Local Scum

[Raf]

Just moved into a new house which seems to be located next to some sort of council estate which is full of scrotes lingering around. So far i've had no trouble but recently i've been getting paranoid since i've heard my alarm go off twice. Its on minimum sensitivity and you really need to move the bike about hard to set it off, infact you can pretty much sit on the bike without it going off. And i've never heard it go off untill recently.


Yesterday i had my expensive Oxford Boss Alarm Disk lock stolen. When i park the bike during the day with intent to use the bike frequently i tuck the lock under my seat which is currently held down with a bungee as the bolt mounts are shredded.

I parked the bike in front of my window as i normally do and went into the kitchen for a half hour, as i made my way into town i went to reach for the lock it was gone.

So within the half hour i was in the kitchen someone went through the trouble of taking a locked lock?

What can anyone get out of taking a lock with no keys i ask?

My only theory is that its someone nearby who has been watching the bike long enough to know what lock i use and where i store it, and hoping that by taking it the bike would be left without a lock during the night.

Well anyway i went out and dished out another £70 for a new one that very afternoon.

Yesterday evening i came back and parked the bike as usual with the new lock on the front disk. As i sat down in the front room a guy walks past staring at the bike as he walks past. He looked quite surprised, i see the same guy 2 minutes later walk past again in the oposit direction and approach the bike again eyes fixed on what i think was the new lock.

Am i becoming seriously paranoid for no reason or should i be concerned? Is there any other security precautions i should take?

We have a locked back yard but its seriously a pain to get the bike in there everyday so that's not an option.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[smegballs]

Where about it plym do you live?

My garden is hard to get in too, so I normally leave it outside now....

If its anything like my house theres a big step up into the garden. Make a big ramp with your lovely MIG welder?

[tvchimp]

ground anchor+big fat ugly looking chain. and I'd maybe look at trying to make it more accesible to put your bike in the back garden, lock it in a shed behind a gate with locked padlocks/bolts etc etc..

I've always been told you can't 100% protect anything, if anyone wants something they'll take it. You just have to try your hardest to prevent it. I've taken to ground lock+chain on the back wheel, disk lock on the front. I ride a small 50cc atm, so mine can be easily lifted up by one person (I go the gym a few times a week, and can easily lift it up, it only weighs about 19stone in total!.. bless the little thing). so I put more security on it that maybe whats needed to. I don't live in the nicest area, but I don't trust it with maybe just a small lock on it.

The more visual security I think you have on it, the more it acts as a deterrent to thieves, they'll see it as "fuck, I have to make X amount of noise and do X amount of things to get it out the area".. might put them off and make them move on.

Oh.. Also, Maybe fit a light sensor on the front of your house, with a buzzer/doorbell on it so when someone goes near your bike it goes off and makes a noise on the inside of your house. obviously, you might want to add a on/off switch to it so when you're out its not constantly going off due to people walking past etc.



Good luck anyway mate keeping it secure. I fucking hate thieves..
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Bike: Currently Bikeless... Gahh

[Raf]

Well if i could do all that stuff i would. Unfortunately im a student so im in a rented house in the heart of Plymouth.

So ground anchor and a motion activated light would be out of the question.

One thing i could do is by a cheap webcam and have it motion activate. Would be cheap and since my pc is next to my window it would also very be easy to do and also only record when people walk past.

I would feel a bit overkill doing that tough.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I'd be tempted to pop a webcam in the window since you can see the bike from your front room.

[edit] What you said
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Mr Hammers]

There's quite a good free motion-detector software out there, called ActiveWebCam.

We use it at work to keep an eye on the room downstairs. It's pretty configurable, and the best bit is you can isolate the pixels you want to track, so you could set it up so it only goes off (has an alarm thing too) if the bike itself moves, rather than people walking past.

Gotta set mine up this weekend too.
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A Guide To Powerbands

[Nb]

Whats more of a pain in the arse? Having your bike stolen or taking 10 mins to get your bike in and out of your backyard? Your bike WILL go walkies if left on the street. Any way you can make it easier to get the bike in your back yard atall? Out of sight out mind an all that.
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Cbr1100xx blackbird gone, mk4 golf gt tdi chav now
Colin1 wrote 'Im grateful for what i can get, which isnt all that much.'
Columbus travel insurance are crap!! Do not use!

[Darth]

Live in fairly scummy area myself. Had my last bike nicked back in march (smashed off expensive disc lock/steering lock/forced up ground anchor which in hindsight wasnt secure enough).

Have since then got security cameras front and back of house, new big ass ground anchor, bigger + better chain and lock combo and bigger disk lock and a motion alarm on the bike.

I was totally paranoid for months after the first bike got stolen especially watching people checking out the bike walking past. Am relaxing a bit now 7 months down the line but still feel a slight pang of paranoia when i wake up, walk down the stairs before i can tell if it is still where i left it.

The cameras are good though. Theres been a couple of times when i have thought things weren't quite like i left them - passenger foot peg down or fuel cap lock cover open and have been convinced some little bastad has been fiddling but when i go back and check it out its just been me as i can see it was like that when i left it there that night
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Harold_Shand wrote: I suppose it's like anything, you get your fingers burned when you start out, you learn from it and eventually become a complete arsehole about the whole thing.

