Security/GPS? What works best to keep my girl(Bike) safe?

Good morning everyone.

Spent the last 3 months looking over old threads and read a ton of reviews and even bike thief confessions. But even with all that research I would like to know what has worked best locally. The out of site out of mind part I get and can do at home. But lets say I travel somewhere or just go out for dinner, what to I need to need/what works to keep my bike safe. I have looked up past posts but chose to make a new one as new tech comes out and most reviews I find seem to be 2014-2015. Also I want to know what works locally as a GPS system is worthless if service is unavailable.

Here is what I am thinking of using

1-Scorpion Ride GPS- Confirmed with them they can support Canada. They partner with Bell, Rogers, Telus. But would love to talk with someone that has used it here in Ontario.

2-Full cover at home. Will carry a half cover for travel(or a full cover if they make one that folds up really small)

3- Disc locks

4- Chain for at home​

The best precautions are automatic or ones that take little effort to engage--since you will tend to use them. Don't mean to sound condescending but 1) should be theft insurance if it's not already. Then it's whatever makes the bike inconspicuous if possible (cover, garage). Then go with some sort of disk lock/chain. If it doesn't fit under the seat or neatly in a bag, it's going to be a nuisance and left unused. Alarms are good for keeping random turkeys off the bike, maybe the casual bike thief. GPS trackers won't stop theft better than insurance but insurance cannot be circumvented, nor will it kill the battery. GPS trackers may increase the chances of police returning your bike but there's no guarantee it won't be trashed/stripped before then. Good luck.

Do what makes you feel comfortable, but the most important thing is good theft insurance. Many (probably even most) bike thefts are bikes lifted into vans. That defeats disc locks and covers as well as chains if they aren't wrapped around something substantial. GPS is easily jammed and police rarely respond to the bike location even if you know where it is.

I have found riding a 2001 Suzuki Bandit 600 with enormous Givi bags bolted onto it is an excellent theft deterrent! LOL! Seriously, I can leave that bike anywhere and even though it is shinny and in great shape, I have zero worries about theft.

If you're not willing to go the Bandit route, my suggestion is to keep it simple. Get insurance first. Don't bother with a half cover or even a full cover for anywhere but at home. Even good ones are a pain in the butt and a half cover does nothing to disguise your bike, the're really just designed to keep the elements off your seat and controls when parked for a while. A good alarm system can be a wise investment as they are easy to activate and will draw attention to anyone monkying with your bike, but a good thief will disarm it pretty quickly. A disc lock can be good too, but I suggest either one that is neon coloured or else tie a string from it to the handlebar of your bike so you don't forget it. I've seen a guy try and ride off with one still attached and while funny for me, it was a costly mistake for him!

Back when the Mrs. and I lived in an apartment we both had bikes and left them out back from spring through fall. We had a couple of things going in our favour such as we were living in Peterborough so much less theft in general and we lived in a grouping of four 6-plex buildings with one central parking lot so there were lots of windows looking out over the parking lot. We had really high quality all weather covers with a safety strap that went under the bikes in case the wind managed to pull them up, but that never happened. Our parking spot was the last one in the lot so we just rolled the bikes between our car and the fence. It was pretty hard to see the bikes way at the back like that. When we were going out for a couple of days we used to put a theft chain between the back wheels of the two bikes. It probably wasn't a huge deterrent to a pro but it would slow them down a little. We never had theft insurance on either bike as they were a 1996 Virago 1100 and a 1995 Virago 535. Not exactly high theft bikes!

Personally you are wasting your time and money and getting your hopes up.
Your bike will be in the back of a minivan in less than 30 seconds.
How long before you even notice it's gone...several hours?

Also they can buy a $20 signal jammer, plug into their van and renders your tracker useless.
Some of these crooks are not dumb, they ride bikes also.

On a sport bike how many places can you hide a device...and it is all plugged into the battery which takes 30 seconds to remove your seat and another 30 seconds or less to disconnect the battery. If they know what they are looking for, they will just cut off your device and toss it out the window.

