The Ride To Cades Cove

Protect Your Motorcycle From Thieves!

According to insurance industry statistics, motor vehicle thefts are on the rise, and among the vehicles being targeted are motorcycles, and less than 30% of stolen motorcycles are ever recovered. Having a vehicle stolen is always a hardship, but losing a motorcycle you love is devastating.

Most motorcycles are not stolen by joy riders. Thieves steal motorcycles either to resell the complete bike or to strip it down and sell the parts. The very size of motorcycles, small and relatively easy to transport, makes them a prime target for thieves. It takes an experienced team of two or three professional motorcycle thieves less than a minute to load a typical bike into the back of a truck or van and disappear.

If a committed thief really wants your particular bike, he will find a way to steal it. But there are measures you can take to make his job harder, and to protect your two wheeled investment from thieves looking for an easy target of opportunity. If you make your motorcycle difficult enough to take, hopefully a potential thief will move on to an easier score.

Here are some of the things you can do to prevent your bike from becoming a statistic:

1. Never leave the key in your motorcycle, or hidden on it somewhere. It sounds too simple, but a surprising number of bikes are stolen each year when the owner forgets to take the key with him or her.

2. Be sure to engage your bike's steering lock. The steering lock makes it very difficult for a thief to push your bike away, or up a ramp into a truck or van.

3. Invest in a good lock. This is the best and least expensive way to safeguard your ride. Suggested types of locks include serpentine link locks, u-locks and chains.

4. Never allow the lock to touch the ground. If a thief can get your lock or chain onto the ground, they can pound it with a hammer to break it apart.

5. Write down your lock’s key numbers, and if they are stamped on the lock, file them off so a thief can’t use the number to get a new key made.

6. Invest in an alarm system for your motorcycle. It is cheap insurance.

7. When you stop at a restaurant or store, park your bike where you can see it from the window, and where passersby will see (and hopefully report) any suspicious activity.

8. When stopping overnight at a motel, request a room at ground level where you can park your motorcycle right in front of the door.

9. Lock your bike to a stationary object whenever possible. A light pole in a parking lot, a tree in your yard, or a workbench in your garage.

10. If you are riding or traveling with a friend, use a sturdy chain to lock both bikes together. It is fairly easy to roll one motorcycle away, but two doubles the difficulty, and the chance of being discovered.

11. Have your motorcycle mechanic install a hidden kill switch on your bike. Then even if a thief has a duplicate key, it will not start.