Bike security options when touring Europe.

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daveuprite
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by daveuprite »

Richard Simpson Mark II wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:29 am Take a small, but high-quality, padlock and put it through the rear-wheel sprocket and chain. Much better than a disc lock, as discs can be shattered with a hammer.
I was chatting to one of the biking guests at Motobreaks a few years back and he told me a story about the theft of a bike. Apparently the owner regularly chained the rear wheel of his Fireblade (through the rim only) to a cycle-rack bar and left the bike on the pavement near his work. When he returned one day all that was left was the rear wheel, still chained to the bar. Police enquiries led to some CCTV showing a white van with a false number plate pulled up next to the bike and one of the thieves took out a Fireblade rear wheel (with tyre, brake disc and sprocket) from the back of the van. They then carefully removed the rear wheel of the fireblade, slotted in their own spare wheel and wheeled the whole bike into the back of the van. The police reckoned that they had noticed the same bike parked in the same place in the same way, and just got hold of wheel of the right kind and made it look like they were fixing a punctured tyre.

So I suppose that goes to show the lengths some bike thieves will go to, and that you should always chain through the frame or frame and wheel if possible.
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by Richard Simpson Mark II »

Very true, if you are leaving the same bike in the same place at the same time every day.
But if you are touring...here one day and gone the next...you just need something that's effective and not easily seen to deter the opportunist/wheel-away merchants.
garyboy
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by garyboy »

minimal; .. security wire and alloy lock plus cheap thin bike cover.
Last edited by garyboy on Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
dave h
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by dave h »

Zena alarm disc lock if required ,

dave.
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by Geecee68 »

From your replies I think I'm being over paranoid! Anyway, I have bought a motomini tracker, and will take a good lock and padlock and look for a big, cheap cover to go over it.

The motomini tracker sends you an alert if the bike moves while you are away from it. Very clever. Exactly how this is going to work when its on the ferry I'm not too sure!
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by Godspeed »

To be fair if they do Nick it in the ferry, they’re not gonna get far…..
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by Peirre »

I had a hotel owner pull his car out the lockup and insisted I push the bike inside, at Zamora I intentionally booked a hotel room away from the tourist hotels, it turned out the hotel/bar owner was an ex bullfighter & a biker who after being prodded by the locals let me put my bike in the private underground garage with the only proviso that once it was inside it was there until the following morning, which for me was fine as I spent the rest of the night propping up the bar, In Zaragoza, Tortosa and a couple of other places I stayed in hotels with private underground garages which cost an additional 5 euro for the privilege. Other places such as Mojacar I just shoved the bike around the back of the hotel close to where the kitchen staff went out for a smoke
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by Sanqhar »

Many years ago we were on holiday in Holland with a large group of club members. We were on our R1100RT. Other than a chain I had no alarm or other security. Feeling vulnerable I rigged up a flashing LED wired to a 9v battery and left the bike each night flashing away.

As it turned out bikes were kept in a locked compound at the back of the hotel overnight.

On the last night the wire fence at the back was cut and a friends big new Honda CB1100 sports tourer that was in the middle of a large group of bikes was wheeled out. The friend had thought that the Honda Immobiliser Security System (HISS) combined with being in a locked compound was adequate enough. Sadly not.
Luckily they had taken the panniers up to the room to pack ready to leave the following morning. With hiring a car at both ends they got home.

Shows that it's all a matter of (ill) luck, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare for the worst.

tom
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by garyboy »

yeah .. my fuzzy brain seemed to think that having a honda hiss immobiliser would somehow immobilise the bike. A few years ago when getting an emergency tyre fitted by M and P, with t he immobiliser not switched off, the guys just pushed it into a nearby van via a ramp (I can't remember why lol .. probably to move it to the workshop across the yard?) ... no alarm (why should there be, as there was not one fitted), no steering problems for them (the steering lock was probably not turned to on), no engine lockout or immobilisation (why should there be, as the immobiliser was simply to stop the ignition).

If they had been thieves (not talking about the prices lol ) it would have been farewell to my NC750 as they would have driven off before i realised wot was happening?

This made my brain wake up to the fact that an Immobiliser does not immobilise the bike doh ... so obvious really .. it just stops ignition connecting. It can be wheeled away by any .. er .. person .. if chain/locks/steering lock are bypassed or not present, to be then used for spares or for an expert thief to bypass the ignition system.
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Re: Bike security options when touring Europe.

Post by gbags »

If we’re (two up on one bike) stopping for a while in a city we padlock the back wheel to the frame, cable the helmets and jackets through the sleeves to the bike and walk off, leaving everything on the bike. Never had anything taken.

If we’re sleeping in hotels or pensions we use Booking.com and press the Parking Required button. Some places les us bring the bike into the lobby, some have parking up the road, some have night watchmen. I recommend Booking.com. We’ve also met great biking people who’ve become friends due to pressing the same buttons.
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