Top tips to prevent your motorbike being stolen

Protect your motorbike from thieves

Approximately 80 motorbikes and scooters are stolen every single day with 9 out of the top 10 hotspots for thefts being in London. You’d think then that security would be paramount, but a surprising less than half of all bikes use locks or other security devices such as ground anchors and alarms, let alone datatags. This is probably why only 40% of stolen bikes are ever recovered.

The more difficult a thief perceives your bike to be stolen, and the more time taken to nick it, the less attractive it becomes. More and more we are recovering stolen bikes which have been barrelled or simply having a locked front wheel removed and replaced by the thief, swapping it with their own wheel. These bikes are your treasured possessions and cost substantial amounts of money, so why wouldn’t you do all you can to protect them?

Here are our top tips to protect your motorbike from thieves:

Alarms and immobilisers – get these professionally fitted… DIY may prove a bit of a risk unless you know what you’re doing. Another deterrent would be to leave your kill switch in the ‘off’ position and leave the bike in gear. You can also have a separate kill switch professionally fitted somewhere on the bike directly from the wiring block not the ignition – so only you know how to turn the power on.

Locks – go for good quality and secure to an immovable object such as a ground anchor or lamppost. Thread the chain through your frame if possible, and loop it through twice if you can and leave as little excess chain visible – lock both wheels too. Handle bar locks are another visible deterrent. Placing disk brakes on the inside of your wheel instead of the outside so that its harder for thieves to attack the mechanism, (its a bit fiddly for you but a good deterrent). You can always place two separate disc locks on the front wheel.

Mark up – mark parts of your bike with your VIN number, reg and postcode, (UV pens are great for this or consider data tags). This makes them much harder to sell and therefore less attractive to thieves. It also increases the chances of getting a stolen bike returned.

Garage – if you have one use it and alarm it and secure your bike inside it. If leaving the bike for long periods of time you could always remove the spark plug

Park in broad daylight – park where the bike can be seen and vary your parking spots to reduce familiarity for the thieves. If possible try to park where vans can’t easily park along side.

Cover – use a lockable cover and mobile motion sensor alarm.

Secure parking – use motorcycle parking areas for bikes when possible. 

See here for a list of motorcycle parking spots in the capital