How do you prevent your bike from getting stolen or messed with?

as far as "heavy duty chains, padlocks and cables" go, i've got some 4' bolt cutters that will cut through just about any padlock or chain you could carry (them giant boat anchor chains might give me a problem) like butter.

i used them when i worked climbing towers, and a lot of sites have daisy chains made out of padlocks on forestry gates, basically like 20 locks locked together for all the various companies, and every now and then someone would skip your lock and lock you out, so we'd cut them.

i've cut through the best locks ever made without breaking a sweat, or putting a dent in my cutters. i've cut through 1/2" steel rod with them, so they'd probably cut right through your average bike rack.

i also had battery powered band saws and sawzalls, too.

what i'm getting at, is if someone wants your bike that bad, they'll take it.

even if you disable the bike so you can't ride it, they could just throw it in the back of a truck.

i just have a U-lock, but what really gives me of mind is, my bike is unique. there's not a part on it that i wouldn't recognize, or a few thousand forum members wouldn't recognize, it's legally registered with the DMV so it's in a nation wide database, so if anyone takes it, they better just keep it in their house and never show it to anyone.

N8dogg said:

...while I was in line some punk kid thought he could ride away but didnt know you had to pull the clutch.

Click to expand...

hahah, my point exactly. Quick and simple deterrent for those situations.

Didn't you just love seeing your dumb would be thief kid struggle to try to get away riding your bike?

When I run up to the grocery store I wheel it right inside and park it by the shopping carts.
All I do is turn off the gas, keylock, and release the clutch lock.
They have a surveillance camera there and even a dumb kid knows that.

Speaking of my keylock, as I mention in my "stolen bike" topic here, it appears to have done it's job exactly as expected.
I e-mailed the other local MB guys here in town and sure enough, Aaron at crowbikes.com got a call from a guy that very night, and the guy said he just got a MB with some sort of keylock on the ignition and it had no spark, and did he have a CDI for sale.

His caller ID was blocked but now Aaron knows about my stolen bike and has agreed to set a trap for the guy if he calls back.

That is what I love about the whole motorized bike community.
We may be local business rivals, but all of us share the same complete disdain for thieves and unite to catch them.

One more tip.
Write down the serial number on your bike frame and take a picture of the bike.
Multiple pictures if you have unique items highlighting them.
Then make a Word (or whatever) document with all of the exact specs including the frame serial number and pictures you can print on one page.

Put a copy in your wallet/backpack/whatever that is with you and not the bike.
When the cops came over Sunday night to take my report I handed them mine for that bike.
Suffice it to say, they said that single sheet of paper drastically improved my chances of recovery.

If like the convenience store attempt theft above happens, call 911 and report "a crime in progress".
That will get the cops there quick.
Hand them the sheet and if known, point the direction they went.
Your chances of recovery jump to being a "good bet" odds, especially if they can't start it ;-}

chainmaker said:

Don't know if this would work, or if there is enough juice, but how about hooking up the white wire to the seat with a switch, to make a "hot seat".... if some unknowing dirt-bag would try to take it for an unauthorized spin it could give the family jewels a little zap, if there is enough juice anyways. Just a thought.
Cheers
Chainmaker

Click to expand...

LOL my Dad has some big old capacitors out in the garage. If one of those discharged into somebody's butt it'd probably kill em!

Luckily where I live is a small town. Everyone knows everyone. And they all know me, and I'm the only person with a motorized bike. So if someone stole it, they'd never be able to ride it. I know the Deputy as well,, BTW she is Smoking Hot! The only thing I really worry about is when a lot of tourists are in town. But they would have to have a trailer or something to toss it in. Also, my house is in the middle of nowhere in the woods, all the way at a dead end. I can leave my front door open if I really wanted to. That being said I hope I just didn't jynx myself and go outside after work and my bike is missing....

CoastalCruiser said:

LOL my Dad has some big old capacitors out in the garage. If one of those discharged into somebody's butt it'd probably kill em!

