Motorcycles are much easier to steal than many cars. There are no car doors or windows to get past and in most cases the motorcycle can be pushed onto the bed of an average sized truck and driven away. Nothing and nobody can ever guarantee that your bike will never be stolen, but following these simple tips will greatly increase the odds that you will never have to come back to a parking lot with an empty parking spot staring right back at you.
–Lock the ignition and remove the key. Many riders seem to want to turn off the ignition without locking it. Don’t make the job any easier than it has to be for the bike jacker.
–Lock your bike to a solid object that can’t be easily removed, like a light pole. If you are riding with another person on another bike, lock your two bikes together.
–Cover your bike to keep it as much of a mystery as possible. Bike thieves are less likely to target a bike if they don’t even know what they’re up against. A bike thief can’t tell what kind of locks or anti-theft devices you have on your bike if it is covered and likely won’t care enough to find out.
–Anchor locks to prevent them from resting on the ground. A bike lock that is resting on the ground provides the thief with just the right amount of leverage that he will need to defeat many of the locks on the market.
–Add an audible alarm. Some bike owners seem to disagree on this point and in fact many car owners disagree as well because so few people seem to care anymore when an alarm does go off. On the other hand, installing an alarm that is unique to you that you can recognize from a distance will allow yourself to be alerted in the event that someone is tampering with your bike.
–When you have to find a place to park, do your best to park in plain view of a security camera. Most thieves will avoid doing anything if it is going to be caught on tape.
–The more locks you can use the better. Just because you have been able to lock your bike to a light pole via the front wheel, there is no reason why you couldn’t throw a sturdy lock on the back tire as well. Most thieves opt for the path of least resistance, so placing more barriers on the way to their success will foil many potential thefts.
–If you park your bike in a house garage, black out or cover the windows on your garage door. Don’t tempt thieves with even the sight of your bike.
–Clean up the area around where you store your bike so that the thieves don’t have the tools they need to steal your bike. Storing your bike around your tools (blow torches, bolt cutters, etc.) will only help the thief by not requiring him to bring along his own tools for the job.
–Just keep an eye on your bike. Every so often you should check on your bike. This can be as easy as glancing out your window or turning your head. Paying attention to detail and who is lurking around your bike will be very valuable information to have in your attempts to guard against theft.
As you can see, most of these steps require little to no extra effort. With steps as easy as this it seems difficult to understand why so many motorcycles are still stolen each year.