Bike security while touring

[James83]

The bike usually lives in secured parking at my house, or in the work car park, which has its own security, so I’ve never bothered with directly securing the bike. On Sunday I go on a tour, and I have just realised that I need to do something to improve the security of the bike, as I don’t expect the B&Bs will have lock ups. I’ve put an oxford screamer disc lock on hold at Halfords, which I intend to pick up tonight. Before I do though, does anyone have any better suggestions for portable bike security than a disc lock? Any problems with the oxford lock? I realise nothing is infallible, but as we are never in 1 place for more than a day, I’m only really worried about opportunist thieves, so something good enough to stop them is my aim.

Bear in mind, it must be portable, as its going in a tail pack, and it can’t be much more that £30, as my budget is stretched already.

[c-m]

Where are you going?

Most pretty much everywhere in Europe has lower levels of crime than in the UK. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I carried a chain on my first tour and a disc lock, but rarely used them. In fact I lost the key to the chain.

When on tour and in big cities like Budapest I tend to cover the bike (out o sight out of mind), but in other places I'm not too fussed.

[James83]

Its just round the UK (Start in the south, up to scotland and back over 7 days)

The B&Bs we've picked have mostly come from "biker friendly" websites, so I'm not expecting issues, its just that my bikes only security is its imobiliser. I guess I'd just feel better if it had something on it that would go off if it gets fucked with

[c-m]

In which case just a budget chain will do, as long you chain it to an object and try to keep the chain off the floor.

The £10 Lidl and Aldi ones are a handy deterrent.

[James83]

Won't a chain take up a lot of space and weight?

[Scotsman37]

A bright yellow/orange disc lock is handy & small enough to pack away in the underseat area when not in use, and you can fit one to the rear one too for making a greater deterrent just remember to remove them before travelling!

[c-m]

To stop opportunistic thieves i.e little scroats, you need to prevent them moving the bike to somewhere they can work on the ignition.

A disk lock seldom stops them, at least in my area. A few people I know had a disk lock on when there bike went missing.

A chain attached to an immovable object will stop all but those that turn up with massive bolt cutters.

A chain will weight a few kg but can usually be stored on the bike while riding, such as wrapped around a pillion rail or a rack.

[J.M.]

I posted a reply to this a while ago but I must have only hit preview... not submit...

Working on the cheap you can get something like this:
https://i.imgur.com/eMAxM.jpg

Long enough to wrap around your bike like this:
https://i.imgur.com/KwSWr.jpg

Mine cost me £35 all in for the 1.2m chain and beefy CISA 75 padlock.

I wouldn't trust an Oxford product to lock up my wheelie bins.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[pepperami]