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alarm

Secure Your Ride

August 21, 2017

Hey, everyone! I’m noticing that bike thefts are on the rise this year so I thought I’d make a blog entry that goes a bit more in depth on how to keep your bike secure. I’ve never had my motorcycle stolen before but part of me is always ready for it. When I was much younger I rode a bicycle to school every day and one Christmas I got a really, really cool new one. It was awesome, was a proper mountain bike with gears and suspension and everything. But not long after I’d gotten it and rode it to school for the first time, it had been stolen from the locked shed and it had a lock on the wheel too. I’ll never forget walking up to the shed that morning, seeing the lock broken off the door and opening it up to see my bike was nowhere in sight.

It was a valuable lesson though and now that I’m all grown all up and have a ride that’s more than ten times the value- I’m extra careful. It’s easy to become complacent and it’s that complacency that thieves are waiting for. So here’s a number of ways to keep your bike secure without anything as invasive as installing internal alarms or trackers [Which I highly advise if you can afford it anyway.]

1- Where are You Keeping It?
It’s pretty obvious that you should keep your bike stored somewhere secure to begin with. A locked garage with strong walls and doors is ideal but not everyone has a garage. However, if you have a garden that you can get your bike in to and enough space, treat your bike to a well made shed. If you can spare the cash and time- go for a really tough one built from the ground up with a solid foundation and brick walls with a heavy duty door and lock. Shed kits and Yardmasters from Homebase are okay if you can’t get anything else but they’re quite easy to break into. I’ve had a few where people have literally just removed the roof to get in or bent the metal. But at least they provided an extra obstacle to thieves to get through.

2- Under Cover
It may seem silly if you already have a shed or garage to store your bike in but if it has windows- a bike cover may be a good idea. Most thieves will work in the dark hours of the night and might even look through the windows to see what you’ve got that’s worth taking. But a good cover and a shadowy corner might just work in your favour and make thieves believe there’s either nothing in there or think twice about the risk before breaking in. We have a number of Motorcycle Covers that you can choose from at Ghostbikes.com that can help with this. Plus it helps to keep the dust from settling on your pride and joy.3- Lock It Down
You should really get a good lock and chain for your bike- the bigger and meaner you’re willing to go the better. Most thieves will be deterred by a lock and chain that look as though it’s going to make moving your bike more trouble than it’s worth. It has to be thicker chain with a big lock as well, otherwise a pair of bolt cutters is all it will take to cut it off. We’ve got plenty in our range of Oxford Locks for you to choose from, all heavy duty and designed to resist being cut or otherwise messed with.

4- Lock It Down Harder
If you’re going to put a chain and lock on your bike, its a good idea to go that one step further if you can. If a thief really wants your bike- they’re going to have help and two strong guys can easily haul a big bike into a van and speed off in seconds- believe me, I’ve seen it, there’s Youtube videos all over the place of it happening. So you should lock your bike to something more than just it’s self. A Ground Anchor is a perfect addition to any shed and gives you that little bit more piece of mind- if anyone else has their eye on your bike, you’re going to make them work for it. Lock the bike down and they can’t simply carry it off, they have no choice but to deal with the lock and chain.
5- Make Some Noise
If your garage has been broken in to and the thieves are working on getting through your chain- give your bike the means to call for help. You don’t need to go ripping your bike to bits to wire in a whole alarm system to still have an alarm on your bike. You can put an alarm on your bike for just £34.99 with the Oxford Screamer Alarmed Disc Lock. If your bike is tampered with and otherwise jostled while the disc lock is armed, a 100db alarm will sound to alert you that someone is touching your bike who shouldn’t be. Plus it’s one more lock that the thieves have to get though before being able to wheel your bike away. It also means you’ve got yourself a nice loud lock that you can use on your bike while it’s not at home if you commute to work or you’re popping into a service station for a coffee.

And those are just a few of the things you can do to make your bike a bit more secure. At least without wiring in trackers and alarms to your bike. A good tracker is recommended though- a decent tracker in a nicely disguised spot in your bike could mean the difference between a happy reunion or never seeing your bike again should anyone who wants to take your bike be professional and prepared enough to take it.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Until next time!

-MattW at Ghostbikes.com

Road Trip Part 3 – Security

May 9, 2017

Hey there! Welcome to Part 3 of my Road Trip Blog Series where I reveal my plans for a future trip of my own and how I’m going to solve the questions I’ve been asking myself about it. In this part I’ll be covering third thing that I think [worry] about- Security.

