Motorcycle security: advice on specific security measures

Following on from our previous more general motorbike security advice, today’s blog is packed full of more specific information about different security measures. Zanx has tried and tested so many security devices, there is very little he doesn’t know about motorbike security. Here is his article:

It’s worth being aware of just how much front your friendly local thief will show when trying to steal a motorcycle: as well as those opportunistic thieves who will pinch anything not nailed down, many motorbike thefts are actually pretty well planned. When planning your bike security, bear in mind that potential thieves will often wander by to have a look – sometimes in the daytime, but often late at night. They then return tooled up a couple of hours later, having laid their plans.

If your pride and joy is hidden away, or just looks like it’s far more bother than it’s worth to try and steal, you’re more likely to find it safely tucked away in the morning.

Chains

There is no chain on the market under 16mm, that I am aware of, which cannot be broken with 42″ bolt croppers. Some can even be cropped with 36″ croppers.

If you want a chain that requires a noisy attack to breach, you need 16mm plus. There are plenty of videos on the internet – just do a YouTube search for “cropping a motorbike chain” to find out how easy it can be to break motorcycle security.

There are two basic types of security chain, long link and short link. Long-link chains enable you to pass a leading link through any link along the chain, allowing the user to customise the length of the chain according to the situation. Best practice is to keep it tight.

Short-link chains will always be heavier as well as not having the facility for shortening. You can shorten a short link chain by twisting it until it tangles up on itself, then you can lock it off; this is not ideal but every bit helps.

Plenty of chains boast “through hardening”; this is generally bad, because a through-hardened chain is brittle and usually only needs one side cropping because the other side shatters and the thief saves valuable time.

Ideally, a chain will be case hardened – hard as nails on the outside and ductile on the inside. There are several 16mm chains that offer varying levels of case hardening on the market, but it is very unusual to find a properly case-hardened sub-16mm chain purely because it’s so hard to achieve cheaply on a smaller-size chain.

Padlocks

Generally speaking, if it has the word “motorcycle” in front of it, it will be substandard and expensive.

Look at the locks used on lockups and yards: closed shackle, sliding pin and usually cost at least £50 just for the padlock.

Remember, padlocks often have a limit to the size chain they will take, so thieves with croppers will go for the chain. The padlock is irrelevant until it becomes the weakest link in your security plan.

If you buy a 16mm+ chain and padlock separately, make sure the padlock will take a 16mm link, there are very few that do, even fewer take 19mm chains.

I would advise that you don’t use round key padlocks on anything you’re not happy to lose because they are very easily picked, requiring little lock-picking skill and basic, readily-available tools.

Cables

I will go as far as to beg that nobody reading this should use a cable lock on your bike! They are about the worst type of security you could use, even for a bicycle. I have tested and chopped three cable locks, all new, and none of them put up any significant resistance. One was cut in front of an ITV crew, the other in front of Carlton Reid (a cycling journalist) and the other in front of ACPO crime prevention representatives at their HQ in Northampton.

For a cable to be thick enough to fend off a cable cutter, it would need to be about three-quarters of an inch thick. Cable that thick in a one-metre length would not be flexible enough to use, so cable lock manufacturers use little articulated armoured cups to make it look bigger, and clear plastic sheathing to use the refraction of the plastic to enhance the appearance of the cable inside.

It is a fallacy that cable locks cannot be defeated by bolt croppers: all cable locks have pins and locking mechanisms. I lost a scooter years ago while using a cable lock. Investigation of the cable afterwards showed that the initial attack was on the cable, then the thieves went for the pin on the end – and that’s how they got the scooter. A fresh pair of cheap croppers will cut cable, but generally the lock mechanism is the weakest point.

Additionally, cables can be cut with more tools than chains. Small cables can be defeated by secateurs, scissors, tin snips, pliers, Dremels and can even be twisted off with a chunk of wood.

D-locks

Popular among cyclists and motorcyclists who need quick and easy immobilisation of their bikes with minimal effort, a D-lock can be a handy addition to your arsenal. However, as with chains, size matters. 10mm – 15mm locks can all be cropped – if you’re serious about a D-lock, it needs to be at least 16mm and should not have a round key because they can be picked with a pen.

Using locks

There is a simple rule to getting the most from your D-lock: fill the D! That is, make sure that the space inside the lock is filled as much as possible, be that with frame, wheel, brake disc, sprocket, whatever – just make sure the D is filled to an extent that you couldn’t fit a large orange into it. The reason for this is to deter jacking attacks: leave enough space and a thief can use a regular car jack; leave enough room for an orange and a mini jack will make short work of even 16mm and 18mm locks.

A D section made of square steel is preferable, as a thief needs to break both sides of the D to remove it; whereas a round steel D only needs one side breaking, which allows the thief to twist the body of the lock away to create a gap big enough to remove it.

Having said that, a D lock on a motorcycle is only slightly more useful than a decent disc lock because only one wheel will be immobilised. This means that the bike can still be stolen unless it’s used in conjunction with a suitably-sized chain and anchor point.

Keys

If you have a blipper on your bike to activate the alarm or immobiliser, keep it on a different key ring to your ignition key – that way if you ever leave the key in the ignition by mistake or lose the key/blipper and are followed home, the bike can’t be ridden without both. In addition to that, if they are kept in separate places in your house, it’s just another layer of aggro for any burglars who might consider using your bike as a getaway vehicle.

Zanx

Chainbreaker General