Does anyone keep their chain and disc lock in their tail bag? Some days my rucksack is full or I'd rather not wear one just wondering if a tail bag is ideal for such things?
I have done in the past, as a chain is a weighty thing it is better to keep it lower anyway. Just make sure its secure in the tailpack and can't slide around
My chain is a quite heavy, so on a trip tp France a few years ago I resorted to bundling it up in a thick poly bag and then holding that onto the rear seat with a small luggage net - it didn't seem to make sense to try putting it into the tank bag (would have almost filled it) or my soft panniers (too heavy on one side). It slid around a bit but not disastrously. I think hard panniers are probably the best bet, but you're talking commuting... Putting any large hard object into a rucksack is worrying, but of course most of us have done it. Years ago I remember following a friend home from a bike scrapper with a Triumph wheel resting on the rear of the seat, strapped to his back!
I wouldn't take a large chain on holiday with me. It's supposed to be a lightweight sports bike, not a caravan. If you park in sensible places, it shouldn't get stolen or need a chain. I only take an Abus disc lock - that's quite enough extraneous weight. A real professional will steal it whatever, if they see it and want it. You can deter the amateur thief with less than half the Forth Bridge.
I carry a cable type and small U lock that acts as disc lock and try to loop the cable round a post or another bike and lock thro brake disc Lighter than a chain and coils up inside a tankbag without taking much space.
Sure, but thieves laugh at cables. One pair of bolt cutters and snip! When my 916 was stolen on Bol d'Or weekend in the S of F, it was attached to two other bikes with one of those steel snake lock things, it had a disc lock on it (a cheap one) and all the bikes were parked directly beneath my mates bedroom on the first floor, with the windows wide open. The disc lock was never found, the steel snake was just cut through with bolt cutters.
The disc lock was never found, the steel snake was just cut through with bolt cutters.[/QUOTE] Not sure I wanted to know that.:frown:
Sorry, but that is the reality of bike theft. There isn't much you can get that will prevent a determined thief, but you can deter a non-determined thief. Thing is, you don't need a monster chain to deter an non-determined thief, and a monster chain still won't deter a determined one. So there isn't much point carrying around 7 or 8 kg of metal chain. All disc locks are useless, but some are a lot more useless than others. My Abus one is meant to stand up to 7 minutes of abuse, and that's the most you can expect. After that it will fail, but that 7mins will deter the casual thief. The pro thief will just load the bike into a van.
I read an article on reddit about an ex bike thief who exposed their secrets and pretty much said what you said. Disc locks he can drop disc etc. chains bolt crops etc. the most to hope for is to slow them down but if there's nothing the opportunist or amateur would take it in a heart beat so I always try to lock it up even if it's for a short time. If I find article I'll post it up
Think about where you're going and what options you have security-wise. In most of Germany you could leave the keys in the ignition and tape the logbook to the seat, and still no-one would touch it. On the other hand, if you go through Barcelona at anything less than 100mph they'll steal your underpants while you're wearing them. Personally, I'm more concerned about leaving my bike unattended at home than I am in the rest of Europe. Race meetings are dodgy. It's a sad fact that it's bikers who steal bikes. If you're staying in hotels, try to find hotels with secure car parks, there are plenty to choose from. And if you're camping try to keep the bike as close to the tent as you can. And get a cab/train/bus to the race meeting, that way you can have shed-loads of booze and not worry about the bloody bike...
Yes, I do like to have a visible deterrent in a city/town though if we're overnight. We book hotels in advance now so pick ones with parking facilities. The snake is handy for securing?? jackets and lids to bike at tracks etc. Ducati's don't seem to be so desirable to thieves........except for a few in London in the last year or two.
The article I spoke of http://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/t5shp/ex_thief_chopshop_operator_ama/
My Brother has been all over Europe on his 1098S with very little recourse to locks and chains; he does carry one, but it's the lightest one he could find that packs away small, just something he can use to tie it round an immovable object - a visible deterrent. I don't bother personally, my bikes are cheaper and less desireable, but neither of us have had anything touched in 23 years. You have to be sensible of course, but spending all week worrying about the bike is gonna ruin your holiday
There seems to be an implication in your post, Matt, that somehow your bike is more likely to be nicked in Europe than "at home". I very much doubt this is the case. The thing about having your bike abroad is that you are less familiar with the environment and thus it is harder to judge the risk. But it seems to me that most of the time, the risk will be less than at home. This is because the UK is a very crowded place with plenty of crime, so you bike is likely to be seen by criminals. In places like rural France, this is less likely. The second reason is that your bike is very often in the same place - at work or at home. This gives criminals ample opportunities to spot it and organise its removal. If you're just overnighting somewhere, the criminal only has one opportunity to see the bike and organise its theft. So if your bike is going to be pinched from outside a hotel or restaurant, for example, it's likely to be one which is regularly cased. You just want to make sure that you either stay in hotels in one-horse places where it is highly unlikely your bike would be touched (because the thief would stick out a mile), or hotels in busier places with off-street parking (which most have in one shape or form, at least for the odd motorbike, even if it's next to the bins). I did have my 916 lifted during Bol d'Or weekend once in the 90s (after going there about 15 times). The hotel was down a lane, and the bike right on the hotel grounds. But then the Bol d'Or used to attract about 80'000 bikes, so it was a real honey pot for all the waspy scumbags in the area. And that area is just down the road from Marseille where you really wouldn't want to leave a bike lying around. And they wanted mine: my mates' new Triumph and the heavily modded Ninja weren't touched, despite them all sharing the same heavy cable lock. That's the only time I've ever had any bother with bike thieves in decades of riding around the Continent. There is no way I am going to be taking up large amounts of my limited luggage space with heavy duty security measures.
