sercurity tips

Southdownssoldier

This is something that has bothered me for a while now .

I keep my bike in a shed at the bottom of the garden with the bog standard clasp lock for sercurity and if you ask me its just waiting to be broken into .

What sercurity measures could anyone recommend , price is not a drama as am prepared to pay the price rather than have some little ballbag nick my bike .

Been reading up on some Kryptonite stuff , any thoughts ?

Any tried and tested locks etc.

This is something that i think alot of folk on here have probably thought about but not done anything about , so advice will be very greatfully received

snotty badger

I'd start by adding more locks to you're shed, if you make it too much hassle to get in then they'll look for an easier target.

Maybe a basic alarm on the door too?

supersonic

Yes, I have been thinking about alarming my shed too.

Mind ouy it is probably already alarmed at all the GTs in there ;-)

BorisSpencer

Concrete a staple into the ground under the shed, so it sticks up through the floor. It can just be a bit of re-bar but it gives you an anchor point for your fancy locks.

Anonymous

sleep in the shed

Northwind

Yup, ground anchor + gigantic chain if you want effective security. No point in having an anchor that's weaker than your chain so don't cut corners there.

The trouble with sheds is that the lock can be as strong as you want, the door's still weak. I know one paranoid guy who spent a weekend in the shed with a welder, building a steel cage into it, right round and in the door- it's more secure than his house now. Alarm is good too but not really all that effective, most people ignore them. Jury's out on PIR lights, it seems like some thieves don't like being lit up, others like being able to see what they're seeing.

Tim.s

Are we talking just a normal garden shed here?

If so the only reason your bike hasnt already been stolen is because the scumbags dont know its there. You would be astounded at the lengths theives will go to steal things and garden sheds dont even present a challenge. My brother in law had a complete engine and gearbox stolen from his shed which took three of us to carry in there and thats something that had a value of just a few hundred pounds at most.

A ground anchor and heavy chain would obviously help but any motorcyclist will tell you that if someone wants to steal it they will somehow.

My advise would be to move it into the house, its a pain i know but its best. If you must keep it in the shed, be careful that you cannot be seen putting it in there or that any undesirable types know its there.

projectsome

tbh the shed is the last place I'd put it. so long as you clean up all the mud etc I see no reason why you can't keep it in the house.

mine is in the kitchen locked to a ladder.

the only thing in my shed is a small dinosaur.

Tim.s

Hey if I can keep three bikes in my 1 bed flat then im sure it will fit in his house

oddy74

I have been upgrading the security in my outbuilding I contacted and bought from these:
http://www.torc-anchors.com/index.php
Some of the products might help you out? i.e Shed Shackle.
They also have some reasonable combo packages. I just bought a Maxi shackle, x2 13mm 1.8m chains and x2 keyed alike padlocks ALL Sold Secure Gold rated for less than £200.
Its not cheap but security never is! But to be honest I couldn't find much cheaper for what I needed/wanted.
Try emailing this guy for advice: sbriggs@pragmasis.com he is there engineering director and always answers emails quickly and often at insane hours.

I'll just add im nothing to do with the company just a satisfied customer.

Oddy

fenboy369

projectsome wrote:

the only thing in my shed is a small dinosaur.

But even a small T-Rex is pretty good Anti-Theft device

Cheshley

This summer I'm hoping to replace my old wooden shed with a nice 14ftx14ft pre-cast concrete workshop type affair and I'll be making sure that there is at least one ground anchor in the floor when the base is poured, wooden door upgraded to steel, a custom built steel lattice installed in the roof to stop scumbags getting in by removing the roof panels (seen that done a few times) and a some wireless sensors that integrate with the alarm on the house. It will then be kitted out with electricity supply, my old kitchen base units and maybe when I'm finished, there will be enough room left in a corner to put the mower in there as well, but that's not essential, I'll get a goat to keep the grass short.

Does that seem excessive.....?

You never know, when the bikes are moved into there, I may finally be able to get the car in the garage again!!!!!

shin0r

Unfortunately a chain / locking device that takes more than a minute or so to break doesn't exist, at least in the bounds of reasonable expense. I suppose you could construct a metal cage device with numerous locking stages, but the cost would probably be more than the cost of the bike.

The safest thing to do would be to keep the bike in the house and get a vicious dog. Not always practical I know

dave_hill

Keep it in the house. All mine live inside. If the ball-and-chain objects, chuck her handbags and shoes in the shed and see how she likes it.

