Preventing bike theft?

[BuzzardNZ]

I'm liking the idea of renting someone's garage, think I'll go that route. I'm not riding the new bike at the mo - it needs some work to get it on the road but my main concern about riding it is the fact that I often have to leave it out in public (it's a 35 year old thing so I might actually just be paranoid, dunno if people steal uncommon old bikes). But I worked hard for the cash and a fair amount of sweat and effort will go into doing it up so having it nicked is the last thing I want. Will do a flyer drop to see if I can find a garage. Thanks for the tips guys.

I rent a garage and share it with another biker, so the rent is not so bad. Only bummer is the walk from home to the garage ( almost 1 k )

[haydes55]

Get a seat cover. With an inch long needle sticking out. Keep a dog with rabies in the back yard and wipe some rabies slobber on the needle every night.

[nathanwhite]

http://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/..._operator_ama/

Bit of reading for you from an ex motorcycle thief.


The gist of what I got from this was: Make it looks hard to steal. If they want it, then they will take it, more or less no matter what. So you have to make it look not worth their time. Chained down in a garage with alarmed disc locks on is the best. Never keep it parked in front of an apartment building. Disc locks go on the back wheel (harder to get to to take off) Steering lock engaged. Etc.

GPS and watnot is all good for getting it back, but no so much for preventing it in the first place.

[Disco Dan]

http://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/..._operator_ama/

Bit of reading for you from an ex motorcycle thief.


The gist of what I got from this was: Make it looks hard to steal. If they want it, then they will take it, more or less no matter what. So you have to make it look not worth their time. Chained down in a garage with alarmed disc locks on is the best. Never keep it parked in front of an apartment building. Disc locks go on the back wheel (harder to get to to take off) Steering lock engaged. Etc.

GPS and watnot is all good for getting it back, but no so much for preventing it in the first place.

That was a VERY interesting read.

What I got from it:

Back wheel is better than front wheel for ALL locks (even disk locks).
Put chain through frame or if not possible REAR wheel and always keep it off the ground.
The more locks/alarms/gps etc on it the longer it takes - vast majority of scum will walk away if it takes too long.
The 'putting in the back of a van' thing is a bit of a myth, it still happens but is mostly amateurs doing it who get caught pretty easily!
Best FREE trick is to keep a small stubby screwdriver in your tank bag and remove the clutch lever. Only takes a few seconds to do.
A bike with rfid keys etc - they simply turn up with a plug in lock barrel on a loom and matching ECU. 10 seconds and they are riding away.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS put the steering lock on. It makes a noticeable 'crack' when broken and is used to test if a bike has an alarm.
Sometimes they will crack the steering lock then walk off and hide - to see if a silent alarm was tripped.

The pros have trailers with RF shielding and a shielded workshop to take it too for bikes that have lojacks/GPS installed.
Others will take bike to a safe place and then leave it - come back next day, if it is still there then they are pretty certain no GPS/lojack installed and take it to their workshop to strip.

Most bikes are stripped down to parts within a couple of hours of being stolen...

If you fit an alarm - wire it into the loom and make sure ALL your wiring looks factory. Anything out of the ordinary (like crimped connectors) will lead the scum straight to your alarm/gps etc. Good places to hide them are in headlight surround and inside the airbox or underneath the airbox.

Also - front rotor: round off the bolts so they cannot be removed easily if you fit a lock to it.

Usual procedure:

remove seat and tank and wire ignition. So don't put alarm or spare key under seat or tank. If you can replace bolts that hold tank on with security bolts, different ones too - for example my tank has two 13mm bolts, replace one with a star type bolt the other another type. This all ADDS TIME to remove which is what you need to keep your bike.

Covers: a long braided cable wrapped around the cover securing it to the bike is a top tip.

If you see your cover has been disturbed - they will be back...

Putting in extra hidden kill switches is only going to stop school kids. The pros plug in straight to the ECU and bypass the lot...

[Conquiztador]

That was a VERY interesting read.

What I got from it:

Back wheel is better than front wheel for ALL locks (even disk locks).
Put chain through frame or....



.....going to stop school kids. The pros plug in straight to the ECU and bypass the lot...

I also had a read of the full thing, and I think you have done a very good summarising.

The only things from that to add are:
- Shops (or more precisely staff at shops) are not always our friends (not sure how much this applies to little NZ, but can't be too careful...) so if you can avoid letting them know where the bike lives all the better.
- Do not leave the bike in front of your house or in a van at the front even for a short while as there are "scouts" on the prowl who will contact the pro's with the info and get a "finders fee".
- There was nothing re finding bikes on the web (chat sites type KB) and then figuring out where the owner lives!
- Obscure ones are not what the pro's go for. (Very limited market)
- If you have found this chap that always tends to get the bits you are looking for, then perhaps ask your self how come, and what are you supporting???
- Very few of the pro's are big hairy bikers. They are more likely someone who does not get noticed on the street, and also has no interest in a confrontation.

[Akzle]

I'm liking the idea of renting someone's garage, think I'll go that route. I'm not riding the new bike at the mo - it needs some work to get it on the road but my main concern about riding it is the fact that I often have to leave it out in public (it's a 35 year old thing so I might actually just be paranoid, dunno if people steal uncommon old bikes). But I worked hard for the cash and a fair amount of sweat and effort will go into doing it up so having it nicked is the last thing I want. Will do a flyer drop to see if I can find a garage. Thanks for the tips guys.

of course, doing a flyer drop you could be advertising it to the guy that wants to steal it, too... probably avoid dropping flyers round the black power HQ eh...

- Very few of the pro's are big hairy bikers. They are more likely someone who does not get noticed on the street, and also has no interest in a confrontation.

slippery fucking scum, they are. nothing like a claw hammer in the kneecap to slow them down though...

[Hitcher]

Armed with all of this useful knowledge, I now have my retirement savings taken care of!

[Paulo]

Find a garage as soon as possible, I had a brief stint without one. I used about 6 different locks and heavy duty chains plus a cover, It was a PITA (I kept most of the heavy chains in one spot around a lampost and pretty soon the neighbours learned to leave that space clear for the bike, they also kept an eye out for me but I guess that depends on what sort of neighbours you have) I figured the more the locks the better , also lock it to something solid like a lamp-post or ground anchor. put a cover over it and then another lock around the cover, I also used to tie the cover on with rope to stop it blowing over or acting as a sail in the wind and pulling the bike over. It also stopped nosy bastards taking a look under the cover. Basically the more of a pain it is the better chance they'll try and nick something that takes a bit less effort and out of sight is out of mind.

[nodrog:Me]

I hope you guys have your tinfoil hats on too?

[Mungatoke Mad]

Somebodies been watching too much CSI Miami/New York/Otara

You 4got Shortland Street

[Gianz]

http://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/..._operator_ama/

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I must be in the ignore list of a few people... i already posted it

[Conquiztador]

I must be in the ignore list of a few people... i already posted it

Nah. Many of the Yodas and gurus on here only need to read the heading for the thread and then the last posting before providing their valuable and mindblowing input.

[pete-blen]

Easy to instal alarm that won't brake the bank on Ebay..
sencers movement & hot wireing...
how good they are ..who knows..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Mo...ht_8523wt_1170

[Chooky]

I read somewhere... here on KB I think that if you don't want your bike stolen, then get a Suzuki.....

[Edbear]

I read somewhere... here on KB I think that if you don't want your bike stolen, then get a Suzuki.....

Left my C50T in Main Street Hamilton for a couple of hours with the key in the ignition...