Securing/locking a bike in Manhattan (ie:bike thieves haven)

[TurboMike]

I'm new to bikes but I've heard about the vans that rove around NYC grabbing motorcycles and bikes from all over. I'm sure they have cutters and other evil tools of the trade. Where I live/park is safe in NJ but I plan on riding to the city once it warms up. Here come the questions:

brake rotor lock: Worth it? Worth spending extra to get one with an alarm so I dont forget about it and try to ride off with it on?

chains: Are the extreme chains (like Kryptonite Fuggetaboutit) worth the extra money? Do you put the chain through the frame or is a tire good enough?

cover with lock: this sounds like a great idea but #1 its illegal in NYC to cover your bike on a public street, do I need to worry about it getting towed? #2 its a pain to carry. Whats everyone do wear a knapsack with a big ass chain and cover in it or is there such a thing as a cover that fits under the seat?

Anything else worth thinking about?

[tzortn]

Personally I would not ride into the city. I grew up in northern NJ and I can’t understand why anyone would ride a motorcycle in NYC.

If you do have to lock it up in the city I would recommend the biggest badest lock/chain that you can get. I would also get one that is brightly colored. That way a potential thief will avoid it. I would also add a disc lock and even an alarm. Nothing will make your bike 100% safe. The object is to make it as hard as possible for them. Thieves usually look for quick easy marks.

I would look into an ABUS chain and lock combo.

http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&select=0900

http://www.lockitt.com/chain2.htm

http://www.bikeanchor.com/theproduct.html

[The CyberPoet]

You're in a rough situation... You don't want to carry 40 lbs of chain with you regularly, but unless you've got that, there's no real security for your bike...

Many questions come to mind:
(A) When you're in the city, is it overnight?
(B) Are you consistently at the same location in the city (i.e. - always at the GF's place, work, etc.)?
(C) Why would it possibly be illegal to cover a bike in the city? That makes little or no sense to me -- but more over, how big is the ticket, and are there any points assessed?
(D) Is there a parking garage or other indoor (non-street-side) parking slot available to you?
(E) How far are you (physically) from the bike when you park it?
(F) How big is the deductible for theft on your policy?

The reasons I ask, is because:
(1) If you're constantly in the same location in the icty, keep a spare chain and lock there. Then you don't have to haul it around. If you do have to haul it around, consider some form of luggage to hold it comfortably.
(2) Chaining the bike TO SOMETHING is much more critical than just locking/chaining the bike. Chain just the bike and a couple guys can lift it into a van in a minute and cut the chain/lock at their leisure later. I manufacture and sell MotorcycleAnchor brand secure ground anchors for just this sort of situation -- and they can be wall-mounted as well.
(3) If you are within a hundred feet or so of the bike in general, you can get an alarm with remote notification pager. This will give you some piece of mind. Scorpio's are highly regarded in this sense.
(4) If the cost of a zero-deductible theft coverage rider on your insurance policy is less than $50 - $100 a year, simply get the extra coverage and quit worrying.
(5) LoJack now offers LoJack for street bikes. Very pricey, but good piece of mind in a place like NYC. Might also get you a sizeable insurance discount in your area. Alternatively, keeping a GPS-location-reporting capable phone under the seat can also work (NeXTel comes to mind).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[brett]

Cheaper then having to buy shit idea's.... There are 4 wires going into the ignition key hole thing. You can wire the positive to the ignitionup to a toggle switch (kill switch) and hide it behind the fairing (stick fingers in to turn on.) Another simple thing....same type of idea. Solder some wires in your fuse box like where the main fuse thing comes out. Mount a seperate fuse holder behind the fairing somewhere that is easy to get to but is not visible. When you go....pop the fuse out.

Only bad thing about both of these....if someone is doing it from a trailer/truck. They don't really care if it wont start.... Hope this helps a little....

[WildKat]

The more you can deter a thief the better off you are.. obviously if they want it bad enough,they'll just pick it up and throw it in a van or truck and drive off. But if you can make think about it alittle, or cause more effort to get it many times they will move on to an easier target.

