Gone missing

Sam Hewitt

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12th September 2020

There is a common misconception that if a thief wants to steal your bike, then they’ll be able to take it no matter what.

Although many bikes are stolen to order – either as a complete machine or to be broken down for parts – there are still those spur of the moment thefts. These thefts are quite easy to guard against.

This is backed up by industry experts who claim that a thief is unlikely to want to spend more than just 30 seconds stealing a bike – about as long as it takes to load one into the back of a van – so if you can equip the bike so the theft takes much longer, then the light-fingered pilferer may just look elsewhere.

And there are various ways in which we can extend the time that a thief would need, and draw attention to the fact that your bike is being targeted.

A decent lock and chain is a good start, as are disc locks (or similar, such as a decent ‘D’-lock, for drum-braked machines) front and rear. While locking one end is a start, locking up both wheels makes it a lot harder for the bike to be wheeled into a waiting van.

Drawing attention to the bike is a great deterrent and although fitting an alarm to your garage or shed is advised, that’ll not work when you’re out and about.

There is an alternative to professionally-fitted bike alarms that may not be suitable for classic machinery. Regular OBM correspondent, Fred Austin, explains his option – as the photo shows it’s a fused and switched loud ‘sounder’ which works off a mercury switch which switches if the motorcycle is lifted from the sidestand.

The on/off switch can be hidden away out of sight and, while it might not really be a theft alarm, but more to flag up if anyone is messing with the motorcycle at a show/event etc, it only costs about £5 to make and can put off a potential theft.