Motorcycles are the pride and joy of their owners. Owners spend thousands of dollars on insurance, upkeep and maintenance of motorcycles every year. So it’s only fitting that you should invest in a good-quality security and storage system to keep it safe too. More than 8,000 motorcycles are stolen each year in Australia. With research finding two in three are stolen from residential locations.
So whether you use your motorcycle to get to and from work, or as a joyride, here’s some tips you should follow to protect your favourite asset at home.
Store your motorcycle in the garage
This seems like a simple one. Yet, driving around my neighbourhood, the number of motorcycles that park outside the front door is staggering. Your motorcycle deserves more than that. So take the time to store it in your garage. If you don’t currently have space now is the perfect time to declutter it. Remember, what is not visible from the street isn’t worth the effort to steal. Next, let's look at that garage door. If you don’t have the energy to hop off your bike to manually open the garage door, convert it to automatic. To make it easier, replace the chunky garage door remote you get with it, for a small keyring sized remote. It’s harder to lose it if it’s attached to your collection of keys.
Motorcycle cover
Whilst covering your motorcycle doesn’t seem like it offers any security, it does reduce unwanted attention from a passerby. Thieves will often look for easy targets and make a quick decision to assess whether it’s worth stealing. Having your bike covered means thieves can’t assess its value and therefore deem it as risky to steal.
Get a floor or wall anchor
Keeping your garage door locked may not always be enough to deter theft. So the next piece that adds to the security of your motorcycle is a floor or wall anchor. Mounting a sturdy anchor is easy for regular DIYers. If you're not a DIYer, get the professionals to do this for you. This nifty and simple device allows you to fit a chain and padlock around it and your motorcycle.
Chains and padlocks for motorcycles
Now that you've bolted the anchor, it’s time to look at the chain and padlock. These two pieces will connect the anchor with the motorcycle. Getting a heavy-duty motorcycle chain and a padlock is important. It prevents thieves from simply picking up your motorbike and walking away with it. The chain needs to be heavy-duty and encased in a sleeve so to not cause any scratches on your motorcycle. Best of all, this combination can go with you on your ride to help secure it away from home. If you’re looking to step up the security to another level, add an alarmed cable lock. So, if the thief were to tamper with the cable, a blistering alarm would sound out.
As for padlocks, don’t go for the cheapest one available. But rather, look for ones according to how you intend to use it. This can mean buying different types of padlocks to use according to the environment. Does it need to be weather resistant? Do you want to give someone quick access to the bike? Lastly, ensure the links in the chain fit snugly through the shackle of the padlock too.
How to fit your chain and padlock on your motorcycle
Your chain needs to go through the frame and wheel and then secured tightly together. Don’t let your chain or padlock fall to the ground. It enables thieves to smash through the padlock or chain to release it. So give it a good pull to ensure this isn’t the case. When at home, attach the ends of the chain and padlock to the anchor. If you’re out, wrap the chain around a solid immovable object such as a light post.
Watch over it with a camera
Sometimes, we just want the peace of mind knowing everything is safe without having to move a muscle. To achieve this, install a motion-detecting camera inside your garage. Ensure you activate the notifications on your smartphone to receive real-time alerts of activity in your garage. You can even check in on your motorcycle at any time and from anywhere. Plus you can check that you’ve shut the garage door too.
Ultimately, there’s no single way to prevent a motorcycle theft 100% of the time. But, by using a combination of security devices, it will make your motorcycle difficult and time-consuming to steal.
