I'm more paranoid about vandals. We stay in centre of towns/cities, sometimes in seedier area. My 907 had a cigarette hole in the seat in Valencia, Fallas 2001. Precision positioning, centre of seat. Wondered if it was a British thing as I had Ace Café London sticker.
My 900ss got nicked from outside my front door a few years ago. I got it back and, with the help of the factory workshop manual, discovered that these bikes are hideously easy to hotwire. No, I'm not going to say how for obvious reasons. But theives know how to do this.
When i did a track weekend about 250 miles away many years ago, it was only discovered when we went to fill the bikes with petrol (they were in a van) that I had cunningly left the key to my 916 at home.... Bummer. Still, a screwdriver did for the tank lock (needed a new one afterwards, of course) and my savvier friends hot-wired my bike so that I could ride the whole weekend. They even installed a convenient connector for me to start it. The reddit post says that 916s are very easy to hotwire. Not the case, apparently, with 999s, and it would seem, later Ducatis in general.
Let me give you the skinny on a proper euro blast, Matt: Pack underpants and credit card into rucksack/tailbag. Head south. Stand in dark train for 35 mins. Go bat shit for first ten miles. Settle down. Realise that 'settling down' is 'bat shit' minus 5mph. Arrive fully awake and ready for a beer...
I've never carried more than a disc lock. I have however managed to park inside a hotel foyer, a locked beer barrel store behind a pub, a private garage at a B&B which the owner removed his car from for me and even got my 748 into the local police station car park when I spent some time in Liverpool. (Not that I think Liverpool is worse than Birmingham where I live). I doubt the last is an option with modern terrorism scares but it just goes to show what can be acheived if you ask.
@mattmccabebrown where you think of going specifically? I noticed on your bucket list you want to go back the Ducati mother land.. I've often thought of doing the same. @900streetfighter don't get me started on the vandals. I used to work in Central London soho area the amount of drunk people vomiting in peoples helmets and taking pics on bikes and knocking them over. @1037sps seems like you have the gift if the gab I can't believe you managed to park in side the police station!!
Yeah going to WDW this year, with a ride through France etc. Am I worried about my bike, my only real form of transport being nicked whilst Im away, damn right I am. Im not going to be taking as many chains as I can carry, but certainly a disc lock. Living in London and having a bike nicked from Birmingham last year makes me a tad paranoid when it comes to these things. Yep secure car parks is the plan :tongue:
Being sensible about where you park is just as important as a chain and shackle. I tend to stay in city centre hotels, so always go for secure parking when booking the hotels. But out of the cities I'm far less concerned about the bike, and have not had any problem parking on the street. Just be sensible; right by the hotel door is good, up an unlit side road not so good.
We got turfed out of a cop shop in rural France in the '70's; my dad was trying to find somewhere to turn round with a caravan on the back, and he spotted a space. Even at 12 years old I knew what a 'no entry' sign looked like, apparently my dad missed it altogether. To be fair to Le Sweeney, no-one got battered in the cells; once they realised we were clueless Brits and not the local pikeys they resorted to pointing and laughing, so us kids joined in...Dad forgave us several decades later...
Yes but not everyone goes on holiday to somewhere where every person walks round in their underpants all the time.:biggrin:
