motorized bike - security methods

GoldenMotor.com

Mike Hunt

New Member
Jun 9, 2009
184
0
0
Toronto, Ontario
i plan on riding my mb to work once in a while and im kind of nervous about locking it up on the bike rack in front of a moderately busy supermarket for eight hours. i have a u-lock for locking up my regular bike, which should be sufficient to prevent theft, but how to prevent someone from messing with it? i can just see some punkass kid flipping open fuel valve, yanking on the fuel line, putting something in the tank or holding down the primer until the engine floods. the only thing i can thing of is to cover the bike with a tarp, but thats too much work.

what do you guys do?
 
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Earthman

New Member
Mar 24, 2009
82
0
0
Pittsburgh, PA
1) Get an alarm.
2) Chain a mean dog to it.
3) Install a solar-powered electric fence doohickey on the MB with one terminal connected to the frame, the other to a handy earth ground.
4) Chain a big sack-O-dead skunks to it.
5) Put a big puddle of [fake] blood and some spent shotgun shells next to it with drag marks toward the dumpster.
6) Get insurance.
7) Some combination of the above.
 
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Cabinfever1977

New Member
Mar 23, 2009
2,288
1
0
Upstate,NY
use a big bike lock,hide wires,cover fuel lines and petcock,locking gascap,side engine covers,you dont see anyone messing with a motorcycle and pulling off gaslines do you.

i dont have any problems,but i dont leave the bike for more than a few minuites while im in the store and i use a bike lock. im layed off from work right now. but i dont think anyone would like me much if i caught anyone even touching my bike.
 

Finfan

New Member
Aug 29, 2008
871
2
0
Tucson, AZ USA
There is not much you can do other than use a good lock or take the bus. I have heard of people here in my town that have had people drain their tank on them so it does happen. I just can't think of any reasonable way to prevent it.
 

TheE

New Member
Jun 26, 2009
185
0
0
Canada
I was actually curious about this too. I have a 1kV miniature inverter which would be perfect for the job, but can it cause damage to the bike in any way?
 

Earthman

New Member
Mar 24, 2009
82
0
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I added the word "fake" to my post - just in case it wasn't clear I was kidding. It now reads...

5) Put a big puddle of [fake] blood and some spent shotgun shells next to it with drag marks toward the dumpster.
 
Jul 22, 2008
656
0
16
Northglenn,Colorado
Supermarkets usually have a camera by the bike racks. The local Wal Marts by me does not have a bike rack but it does have quite a few metal light poles. I find one that's right by a camera then I lock it with a long cable lock and another lock for the wheels.
I even checked with Wal Mart security and in that particular location the camera looks right at my bike.
There's also safety in high traffic areas. #$%$#@ are less likely to sabotage when you have people coming and going so I park as close to high pedestrian traffic as possible.
Some will stop but just to say "that's the coolest thing I've seen today" and that's about all.
Then you could also carry a small tarp in your tool pouch big enough to cover your bike and lock it up at least that may keep most away not seeing the engine.... or not. That may actually attract people wondering what's so special about a bike that needs to be covered so never mind.
The biggest pains I've witnesses out there are the Mom's not paying attention to their children I had a kid actually knock my bike over the other day trying to touch it pushed it too hard I yelled at mom she played like nothing happened and I wasn't yelling at her she took off with her kids like stink.
 
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robin

Member
Nov 15, 2008
618
4
18
77
Penticton British Columbia Canada
There is not much you can do other than use a good lock or take the bus. I have heard of people here in my town that have had people drain their tank on them so it does happen. I just can't think of any reasonable way to prevent it.
A friend of mine -his dad had a canvas business made me a snap over cover of naugahide it hides everything--i had it made--for free--so i could go on our ferries as a bicycle not a motorcycle rate !you can still pedal it cause it fits tightly
 

Earthman

New Member
Mar 24, 2009
82
0
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I was actually curious about this too. I have a 1kV miniature inverter which would be perfect for the job, but can it cause damage to the bike in any way?
Not likely under most circumstances. But, depending on the CDI circuit, if the frame was charged and someone was able to ground one of the wires from the CDI, there might be a high enough reverse current flow through the CDI (bike frame to earth ground through the CDI) to blow an electronic component. This is probably so unlikely, it's not worth worrying about. In any case, the bad guy would probably sue you for causing him to soil himself.
 

MrLarkins

HS Math Teacher
Jun 17, 2008
487
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16
48
Arkansas
you could always pop the spark plug cap off so that it is not noticable. that would make it impossible to start.
 

TheE

New Member
Jun 26, 2009
185
0
0
Canada
Not likely under most circumstances. But, depending on the CDI circuit, if the frame was charged and someone was able to ground one of the wires from the CDI, there might be a high enough reverse current flow through the CDI (bike frame to earth ground through the CDI) to blow an electronic component. This is probably so unlikely, it's not worth worrying about. In any case, the bad guy would probably sue you for causing him to soil himself.
Thanks. What's actually nice about this transformer is that it operates at pretty high frequency, so it doesn't hurt very much at all...just enough to say "back off". Wish I still had that 11.1V LiPo battery, would be perfect for the job =/
 
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Earthman

New Member
Mar 24, 2009
82
0
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I have had so many people try to steal my motorized bicycle lately.
I have caught two desperate individuals unbolting my engine, from the frame.
This helps

Super cheap, kinda effective.

$ 3.50 shipped to your door
MOTION ACTIVATED ALARM WITH KEY.
I love deal extreme.
DealExtreme: $3.50 Vibration Activated 120dB Bicycle Anti-Theft Security Alarm
I checked Deal Extreme’s web site and found the following alarms that look promising for MBs:


https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27127

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25272

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21760

https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22402

Here's a nice looking one on eBay:

Security Bicycle Lock Alarm Motorbike bike 120db New! - eBay (item 220447623978 end time Jul-11-09 22:00:00 PDT)
 
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Mike Hunt

New Member
Jun 9, 2009
184
0
0
Toronto, Ontario
i saw an key-operated electric switch on ebay, i was thinking once i get my break lights set up i'll wire the key operated switch to the kill switch, so that it can only start with the key turned

im gonna put all the additional electric stuff (like the battery for the break lights and head lights) inside a box that will go in the frame under the gas tank, and mount the electric key switch on the box. im also going to be mounting switches to turn off/on the headlights and brake lights for stealthy riding. if the box is strong enough it will be very hard to start it without the key, especially if i wire it up in a confusing way. as an added bonus it will look more badass.

wont really stop anyone from taking it while im at work, but it will make a strong deterrent from someone trying to ride away on it while im at the store getting some smokes or whatever.
 
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Buddy

New Member
Jul 7, 2009
146
0
0
Ogden, Utah
What's to stop someone from just pulling the battery out of some or all of those alarms? If you read reviews on DealExtreme for one of their locks they say it can be moved slowly, so the battery can probably be removed. Might work if you can hide it out of sight, if not I don't know how well it will actually protect anything, unless it's one that the battery can't be accessed easily.
 
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