Securing your motorcycle and preventing theft

Securing your motorcycle and preventing theft

In Feburary 2004 2004, a member of the Big Ducati.net List group asked for thoughts on how b est to secure his motorcycle. I wrote the following.

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004, Geoffrey Pope wrote:

Does anyone have any thoughts regarding security for Ducati's. I just moved out of the suburbs and into the city and need some advice on what I should use to lock my bike down when I am out. I know there are disk locks and wheel locks but does anyone know what the best combination is. Thanks!

a good start is a disk lock. i recommend a kryptonite disk lock, and get their $6 sproingy cable that goes from disk lock to your handlebar. this bright orange cable will help remind you to take the lock off before you try to ride off!

the nice thing about a disk lock is that it's small, so you can carry it with you everywhere. i have one like this (EV Disc Lock).

if you don't really trust where you live, the following steps are advised by people i know in New York City:

cover the bike with a full bike cover. discourages casual interest & joyride attempts. "out of sight, out of mind."
get a really strong cable or chain made for the purpose (again, check out kryptonite brand) and secure the bike to something big and heavy. big and heavy relative to a 400-500lb bike. a house would be a good choice.
if possible, sink a concrete plug into the ground with an anchor sunk into it. something like this:
Taffynackles Security Lockdown
you can mount this into cement just by drilling some holes:
Kryptonite StrongHold
this you can install when pouring cement:
Kryptonite Super StrongHold

be sure to get your landlord's approval before adding any permenant installations!

you can't stop a professional thief you wants _your_ bike, but you can discourage him, and you can pretty much stop casual thieves who just want a joy ride or some parts. the pros, though, will freeze your chain, smash it, lift the bike into a van, and ship it out of the country to sell. all you can do there is make sure that somebody else's bike looks more attractive.

Additional comments:

I'm told that the Xena alarmed disk lock is prone to failure due to rain damage, and is prone to false alarms.

disclaimer: I am not any sort of motorcycle security specialist or anything like that; I also don't work for Kryptonite, I just like their products. I'm speaking from my own experience and what I've learned from other. Consider all the facts you can gather, then make your own informed decision. :-)