Anti-theft advice...

bushguy · Two Stroke Sniffer Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Karma :

N.B this is a vent as much as a request for advice

I recently moved house from a 'relatively' safe town down to a far heavier populated and evidently less safe place in Southampton. I live on a busy street across from several pubs/clubs. Bike is parked on a driveway normally with a car wedged up against it, on the bike I have an alarmed disk lock, a second disk lock and it is chained to a metal fence.
Today at around 2-3am 3 blokes (supposed to be in their 20's) were spotted by my housemate who 's room overlooks the bike were seen yanking at the steering lock (guessing they hadnt seen the chain on the fence) only stopping to check the windows when the alarm sounded (which must have been frequent as i cant go near the bike with it on. Housemate whacked on all the lights in the house fortunately scaring them off (for those in the area they jumped into a car reg no: x927rdc that he thinks was a black golf).
Checked the bike over and can see no damage to lock/ignition and have thrown another £200 at security stuff, adding another chain for the tyre, an alarm for the bike itself (to be fitted on weds) and a cover (my thinking being itl stop anymore thieves eyeing it up in passing sorta thing).
I consider myself bloody lucky to have gotten away with it and was just wondering if anyone could offer any further recommendations to keep the baby safe? Should I bother reporting it to the police? Anyone up for hunting the beggers down to dispense some good ole biker justice?
Any help appreciated,

kenny · Nearly there... Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Karma :

glad to hear you still got the bike, maybe a ground ancher set into the floor with a big ass chain around it, bar that a automatic machine gun nest should to the trick
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KeNNy 100cc peugot speedfight 125cc Honda NSR125R 650cc suzuki SV650R 125cc suzuki GZ125 600cc yamaha YZF-R6

MaybeGuy · Super Spammer Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Karma :

rig up a paintball gun full of marbles at face and eye height.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!! Mr. Green

Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

pa_broon74 · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Karma :

Definitely report it to the police, these people will come back for another try.

If the police already have the details and something else happens, they may be able to take action more quickly. That said, I know sometimes it seems as if they just can't be arsed.

Fitting an alarm with loud siren and perhaps an external security light might help.

Bike thieves seem to get more confident every day, not even bothering if they're seen.

Thumbs Up

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Didn't catch anything.

Rowey · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 Oct 2007 Karma :

My advice would be a high quality ground anchor and an extremely thick chain. Something from Almax.

Then a decent quality alarm with an uprated siren. I know you can get bigger horns for datatool alarms.

Disc locks aren't gonna stop determined thieves, they can chop the discs off or just lift the bike if there's three of them. And without seeing your fence I can't say whether it's strong enough to stop someone with some croppers, but most wont being made of thin iron or steel.

And call the police. Attempted theft is a crime.
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ZX6R C6F.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience.

carlperkins00... · Crazy Courier Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Karma :

yeah i'd contact the police, they wont do alot about it though as they cant prove anything.

2x ground anchor
2x Huge chain
2x disc lock
1x heavy duty cover
1x motorcycle alarm kit
1x smartwater
1x datatag.
= the most unstealable bike. Thumbs Up

also... scatter some spent 9mm rounds around the end of the drive and slap a juicy, bloody steak on the drive a few times.
should do the trick nicely.

ThoughtContro... · World Chat Champion Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Karma :

An Almax chain and a secure ground anchor. Plus other large cables/chains and secondary anchor as a visual deterrent. A loud alarm and a decent cover. That's the best you can do.

Beyond that you're best moving it round the back where its less obvious or indoors (hall/kitchen) overnight.

Some CS gas and a chair leg or similar is useful if they come mob handed and stick around.

If they really want it they'll have it. Don't wave it in front of them (on the drive, in the road) as that's just asking for it. If they cant see it or dont know its there then its less likely to get attacked.

Determined thieves dont give a fuck. They'll follow you and watch where ever you put it if they're out shopping.

Disc locks are crap. They just cause damage to your bike.

