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

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

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 but don't rely on your steering lock. A disc lock costs from £10 - £120 but just 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.

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.

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