While bikers going out on a proper tour likely won’t leave their bike alone for long except to sleep- I’ll be entrusting the security of my bike to the hotel’s car park. That is to say I do not trust the hotel’s car park. At all. Not that I don’t expect they haven’t taken as many security measures as they can, it’s just never going to be enough on it’s own for me to peacefully sleep at night. While I’m out and about all day and while I sleep my bike will be unattended, in unfamiliar territory and I won’t be able to keep an eye on it for many hours of the day for five days. Yes- I have thought about this way too much. So I have to take precautions so that I can feel as though I have done as much as I can and will be able to sleep without keeping an ear open. All so I’m able to enjoy the time off. So what can I do?

Tactic 1 – Get your hands on the biggest, meanest chain and lock you can find like the Oxford Hardcore 1.5m XL Motorbike Chain and Lock. More often than not- the sight of a fat chain and hefty padlock will be enough to deter any wannabe thieves. Most of them want it to be easy- a quick snatch with little hassle, so a chain that looks like it means business will usually put most of them off. However- the chain alone will not do. You need to be able to use that chain to secure the bike to something else like a lamp post, a rail or a friend’s bike if nothing else. Otherwise all it takes is two people [maybe just one for a small bike] and they can just throw it in the back of a van and drive off in a matter of seconds. So it’s all about making things difficult for them to the point it no longer becomes worth their time.

Tactic 2 – Opt for a locking method that’ll make a lot of noise, like the Oxford Screamer Alarmed Disc Lock. People who will want to steal your bike don’t really want attention, so something that makes a lot of noise and gives them more than they bargained for will hopefully cause them to give up pretty quickly. Or if you’re like me and you’re going to use the big chain -and- the loud disc lock together, you’ve got a backup just in case they figure a way around your first line of defense. Just don’t forget you put it on your bike before you go trying to ride off.

Tactic 3 – If your bike doesn’t have one of it’s own, maybe consider getting an alarm system for the bike it’s self. Not only will it give you a little peace of mind knowing your bike has an in built theft deterrent but your insurance costs may even go down a little bit if you’re using an approved and tested brand of theft protection.

Tactic 4 – Another one that I’ll be using when I go on my trip. It’s simple and won’t cost you anything extra unless you have to pay to park wherever you are; park the bike under a camera. If you’re leaving your bike in a car park like I will be, chances are there’s going to be a camera somewhere. So even if the worst does happen, your first two or three precautions fail and your bike is taken, you’ve a better chance of the police finding who did it and catching them.

Beyond that there’s little more you can do. You’ve taken all of the precautions you can and at that point there’s no point in worrying anymore. Might as well enjoy your time, relax and hope you get a room that has a window with a view.. Of your bike.

Thanks for reading Part 3 of my Road Trip Blog Series everybody! In the next part, on a less worrying and stressful theme, I’ll be talking about gear. Specifically worn gear and what to look for in what you want to wear.

Until next time!

– MattW at Ghostbikes.com

Keep your bike protected!

October 5, 2010

I think we all have had a bike stolen or know someone who has. Since the days are getting shorter by a whopping 14 minutes a day and the nights are longer you need to be thinking about keeping your bike your’s and not some thieving scumbag’s.

The best defence is to keep your bike out of sight. If they can’t see it they can’t nick it. This isn’t really a problem if you have access to a garage or similar lock up. If you do have a garage then consider putting in a decent ground anchor or an intruder area alarm system.

I am a big fan of security products that are alarmed. Thieves can spend a good hour working on getting your chain off and as long as they can do it quietly they don’t care. If there is a 110 Db alarm going off then they tend to run off and you get to keep your bike.

Following the vein of keeping your bike out of sight, if you don’t have access to a garage and you have to keep your bike in your garden or out on the front then get it covered up with a motorcycle cover, keeps the rain off and deters opportunistic thieves and vandals. At this point it is still advisable to secure your bike with a good quality chain or similar. Again if you can get it to make noise then all the better, a decent disc lock alarm is always a good idea for this as it immobilises your bike and alarms it. Additionally it fits under your seat when travelling too! A lot of the time the cost of such equipment can be offset by reductions in your insurance premium particularly THATCHAM APPROVED SYSTEMS.

HBW.

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