A steering lock is not enough: Don't be a victim

One easy step to reduce the chances of having your bike stolen

Posted: 11 October 2011
by Ben Cope
A race rep scooter with just a steering lock. The kids on the local estate will be watching..
You won't wheel that away in a hurry
Which one's most likely to get pinched?

There's an easy way to steal a motorcycle and it's gaining popularity in London and throughout cities across the UK.

Here's how it's done:

A would-be thief checks out a motorcycling parking bay or sees a motorcycle on its own. He looks for any additional security but can't see any. The bike's got its steering lock on, so can't easily be wheeled away. He has a glance around, no-one's looking, he grabs the bars and violently smashes them left to right - within a few seconds the steering lock's broken. He walks away.

A few minutes later, he returns on the back of his mate's scooter. He hops off, wheels the bike into the road, hops on and his mate on the scooter puts his foot on the stolen bike's pillion peg and pushes the stolen bike down the road under the scooter's power.

Then they either wheel it into a van or down a side street and push it home. In just a few minutes, your bike's stolen.

It's that easy.

Organised gangs are stealing over £3m worth of motorcycles across the UK each month. There's an easy way to make your bike less attractive to thieves and less likely to be stolen by the method described above: fit a disclock.

Sure, a big chain wrapped around a solid post, a tracker, an alarm, a garage door. They're all good at deterring thieves, just don't rely on your steering lock.

A disc lock costs from £10 - £120, you can spend what you see fit. The fact you've got something stopping your bike from being easily wheeled away will massively cut the risk of your bike being a target.

I see so many bikes parked around London with nothing but a steering lock for security. I know it sounds obvious to say 'use a lock' but so many people don't think they need one. Don't be the next target.

It would be great if you clicked 'Like' on this article or Tweeted it to help spread the word to your friends.



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stolen, theft, thief, motorcycle, steering lock, snap, london, chain, lock, excess, insurance, nicked, security, pinched
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Discuss this story

Even a disc lock isn't 100% secure, if you can, put two. One in each weel will make impossible that bike to move on its wheels, even for short distances. If they want to put it on a van they'll have to grab it with both wheels off the ground.

Posted: 11/10/2011 at 14:58

a disc lock wont stop it getting thrown in the back of a van. it may be better to just get the bus, or something.

Posted: 13/10/2011 at 10:22

Yes, I lost several bikes that was just picked up and thrown into a van.

Posted: 18/10/2011 at 23:02

yeah these little bastards are quite ingenious about how they steal your pride and joy. had 2 chavs turn up on a scooter outside my house, broke steering lock, tied yoke with a skipping rope of all things to grab handle on the back of their scooter. Scooter too gutless to tow X11 away, luckily.

Posted: 26/10/2011 at 10:47

It's obvious

Forget steering lock. They aren't a VISUAL deterrent !!!!

Always make sure you have something very visual to put thieves off and that anchors the bike to the spot.
Thick chain or cable to a stationary object - lamp post, railing, signs, bollard etc

If a thief SEES that it's too much hassle, they won't bother to approach the problem at all

I never have problems with this and I have a very desirable bike

Posted: 06/01/2012 at 18:33

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