[temeluchus]

A good way to protect the bike its to cast a ground anchor into a large bucket of concrete. As long as it is heavy enough it should help deter anything other that 100% determined thieves.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[Bendy]

Invite some big scary biker mates round to lurk about looking menacing.

At my old pikey flat, I don't think it did any harm to one day have a posse of 12 or so bikes show up and park in front of the scrotes who were sat in their car 'observing'.

[stinkwheel]

[Mister James]

There's even that ground anchor that can be screwed into the ground - not as good as a solid concrete-based one, but better than n'owt I should think.

[map]

[Banned]

Yesterday i had my expensive Oxford Boss Alarm Disk lock stolen




Reminds me of when i lost my compass last year !!

[metalangel]

I know how you feel, in the summer some passing chavs thought it would be hilarious to kick my garage door in. The door held and all they managed to do was bend the corner in slightly in such a way that it was now jammed shut. Nobody ever came back to have another go so I don't think they were after my bike. Didn't stop me putting my bike in my kitchen when I went away for a week shortly after, nor going out to check every odd noise I hear outside now.

Fucking scum.
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[Hazylogic]

[Mudskipper]

I would be setting up a sting as we speak.

Early evening nap followed by Red Bull to stay awake, massive spanner/wrench for me, old kitchen knife for the perp.

Wait till he puts prints on the bike, get outside and twat the cunt with the spanner. Plant knife on twitching unconcious scum, ring old bill and start crying.

Tell coppers - heard noise in garden, grabbed spanner from open tool box in hall , confronted perp, perp lunged with knife, I twatted with spanner. Job's a good 'un.


Mind you my case would be helped by me being a tiny lady and stuff.
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CBR125|||GSXR400|||CBR400|||CBR400|||CB250RS|||GSXR750|||CB250RS
"You're clumsy, you eat too much and you behave like a 12 year old boy. But you know what? Every once in a while, you find a thumb."

[Steve-D]

If you want, ill bring my disc lock and chain down to you next time I see you, since I never bother to lock any of my bikes up anyway.
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www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[Raf]

Thanks for the input. I actually woke up this morning with my flatmate telling me my bike was on the floor. I went outside to check and there was fuel everywhere so it got kicked over in the middle of the night which is really frustrating because i normally always keep the cover on apart from my laziness last night.

Thank god i fitted crash protectors, the only damage was to the double bubble.

Im now going to be definitely fitting some sort of webcam in my room, this is just insane.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Skudd]

Report every and I mean EVERY, bit of tampering to the police, they will get fed up and start watching out for the little loves. Make sure you get a Crime Ref No each time too, insist on one even if they try to put you off.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[MattEMulsion]

You are going about it all wrong in my opinion. You have been given all of the classic warning signs that something is about to happen to your bike but you have chosen to do very little about it. Even last night you weren't even bothered to put the cover over it after what has gone on recently, you are just asking for trouble!

The webcam is going to do nothing in regards to protecting your bike, all it will do is leave you with a lasting memory of how easily they stole your bike. Even if the thieves could be identified off your webcam what do you think they would get as punishment when you are minus one bike? The chances are they will spot your webcam and just stand in front of it so it shows nothing.

If it was me I would be getting my bike into that locked back yard no matter how hard it is to get in and out of. What would you rather do spend an extra 10 minutes at the start and end of each day putting your bike away or spend hours walking everywhere and catching the bus? Act now before it is too late.
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Yamaha YZF-R6

[Raf]

Well the big problem with the back area is that its on the other side of the house, which means that if any alarms go off or if scum gets over the wall they are free to work on the bike without disturbance.

Having said that, last night i heard nothing and the bike was outside my window, about 5 meters from my bed... very odd since i normally wake up with little noise, but last night i was sleeping very very badly.

Really pissed off about the whole thing. I think if they can't take it, they will just wreck it. Tbh putting it in the back will not really help. They will most likely find out im storing it there in a few weeks, climb over and wreck it.

Maybe i should just sell it and ride some piece of shit? I actually bought a xt 600 which looks like its been living in a pond for its entire life. Hopefully i will fix that up and maybe just have that for a winter bike and lockup the cbr round the back.

If you kicked over the xt 600 i think it could only improve it.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Ariel Badger]

I take it you were previously living at your parents house, have you told your insurance company that you now live in scum town?
If and when the bike gets nicked/torched they will not cover it 100% as your circumstances have changed.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Raf]

[ThoughtContro...]

You don't leave a thief magnet in front of a house in scallville, you might as well stick a big sign on it saying "Nick Me"

At the very least the thing wants going round the back and even then with some kind of lock on it (I don't like disc locks, prefer U locks), they move the bike/lock the alarm goes off.

Overnight, especially while the heat is on, you want to wheel the bike indoors, kitchen, hall, wherever. Get it out of sight while its got to spend 8+ hours out with the hyenas.

Ground anchors and Almax chains are great, but if its out the front and they cant defeat the security, they might just trash the bike anyway, just for spite, "We cant have it, then neither can you", as that's the mentality of scally scum.
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Prize cunt
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"In a world of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell