working nights in town, and finished work at 4am to find my old bike on its side, with a suspicious "kick" dent on the tank, has happened more than once.
So my question is, at what point, if at all, do you begin to (irrationally????) fear leaving your bike?
I take no chances at all, I have an enourmous bedroom and a sliding door, and the bike gets wheeled into my room beside the bed at night and anytime its not in use (dont have a garage)

[DarkLord]

I try to leave it alone as little as possible. I hate going to malls and stuff now cos I have to leave the bike unattended, and once I came back to some chump and his kid sitting on it pretending to be Valentino Rossi. :angry2:

I don't get why these fuckers think it's ok to sit on your bike. How would they like it if I sat on their car?!? It's the last thing bikers should have to worry about. I don't mind leaving it in the carport at night, it's up a driveway and well hidden from view, but if I am going into town or eating lunch at a restaurant or something I try to park it where I can see it, so if anyone tries to sit on it, I'll catch them in the act and a ferocious ear bashing will come their way.

[tigertim20]

yeah I concur regarding arseholes sitting on it, I dont mind if a kids parent asks if the kid can look at it, hell in that instance I ask them if theyd like to sit on it while im there, but to sit ON someones bike is like me opening someones car and sitting IN it, imagine the respnse if you did that to some strangers car!!!! ignorant bastards

[jtzzr]

Park next to a bike that`s better than yours, or put a kick-arse lock on your bike. Tell your boss to as well.

[hedcase07]

like previous posts i too have little faith in mankind. Im paranoid enough about leaving my car, let alone my bike, Especially in mall car parks. short answer its not safe to leave any vehicle anywhere especially one that can fit in a van and be gone in 5 mins...
I find it is best to trust no one, which is kinda sad, maybe i have trust issues lmao.. Better to be safe that stranded..

[rosie631]

I am pretty paranoid about this. If i can't park the bike where I can see it and I'm going to be any length of time, i will choose to take the car. Pain in the arse on nice days when i would rather be on the bike. But better that than coming back to a stolen or damaged bike.

[Mr Triple]

I would never go into town and leave my bike at night where I could't see it. On the odd ocassion when I work late and may not finish till 10 or 11 at night I get the shits and the first thing I look for when I turn into our yard is the bike. Even though it's fairly well hidden I'm still not 100% happy with it being there.:oi-grr:

[MotoGirl]

I won't even take my bike to work because it would mean parking it on Tauranga's main street all day with a constant steam of foot traffic. I work on the fifth floor of a building that overlooks the motorcycle park but I still couldn't get down there fast enough if I saw someone touch the bike or climb onto it.

When it comes to posing at a pub or whatever, the bike is generally on the footpath right beside our table.

[YLWDUC]

I'm just not too keen on leaving her in the rain all day while I'm at work. Granted we don't have a problem with people sitting on it etc, but the rubbish truck might one day knock it over.

At the mall I'm more worried about the parking warden nazi's deciding that I can't park it on the kerb, or near the bicycle parking spots. Always leave it in gear with the steering lock on, but if I'm really worried (like night time, away from the bike) then I'd add the disk lock.

But I guess my current bike is only a Jap, non-supersport, so it doesn't attract too much attention. Horses for courses really

[MotoKuzzi]

It's the drawback to using a bike for shopping, commuting etc, I never feel happy when it's out of my sight.

[McDuck]

I hate it. Last year i rode up for the national highschool chamber music comp final. I ended up leaving the bike round the corner in a dark allyway, and i was scared. So much so i got up mid way through the concert and moved it.


A near by bouncer came over to me when i was taking the disk lock off and asked if i owned it and started asking questions about it (engine size, year, exact model etc) and said that sombody had alredy had a go at it.

If i go up this year i will leave the bike where i am staying and catch a bus/cab/KBer

[blossomsowner]

no different to having a flash car really, can get dented, keyed stolen etc. This is what big locks are for. Lock it to something solid.

Aside from that insurance helps. pointless using your bike if you are too scared to leave it alone for a while.

[McDuck]

no different to having a flash car really, can get dented, keyed stolen etc. This is what big locks are for. Lock it to something solid.

Aside from that insurance helps. pointless using your bike if you are too scared to leave it alone for a while.

But i dont care about a flash car, i do care about my not so flash bike (looks mint tho) also you cant get to the controls of a car when it is locked...

[shafty]

I won't even take my bike to work because it would mean parking it on Tauranga's main street all day with a constant steam of foot traffic. I work on the fifth floor of a building that overlooks the motorcycle park but I still couldn't get down there fast enough if I saw someone touch the bike or climb onto it.

When it comes to posing at a pub or whatever, the bike is generally on the footpath right beside our table.

Couldn't ya get a clear shot with a 303 from the 5th floor? :wari:

[breakaway]

Where do you, if at all, leave your bike? I for one cringe if its out of my sight, maybe Im paranoid, or maybe its after at a place I used to do nightshift at, my boss and and I along with four other guys looked out the window as a van pulled up, two guys got out, and tried to lift the bosses custom chopper into the van. fortuntaly six angry men rather painfully outweighs 2 theiving men. Point is since then, I have a constant fear of leaving my baby anywhere I cant see it, or maybe im just a suspicious bastard. Went to the movies the other night, took the girl on the bike. was evening, and I found towards the end of the night that I was itching to go outside and make sure scarlet (the bike) was ok. I have personally had instances where I was working nights in town, and finished work at 4am to find my old bike on its side, with a suspicious "kick" dent on the tank, has happened more than once.
So my question is, at what point, if at all, do you begin to (irrationally????) fear leaving your bike?
I take no chances at all, I have an enourmous bedroom and a sliding door, and the bike gets wheeled into my room beside the bed at night and anytime its not in use (dont have a garage)

This is why you have two bikes, one for weekend fun and another shitter that's barely worth $800 to take around to places where it might get stolen.

[RoadRacer04]

Every morning i wake up, get outa bed, head to toilet, take a piss and stand on tippy-toes to peer out the fan-light window to check if my bike is still there/Rubber side down. Each and every morning like clock work. I have looked out a couple of times to find it on its side (due to high wind/heavy rain).

[McWild]

I'm ok leaving mine in town during daylight and evening hours, because there are plenty of parks that get a lot of sidewalk traffic so I'm not worried there.

At uni I park in the central bike park, and I have enough trouble getting out of there with all the scooters anyway, plus it's right next to an in use building etc etc.

I would never leave it out on the street overnight.

If I've taken it somewhere I haven't been to and worked out parking for before, I go into full paranoia mode.
I've been known to, "just make sure the petrol tap is turned off" more than a little frequently.

[MarkH]

I started by parking the bike beside the garage - out of site from the road and semi-sheltered. But then I decided to move the car to the driveway and put the bike in the garage - I am much more comfortable with things this way.

[sunhuntin]

im relatively happy to leave my bike parked anywhere. whether thats outside warehouse when i did nightfill there, on the street while i walk up and down town and out in the driveway when i cant be arsed putting her in the garage.

only time ive ever felt nervous was 1: parking overnight in wellywood. was right in the middle of town, and i parked in a spot that had cars blocking the view of it from the footpath. and 2: on a dodgy as fuck street in dunedin. with that one, my main concern wasnt it getting ripped off etc, it was the angle of the street and whether shed fall over or not. lol. thankfully it wasnt windy. that was overnight as well.

[MotoGirl]

Couldn't ya get a clear shot with a 303 from the 5th floor? :wari:

Tempting idea, but our building doesn't have any opening windows! At one point we considered pointing the webcam in that direction so we could watch the area on our monitors (we are IT geeks).

[McDuck]

(we are IT geeks).

Isnt everybody on kb?

[newbould]

So to summarise we have to take the bike to bed with us instead of the girlfriend, lock it to the headboard with a big ass lock, hire a bouncer to watch over it get up every couple of hours to take a pee, check that she's still rubber side down and the petrol tap is turned off. Then we can sleep easy knowing all is well.

[Tubbsy]

Before reading this thread I was fine....NOW.....I'm paranoid. :bye:

[pritch]

I'd park mine inside, well maybe not the moped. Every door has steps though so that's out (unless I buy a trials bike).

The bike is never parked in front of the house, and I have a garage I can use at work. My main worry is when travelling, if booking a motel I usually ask if there is somewhere to park it that's not visible from the road.

In Wellington I use the Abel Tasman Hotel, it's old but there is secure parking underneath. They charge for cars but so far the bike has been free.