security

Motorcycle theft accounts for around 10% of stolen vehicles in London. Scooters account for over half of all motorcycle theft.

Scooters are particularly targeted for obvious reasons, as they can be ridden on CBT only the market is bigger. Secondly, being lightweight they can be lifted onto a van by two large blokes which means that any scooter not locked to an immovable object is vulnerable.

Sports bikes are also a target for thieves and models such as Fireblades and R1s command high insurance premiums for this reason.

It is your responsibility to ensure your bike is secure. Some simple precautions listed below will help to minimise the risk.

common sense

Be careful where you leave your bike, the more obvious "rough" parts of town are likely to be more risky and we certainly wouldn't recommend leaving the bike on the road overnight.

If you have to leave your bike in a bike park over night then try to make sure it's in a well lit and preferably busy area. Try to park among other bikes, if it's obviously popular with others it's likely to be fairly safe.

Hints and Tips: London is full of offices that are manned all night by bored security guards. If there's one near where you're leaving your bike then why not ask them to keep an eye on it ? it might cost you a bottle of Scotch but it's a small price to pay.

try to secure the bike to an immovable object such as a lamppost.

Always use some security - your steering lock, disc lock etc. you might not be able to stop a determined thief but an opportunist is more likely to take a nearby bike with less security

Storage - under the seat for scooters or paniers are an obvious target for thieves.

cover

More practical for parking at home, but if your bike is in the open, then a plastic or canvass bike cover will not only keep the elements off but people will not know what's under there so will not see your lovely new sports machine.

Some do cover their bikes in bike parks etc but the inconvenience of this is obvious.

security tagging

Such as the Datatag system which consists of ultraviolet micro-dots invisibly printed onto the bike, and transponders hidden in three to five places where the thief will have trouble locating but the Datatag scanner can detect.

The bike owner's details are logged in the Datatag files to which the police have access, and criminal bike buyers are unwilling to buy tagged machines and therefore risk being caught.

Consult your dealer about having your bike tagged or whether it's included in a purchase.

immobilisers

These disable the electrical system so the bike won't start and can only be activated by the device held by the owner.

alarms

You can get bike alarms but as no one pays attention to car alarms they are just as unlikely to with a bike. Probably useful if your bike is parked out of your sight but within audible distance so you are aware of any tampering.

the downside is that they drain the bike's batteries.

disc locks

these are an easy and effective way to secure your bike. they lock onto the front or rear brake disc making it impossible to ride the bike. the downside is that as they are small, you might forget to unlock your own bike and cause damage when you try to ride off.

chain locks

These come in different strengths and sizes and can be used simply around a wheel to have a similar effect to the disc lock, or more usefully, to secure your bike to an immovable object to prevent it being lifted.

Hints and Tips: If parking with other bikes and there are no suitable immovable objects, use your chain locks to lock your bikes together. You may also arrange to do this with other bikes users if you can agree suitable arrangements.

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