Keep your insurance up to date.
Also think of a way to keep the bike from being loaded into minivan in the first place...toss a large bbq cover over it, lol

-D- said:

Also they can buy a $20 signal jammer, plug into their van and renders your tracker useless.

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How does this $20 jammer work? What signals are they jamming? Cell phone signals?

veno78 said:

How does this $20 jammer work? What signals are they jamming? Cell phone signals?

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It would be easier and less noticeable to jam gps signals so it can't get a fix. Jammers are available for both GPS and cell phones. Obviously driving around with a cell phone jammer on causes a world of anger around you.

This...

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Insurance. Thats the only solution. If people want your bike they will take it, doesnt matter what you have protecting it.

I have a chain and a lock now after my last bike was stolen, just stuff from home depot not one of those 200+ dollar pieces of **** they try to rip you off with. 10 seconds with big enough bolt cutters and all chains snap the same. I only use it to prevent opportunity theft, if someone wants it and they take it I'll call my insurance company and get a new bike in a couple weeks.

Save your money. You dont need a cover, you dont need an alarm, you dont need a disc lock, you dont need a gps tracker. Every single one of those things can be defeated in seconds and you'll just be out a bike and all the money you spent on the security junk. Take that money, add theft coverage to your policy, and sleep easy knowing your insurance company will pay you enough to get the exact same bike if someone decides to steal yours.

Step 1: Good insurance.

Step 2: Put a Hyosung cover on it.

I put a Scorpio i800 alarm on mine. It helps give me peace of mind. It's got a battery back up, so if they cut the power the alarm will still go off.

Mind you I don't live in the GTA, and my bike stays locked up in my shop at the house.

It's also got a bump sensor. So if some loser decided to touch or sit on your bike while you're not there, it'll chirp at them.

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Take your pick.

Have a bike that is uninteresting to thieves and/or worth so little that it doesn't matter (these may coincide).
Insurance.
Locked garage.
Security measures for the garage (many choices, from very simple to very complex). Make it harder to get in than just breaking the latch.
Sabotage the bike in some way so that it's a pain to move. This is only realistic for longer-term storage. Use your imagination.
Don't park the bike where it is unprotected and you will not be watching it. If this means taking the car to go shopping or go out for dinner, so be it.
Limit who knows where you live and what's stored there.
A trailer plastered with racing stickers is an advertisement. A plain white box is an unknown.

I'm not a great believer in alarm systems (no one pays attention to them sounding the alarm) but they might be effective in some situations.
GPS trackers will only alert you after the damage is done. Police in this area seem to have little interest in following these up.
Disk locks etc won't stop someone from picking up the bike but it might slow them down - this MIGHT help in some situations.
Cable and chain locks, see above. Be aware that if someone cases your bike first, they'll know you have these locks and will come prepared.

And aside from generalities, don't discuss what security measures you have in place.

Insurance.

Alarm is good to keep the casual fool from touching or moving it.
A bike that does the business without being the latest and greatest is what I run. It can still do whatever the newest one can cause it's still above my limit....usually.

Thank you all for your feed back. You all pretty much confirmed exactly what I had read. Just hope that I do not get hit. Thinking something to warm me if someone is near my bike so I can get my own justice would be nice. If they run they better well above avg at and good at military courses, because odds are they will not be outrunning me and I will make sure that there is 1 less thief on the streets. How many here commute with their bike?

Getting potentially shot or knifed is not worth the confrontation method IMHO.

PrivatePilot said:

Getting potentially shot or knifed is not worth the confrontation method IMHO.

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Or charged with assault (or something worse depending on what happens).

I get the risks associated with my above comments. What I said seems wide open to a yolo approach, but my actions would be based on the situation. I would not be doing anything to put my self at risk, but I would not stand by just watching them take my baby. Actions would be taken to be sure I am safe and damages/loss at a minimum.

Buy a 250

I commute with my bike. Leave it on the street parked in front of a condo with a few cameras there.

tried to drive away with a disc lock still on once....took me a whole 5min to remove it with no special tools and as an amateur. Never again.

I just make make sure my insurance is up to date and check on the bike every few hours just to see if it's still there.