Click to expand...

(Recalls fond memories) ;-}

I just pulled these two out of my Old Inventions box.



The top one I used to keep a relay engaged for another circuit for a few minutes when power was removed, the other just another one of those I never threw away.

You won't be able to shock someone through the seat and their cloths though, you need a direct skin connection to both sides of the cap but I LOVE the idea of a "warning shock".

Back in the old days I would just coil a pair of wires (not touching each other, just spiraling down together) the length of the cap and charge it up.

When a newb would grab it from my bench, *ZAP* hehehee.

The big one is about the same size as Foster's Lager beer can, the smaller 130K MFD a domestic tall boy can.

Easy enough to charge at that voltage while riding with just a diode on the motors White direct magneto output, but how and where to deliver the shock might be a problem.

You can't just have exposed wires like my old trick, it needs to be to isolated metal pices they will have to touch with one or both hands at the same time...

Off the bat I am thinking paint the Cap black and mount it under the gas tank, and then just use a couple of strips of that metal alarm window tape on both side of the gas shutoff petcock valve.
Hahhaa, go to turn the gas on and *ZAP* ;-}

Really your best bet is to use a U-Lock like has been suggested.

HOW TO LOCK YOUR BIKE

Locks ranked from worst to best

Some of these killer locks also come with guarantees that your bike will not be stolen up to with the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-lock $4500, easily enough to replace any motorbicycle.

Oh and Amazon has a huge selection for probably the lowest prices you'll find.

KCvale said:

(Recalls fond memories) ;-}

I just pulled these two out of my Old Inventions box.

The top one I used to keep a relay engaged for another circuit for a few minutes when power was removed, the other just another one of those I never threw away.

You won't be able to shock someone through the seat and their cloths though, you need a direct skin connection to both sides of the cap but I LOVE the idea of a "warning shock".

Back in the old days I would just coil a pair of wires (not touching each other, just spiraling down together) the length of the cap and charge it up.

When a newb would grab it from my bench, *ZAP* hehehee.

The big one is about the same size as Foster's Lager beer can, the smaller 130K MFD a domestic tall boy can.

Easy enough to charge at that voltage while riding with just a diode on the motors White direct magneto output, but how and where to deliver the shock might be a problem.

You can't just have exposed wires like my old trick, it needs to be to isolated metal pices they will have to touch with one or both hands at the same time...

Off the bat I am thinking paint the Cap black and mount it under the gas tank, and then just use a couple of strips of that metal alarm window tape on both side of the gas shutoff petcock valve.
Hahhaa, go to turn the gas on and *ZAP* ;-}

Click to expand...

This is only funny until the first time you forget to turn it off and fry your balls off.

Maybe the conductors could be in the grips. Just wrap some strands of wire around them and make it look like a decorative thing.

I had a beautiful Bianchi once. The thieve(s) sawed through a 4x4 beam in the garage that the bike was chained to, and the landlord wanted me to pay for the damage. Even though it was my neighbor who left his door open.
I had a slick Puch Magnum. I woke up one morning, and it was just gone, chain and all.
My motorbike is locked in a shed without windows and possessing a pretty solid door and lock. And when I am at work, it is chained to a rack at the City-County Building in full view of a deputy, wherein you will find the Marion County Sheriff's Department and the Indianapolis Police Department. And I still know full well that none of the above is any guarantee that some fast or ingenious thief won't try his level best. All anyone can do is make it as hard to steal as your resources allow.

49cc 80cc motor bicycle Motorized BIKE 2 L tank w lock - eBay (item 170502675844 end time Jul-19-10 19:56:19 PDT)

locking gas tank i am thinking about ordering one myself

well i have somehow happened to get a hole in my tank so i need a new one that
49cc 80cc motor bicycle Motorized BIKE 2 L tank w lock - eBay (item 170502675844 end time Jul-19-10 19:56:19 PDT)
comes with a whole new gas tank

I'm getting the picture now, I'll keep the bad ideas.