Devils Advocate · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Karma :

Zimbo · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Karma :

Consider fitting a PIR security light as well, they're only about a tenner and will come on when anybody walks up to the bike, a useful deterrent.
Quality of lock and chain is important, most chains are easily cropped with bolt croppers. The Almax chain mentioned above comes highly recommended. Make sure the padlock you use is also bolt cropper proof!
Finally, you might consider one of these

https://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/ALARM_MINES.htm

attached to the bike so it goes off when moved. A 12 bore blank going off at 2 am should scare most thieves off . . .

instigator · Super Spammer Joined: 19 Oct 2004 Karma :

3 blokes, seen yanking at your steering lock? It onyl takes one sharp kick to unlock it, sounds like amateurish yobs, pissed out of their skulls that thought it would be a good idea to 'have a go' before driving back home. Cover her up, chain her up with a decent chain, a disc lock and it should be fine. Anything else is just a fruitless waste of money.

bushguy · Two Stroke Sniffer Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Karma :

cheers for the advice guys. Trouble with the security light/ground anchors is that i dont own the property so cant make those modifications (i will ask the land lady though). The fence wouldnt stand up for too long against cropping (maybe half a cm think of unknown metal) but will stop the casual thief and delay the prepared ones. Got some nice heavy objects by the front door just in case.
Even sleeping in the front room overlooking the bike, really freaked me out, never used to put any security on the bike at old house, so glad i changed that habit when i moved.
Oh and for the gent who asked SV650S 07 model

BadDog · Scooby Slapper Joined: 11 Jan 2005 Karma :

Any room for one of these?
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VFR400 NC30 > Kawasaki ZX6R > YAMAHA YZF-R1 > Moto Morini Corsaro Veloce

Devils Advocate · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Karma :

tbh if you`re gonna waste shitloads of money on security that can be beaten....you`d be better off getting a tracker fitted for piece of mind..
Acutrac`s supposed to be the best one....here`s some figures:(quite cheap when you think about it)

Unit + 1 year subscription £398.00
Unit + 2 year subscription £479.00 (save £18.00)
Unit + 3 year subscription £550.00 (save £46.00)
Unit + 4 year subscription £600.00 (save £95.00)

i reckon if you`ve got a good alarm,a good chain and lock,and a tracker fitted...your bike`s never gonna go far.
Wink

Jayy · Mr. Ponzi Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Karma :

Moo. · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Jan 2009 Karma :

Does the property have a gate on the drive? Maybe bulking that up might help.

Once had our caravan stolen from outside our house, after that we installed this huge great heavy metal bollard thing thats slides out the ground when you need it, stops them wheeling the caravan away.

the grim reaper · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Karma :

LordShaftesbu... · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Sep 2008 Karma :

I can definitely recommend the 19mm Almax chain, it's the thickest you can buy as far as I know.

Devils Advocate · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Karma :

calyx · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Dec 2008 Karma :

I have usual chain and anchor + an alarm with a pager. Pepper spray under the pillow and a good old metal stick.
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Boris - London

carlperkins00... · Crazy Courier Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Karma :

in extreme circumstances you could always fashion a crude moat and drawbridge system haha. Laughing

baldy · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Karma :

You need to think like a thief, how would you steal it? Find out and beef up the security.
Ground anchors a D locks are the best, trying to crop a D lock is very hard. I tried it myself with a set of four foot long croppers. It took a while as the croppers kept slipping off the lock.

Try to chain it to something unmovable, a chunky fence or a block of concrete. Mix up a few bags of it in a big bucket with a thick chain set in it.

If they can't cut the locks they will carry it off.

All you can do is make it as hard as possible for them to steal, but if they really want it, they might just break into the house and take the keys.

emailiscrap · L Plate Warrior Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Karma :

1st post, and full of doom and gloom, but here goes...

Just bear in mind that you reach a point where your bike may well be unstealable, but this will sometimes just end up with the bike being destroyed either through the theft attempt, or more likely the attitude of 'well if I can't have it, nobody can'.

There seems to be an increasing mentality of destroying it if it can't be taken.

Report it, cover the bike and just make sure you are using a decent chain and ground anchor. Also remember that the lock is as important as the chain. i've lost count of the number of 16mm+ chains I've seen which have been secured with £5 padlocks that can be smashed open with a small rock.