Alarm system, disc lock, a chain and lock that is big enough to be noticed but not too big that you cant haul it around either of course.

[TurboMike]

A) Sometimes overnight if I'm visiting family/friend or get lucky, usually not. Overnight doesnt matter in the city. Stuff disapears all day. I had a friend with a cheap mountain bike chain it to a city parking sign for a couple hours while he went up to his office. He came back and the steel bent metal pole thing the sign was on was cut and laying on the ground and the bicycle gone. Happened at noon on a busy street.

B) Sometimes same location if I visit family/friend

C) The law requires your car/bike has a visible plate and inspection sticker. Unless you have a bike cover that lets you see the plate in the back and the inspection sticker on the front fork, it gets towed. I used to know a lot of guys who would cover their bike BECAUSE they couldnt get a ticket. Park it right on a sidewalk next to somethng you can chain it to, cover it, lock the cover, and you cant get a ticket because they cant see your plate. But I've heard they're starting to tow covered bikes. What happenes if its covered and chained to something so they cant tow it? I dunno. I have a winter cover for the bike and theres no way I'm carrying that thing around knapsack or not.

D) Any parking lot is super pricey. Its the main reason I dont go to the city much. Theres ZERO street parking on a weekend. Its also the main reason I might be riding a lot. A lot more available street parking (for a bike).

E) You wont hear an alarm more than a block away. My car has 3 airhorns AND a digital siren alarm and you just cant hear it more than a block away, and thats with the windows open.

D) Dont have theft. Theft on my cars registered in the Bronx is about 1/3 what they're worth. If I was paying for theft on them I'd be losing out in 3 years (knock on wood). I guess I should check for the bike. Yes, its cheaper to register/insure everything in the Bronx than NJ. That shows how f'ed NJ is.

Sigh.

[The CyberPoet]

E) You wont hear an alarm more than a block away. My car has 3 airhorns AND a digital siren alarm and you just cant hear it more than a block away, and thats with the windows open.

That's why I recommended the Scorpion. The remote pager goes off as well (and that's attached to your keys), as long as you are in radio range of the bike (problematic in the city unless the apartment/etc. is on the street-side).

You could also try the one other route:
Make your bike so ugly that no one in their right mind would want to steal it...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[TurboMike]

I'd value the alarm more to keep people off the bike and remind me to take the brake lock off, instead of it actually preventing a theft.

So back to my question: when you chain a bike to something, do you run the chain through the wheels to secure it or through the frame or something else? What about the chains that go right to your brake rotor and locks to the rotor and the chain attaches to that?

[The CyberPoet]

I go through the wheel & swingarm, the rear footpeg hanger and my Givi rack. When I had the passenger grab rail, I went wheel, footpeg hanger, rear grab bar. The centerstand is another good place to lock off to, if you have yours still installed.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[brett]

Park next to bike's that are better then yours....problem solved...lol

[TurboMike]

Anybody think this is enough? Chain around a pole and then through the brake rotor? Or should I get something that goes through the frame or something non-wheel for sure?

http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid=3945559300035023022006664536245&select=0105b02&artikel=4003318282317m

[brett]

Nothing is every "good enough" pair of bolt cutters could prolly get right through that chain. Good deterant though.

[md86]

It's basically about making it harder for them or making it take longer so they'll move on . Yeah , if they want it bad enough , and have the right tools , NOTHING is ever enough .

[The CyberPoet]

Look for a protect-link cable, like cobra-links for example (Abus also makes them, as well as several other firms). These cables use a thick band of steel cables surrounded by hard hollow ball-shapes that interlock to protect the cable itself. They're pretty much bolt-cutter proof (won't stop someone with a welding torch or a gasoline-powered chop saw, but nothing in the cable/chain end of the market will).

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Waltari]

Just another thought...I had a friend in manhattan that had a pretty nice BSA. Had it parked on the street chained tp a fairly substantial post/pole outside a building. Came out in the morning and found the bike and cahin gone and a fairly substantial post laying on the ground where it had fallen after it had been sawzalled through. You never know....