Anti Theft Idea

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JaxInsany

JaxInsany

New Member
May 6, 2013
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Portland, OR
Diabolical hello to all! I had a relatively extreme idea to keep curious hands off my motorized bicycle. I am a High School student and I do not trust the teens around me to leave my bike alone. So I came up with the idea of putting an electric fence system running through the frame to discourage any vandalism. I would use a low voltage one so it would minimize any problems, just give a medium shock, more for the surprising factor and less for the pain (I am no sadist!). Thoughts?
 
BarelyAWake

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
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Maine
Smells like regret to me... three potential examples;

1. You forgot to turn it off.
2. A child thought it was awesome until.
3. Pending retribution.

There's countless stories of folks in urban areas that thought they'd discourage tampering & theft by setting up "traps" to protect their car/radio/whatever, the only two outcomes I recall were failure and/or revenge, they'd come back to find their radio gone anyway and/or their car a smoking hulk.

TBH should I be parking my bike in a rack & have the one next to it bite me if I only accidentally touched it... well... even my normally good intentions & relatively calm demeanor prolly won't be enough to prevent a sudden urge to smash...

It's something to consider anyway, as is any number of more conventional bike alarms & locks ;)
 
2door

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Maybe a small tactical nuke? Or a very big dog?

Seriously, are you trying to prevent tampering or total theft of the bike? Vandalizing is going to be hard to prevent. Short of a full time guard or parking the bike where you can see it, keeping some bonehead from messing with it is almost impossible.

Bike theft can be thwarted in several ways. A local news station just ran a segment on bike theft and the general consensus was that the 'U' lock was the most effective deterrent. They're hard to cut with bolt cutters, unlike cables or chain and most thiefs would rather move on to easier pickings that to mess with one.
Very heavy chain, 3/8" or thicker is another way but a lot of weight to carry around.

Master Lock company has, or had something called 'StreetCuffs'. There were beefy shackles that were connected by what looked like super heavy bicycle chain. They were pricy and I haven't seen them around for a while.

As for a fence charger; where are you going to plug it in? Most run on house (110 volt) current.

Good luck. Let us know what you come up with.

Tom
 
Trey

Trey

$50 Cruiser
Jan 17, 2013
1,432
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Where cattle outnumber people 3 to 1.
In theory, it sounds good to me! It's probably not a good idea though, it'll likely cause more problems than it's worth.
A good lock, and most importantly location are your best weapons here. Can you put your bike somewhere near the office? Or somewhere else there's a lot of people nearby, or coming and going?
This also reminds me of an idea I had; how about a cover? Like a car cover. If you know someone (grandma etc) that has a sewing machine, maybe you can get one whipped up. Do a search for lightweight, even waterproof materiel, and don't forget to make a stuff bag to carry it in.
Don't shock anybody. You and/ or your parents (or whoever), may be in for serious legal trouble- it's the way things are now.
Good luck!
 
JaxInsany

JaxInsany

New Member
May 6, 2013
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Portland, OR
For 2Door and BarelyAWake, I agree with what you guys are saying. It was an idea that popped into my head that I decided to post before I gave it much though. The feedback is much appreciated and it seems very likely it would cause major problems. Also, lock wise, I use two U Bolts to lock up my bike to bike racks so lock security isn't a problem, it's just finding a place where it won'
t stand out as much. Do you think it may be a good idea to either

A. Hide in plain sight with the dozens of other bikes locked up in front of my school
B. Find a bike rack somewhere out of the way that is less traveled?

To Trey, I wonder where the best place to lock it up would be..? I LOVE the idea of making a waterproof cover!!! That seems like a great idea to obscure the obviousness that it is motorized while keeping it safe from the weather! I could even make a heavy duty set of eyelets at the bottom to use a little lock to keep it closed! Do you think I should worry about some stupid teenage coming by and slashing it open? That seems like a risk I am willing to take for such an awesome way to conceal it in plain sight! Thanks for the idea! Any response would be much appreciated!
 
JaxInsany

JaxInsany

New Member
May 6, 2013
60
0
0
Portland, OR
Trey said:
In theory, it sounds good to me! It's probably not a good idea though, it'll likely cause more problems than it's worth.
A good lock, and most importantly location are your best weapons here. Can you put your bike somewhere near the office? Or somewhere else there's a lot of people nearby, or coming and going?
This also reminds me of an idea I had; how about a cover? Like a car cover. If you know someone (grandma etc) that has a sewing machine, maybe you can get one whipped up. Do a search for lightweight, even waterproof materiel, and don't forget to make a stuff bag to carry it in.
Don't shock anybody. You and/ or your parents (or whoever), may be in for serious legal trouble- it's the way things are now.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Forgot to quote, sorry! See above post for response. Thanks!
 
bluegoatwoods

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
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6
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Central Illinois
For my weather cover I just use some of that cheap plastic tarp that you can buy at a big box store. 7 x 9 ft works better than the very small ones. Those are 5 x 7, I think.

I use small spring loaded clamps to hold it on.

If it ever does get vandalized it's not going to matter much since it can be replaced cheaply. I've forgotten the cost, but it's surely less than 10 bucks.
 
CTripps

CTripps

Active Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,310
1
38
Vancouver, B.C.
For a cover, I use the cover that came with my wife's e-bike several years ago. However similar covers are now available at a local 'department' store, here's a link so you can see what I mean. When I cover mine up, I just make sure the cover stays clear of the hot zones. Positioning the pedals usually handles that.





 
Trey

Trey

$50 Cruiser
Jan 17, 2013
1,432
5
0
Where cattle outnumber people 3 to 1.
Jax- Yup, there's a chance some jack-wagon will slash your cover. It's one of those things in life that you either sit by your bike 24-7, or live life and don't worry about it. If it happens, it does- but it probably won't.
If you've got a cover, I think your parking options open up a bit. Hiding in plain sight and all. I'd still park it off to the side as much as I could though. And if you can get it where people are nearby, it's like free security!
You're getting some good advice from these guys...
 
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