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How are we locking our bikes these days?

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Triumphter

Triumphter

Joined
Jan 7, 2019
Messages
484
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582
Location
Corpus and SA area
I never evolved past a disk brake lock.

What are people using to lock their bikes? How about when it is on an open trailer or hitch carrier?
 
Still hanging in there with the disk lock. I never mess with the steering lock. I always carry it with me and use it depending on the neighborhood.

I was riding with a friend of mine to lunch one day and I set my helmet on the handlebars and the jacket on top of it. He was shocked. I don't do it every time, just staying aware of my surroundings. Kind of like locking a convertible with the top down. Locks keep the honest people out.

I see a hitch carrier and a hooligan bike in my future to carry with me and figured I would just throw a lock and cable around it. I always lock my receiver hitch on my truck. It may not keep them from taking it but may slow them down and someone or me may see them in the act.
 
dfwscotty said:
Still hanging in there with the disk lock. I never mess with the steering lock. I always carry it with me and use it depending on the neighborhood.

I was riding with a friend of mine to lunch one day and I set my helmet on the handlebars and the jacket on top of it. He was shocked. I don't do it every time, just staying aware of my surroundings. Kind of like locking a convertible with the top down. Locks keep the honest people out.

I see a hitch carrier and a hooligan bike in my future to carry with me and figured I would just throw a lock and cable around it. I always lock my receiver hitch on my truck. It may not keep them from taking it but may slow them down and someone or me may see them in the act.
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I am going to pick up my new bike soon and am going to be a hitch carrier person from now on. Of course I have a lock for the hitch....and yeah, I bought a cable lock as well. I guess you and I came to similar conclusions.

When the bike is not on the hitch carrier I am going to use the cable lock to secure the ramp to the carrier (it is just wing nutted on). And when I just put the entire carrrier in the bed of my truck I will use the cable to secure the entire thing.

Perhaps this thread will reveal an even better idea.
 
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Hey, dannyboy. you need to tell your story of what 2 nice people did for you at the Brady Hotel parking lot.
 
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If I remember right, the bike was still stolen. :doh:
 
Disc lock and cable here also. I would not trust the hitch lock. I would wrap the cable around the receiver hitch or frame of the vehicle. Hitch locks are pretty weak. I have had several throughout the years and been able to open most with random keys I have collected over the years. I have also removed a few with a solid hit from a hammer. Like stated above you are likely only going to slow them, or make it where they just move on to something easy. The best advice I ever had was buy insurance and sleep easy. In the event it disappeares, you get to go bike shopping. Who doesn’t like bike shopping?
 
Stromxtc has a nice lock with an alarm. He needs to elaborate.

I got a wild idea a couple years ago to ride the border fence. Rode from Rockport to Port Isabell to Laredo. That’s a long day trip if you hug the fence. I stayed in a Laredo and really expected to ride a bus home the next day but sure enough my faithful klr was right there in the parking lot. So I’ll vote, location location location. Stay where it’s safe’ish and pay your insurance.
 
South tex, if you plan on sleeping at those , let's call them , "adventurous" motels (like that one we did), I would recomend you let the 701 sleep beside you in side. That beauty is light enough to hike into a pick up bed and be gone in less than 60 seconds. Or add a leash to another bike.
 
For the recently sold Tiger, I used a disc lock for a while until it depreciated enough where I would just rely on insurance. For the TTR now, I still carry full coverage, just because it's extremely cheap. Not realizing just how big it was, I just bought a NEW YORK FAHGETTABOUDIT CHAIN 1415 for the mountain bike, so I guess I could also use it to lock up the TTR. It covers up to $5k for the MTB and $2k for the motorcycle....so....a lot more than what either of the two are worth. I still have the disc lock, so I might use that as well when camping.
 
No locks for me and so far, no issues.

I do carry insurance, but it would still suck to lose a bike on a trip.

For years, I rode a Goldwing everywhere. You could leave the keys in that bike and nobody would steal it. Nobody steals Goldwings.

Now...for my Super Duke or BMW GS, I probably should lock them up, but so far, it hasn't mattered.
 
At one time I worried about bike theft and used various locks to secure the motorcycle. Now I just do not worry about that’s what insurance is for. I usually take my riding gear indoors with me when I stop .


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2WheelNut said:
No locks for me and so far, no issues.

I do carry insurance, but it would still suck to lose a bike on a trip.

For years, I rode a Goldwing everywhere. You could leave the keys in that bike and nobody would steal it. Nobody steals Goldwings.

Now...for my Super Duke or BMW GS, I probably should lock them up, but so far, it hasn't mattered.
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A buddy of mine (typical KLR owner :lol2:) had a '97 KLR that was bits and pieces of 4 or 5 different KLRs, rust, and Krylon paint from Walmart. He went to Austin to visit a friend, woke up in the morning, and it was gone. Liability only insurance. 2 guys loaded it up in the bed of a truck and took off.

That was his thought, it was so butt ugly and beat up no one would want it.
 
Rudy said:
A buddy of mine (typical KLR owner :lol2:) had a '97 KLR that was bits and pieces of 4 or 5 different KLRs, rust, and Krylon paint from Walmart. He went to Austin to visit a friend, woke up in the morning, and it was gone. Liability only insurance. 2 guys loaded it up in the bed of a truck and took off.

That was his thought, it was so butt ugly and beat up no one would want it.
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I'm pretty active on the Goldwing forum and we've asked the question a few times through the years. Nobody has ever reported a Goldwing stolen. Now...I don't think that means its NEVER happened....but it's exceedingly rare. I have a buddy that literally leaves his keys in his at every stop and overnight at hotels. Nobody has ever even touched it.

People steal things to either sell to make money or to use. My guess is there just isn't a market for stolen Goldwings or Goldwing parts and theives aren't interested in riding a Wing.

Side note....I left my key in the ignition on my BMW GS overnight in front of a hotel. I did it by accident and luckily I was parked in the front of the hotel under the check in canopy. I got lucky there though.... key was on a fluorescent key chain and could be seen from 15 feet away.
 
I've got the KTM factory alarm on my 1290 but also have a Xena disk lock. I was at Daytona bike week a couple of years ago and watched 4 big guys pull up in a truck and flatbed trailer. They had 2 big pieces of pipe. They walked over to a gorgeous Harley with disk locks on both wheels. They stuck 1 piece of pipe under the rear fender and the other behind the front forks. They lifted the bike up and put it on the trailer and drove off. They did it so fast it was unreal. Word was they were repo guys.
 
I guess if you can steal it and ride it on the track or the dirt or part it out, it could get stolen. Like WG says about the wings, I don't know too many RTs that get stolen. I'm going to get teased by some of my riding buddies for this, but personally I prefer to use the same method of keeping a bike from getting stolen, I don't leave it where thieves operate. When I take the wife somewhere on the RT we're staying somewhere nice enough we don't have to worry about it. If I'm alone on the X, I'm sleeping next to it in a camp ground anyway. Only a couple of times have I felt the location where I was staying was so bad I had to lock the bike.

And for the record I carry just a plain cable and a combination lock.
 
Meriden said:
I guess if you can steal it and ride it on the track or the dirt or part it out, it could get stolen. Like WG says about the wings, I don't know too many RTs that get stolen. I'm going to get teased by some of my riding buddies for this, but personally I prefer to use the same method of keeping a bike from getting stolen, I don't leave it where thieves operate. When I take the wife somewhere on the RT we're staying somewhere nice enough we don't have to worry about it. If I'm alone on the X, I'm sleeping next to it in a camp ground anyway. Only a couple of times have I felt the location where I was staying was so bad I had to lock the bike.

And for the record I carry just a plain cable and a combination lock.
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You can find an example here or there of any model of bike being stolen, but sportbikes are far and away the most stolen. Harleys probably come next, but it’s not even a close second.
 
Disc lock is my choice. Compact and fast on and off.
 
In 2003 someone stole my TL1000S from my car port. So I bought an ABUS lock, chain and shackle for the car port. At the time the lock cost $300.00 or so. I locked them every night until I closed in my car port. Works great, I still have it. The chain is 65 Rockwell hardness. Not a great thing to carry on the bike, but without a plasma cutter or big grinder it will take a while to cut it off. When I removed the shackle from the car port it took about 5 minutes with a big angle grinder to remove it.

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Funny you mention leaving the helmet. I know a couple of riders who are seemingly obsessed with crime and personal safety, but will leave $1000 worth of gear on their bikes. I've never been worried as much about my bike being taken as having something like a GPS stolen from the bike.
 
For trips, I put a cover on the bike overnight. My two bikes are big though and not likely to get rolled into a van. On the GSA, if I'm really worried I will use the steering column/head lock. On the K1600 it has an alarm that I'll set at a hotel.

But around town I don't do anything special. And yes, sometimes I'll leave my helmet and jacket on the tank/bars. Depends on location.
 
For general purpose (Walmart runs), I trust the steering lock.

For motels and hotels, I carry a 15-ft cable lock. I try really hard to park where I can run the chain around a post, a stairwell rail, or a concrete parking space stop. If they can cut through my chain or saw through a stairwell railing or bust concrete, there's probably nothing I could do to stop them, short of rolling the bike inside the room.
 
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