Northwind

The trouble with bike security is that it's very easy to cut the frames and just haul off all the parts, which have huge and easy resale value- a massive chain's a bit meaningless if the thief just chops through the tubes.

oddy74 wrote:

They also have some reasonable combo packages. I just bought a Maxi shackle, x2 13mm 1.8m chains and x2 keyed alike padlocks ALL Sold Secure Gold rated for less than £200.I

This probably isn't the time, but Sold Secure is really pretty meaningless, the huge majority of sold secure gold products offer no protection against large bolt cutters, which is exactly what any thief who's trying to break a serious chain will use. (also, Sold Secure have been caught out in the past awarding Gold to poor products, for instance both they and Thatcham still accredited locks with the old round keys even after most manufacturers had pulled them all from the shelves!

Unfortunately yours'll be among those, the 16mm Protector chains are cropper proof but the 13mm ones aren't (only one 13mm chain on the market is, but it's too brittle so can be broken too easily with a hammer) It'll offer great protection against amateurs though which is still great news.

shin0r wrote:

Unfortunately a chain / locking device that takes more than a minute or so to break doesn't exist, at least in the bounds of reasonable expense.

What's your idea of "reasonable expense?" There are at least 2 heavyweight chains available which will defeat any of the normal thieves' tools bar hydraulic cutters, for around the £150 mark- Pragmasis 16mm and Almax Immobiliser. I think there's a Squire one now as well. You can still cut them with oxy, or thermite, or with a grinder and a bit of time, but they're far tougher than you seem to give them credit.

shin0r

Northwind wrote:

shin0r wrote:

Unfortunately a chain / locking device that takes more than a minute or so to break doesn't exist, at least in the bounds of reasonable expense.

What's your idea of "reasonable expense?" There are at least 2 heavyweight chains available which will defeat any of the normal thieves' tools bar hydraulic cutters, for around the £150 mark- Pragmasis 16mm and Almax Immobiliser. I think there's a Squire one now as well. You can still cut them with oxy, or thermite, or with a grinder and a bit of time, but they're far tougher than you seem to give them credit.

Yeah those Pragmasis chains are good but they won't stand up to a grinder for more than a minute or two, which was my point. They will stop your boggo chav but not a van full of pikeys on a bike raid. At my old workplace we had a "secure" bikestore with ground anchors - the thieves hooked up a winch attached to a jeep and tore the anchors up. :shock:

Northwind

Yeha, building a good anchor is hard. My old one (had to leave it at my old flat) was an old kryptonite u-lock, set right into the ground, I dug a pit and filled it with concrete.

Think you might be surprised at these chains vs grinders though, remember they need to cut both sides of the link and the metal's designed to blunt discs... I had to cut a lighter chain with a hand grinder last year and it took much longer than it would for a steel bar etc.

Lapierre t 400

mine stays in my bedroom with an air rifle under my bed

oddy74

Northwind wrote:

oddy74 wrote:

They also have some reasonable combo packages. I just bought a Maxi shackle, x2 13mm 1.8m chains and x2 keyed alike padlocks ALL Sold Secure Gold rated for less than £200.I

This probably isn't the time, but Sold Secure is really pretty meaningless, the huge majority of sold secure gold products offer no protection against large bolt cutters, which is exactly what any thief who's trying to break a serious chain will use. (also, Sold Secure have been caught out in the past awarding Gold to poor products, for instance both they and Thatcham still accredited locks with the old round keys even after most manufacturers had pulled them all from the shelves!

Unfortunately yours'll be among those, the 16mm Protector chains are cropper proof but the 13mm ones aren't (only one 13mm chain on the market is, but it's too brittle so can be broken too easily with a hammer) It'll offer great protection against amateurs though which is still great news.

I know it wont stop the determined or professional thief but atleast my insurance will pay out, as its a requirement of the insurance co.

yoohoo999

if you store your bike in a shed, it's often best to leave it WITHOUT a huge load of locks on the outside - it sceams "please don't come in here!"

best thing to do, as many have mentioned, is get a good ground anchor and chain so that if an opportunist gets in, they will hopefully not bother with the bike and just lift anything handy.

If it's a pro, there's no amount of locks/anchors/security measure that will keep them out. And even if you do build fort knox, they will just hide behind it waiting for you to come back from a ride and then jump you before you lock it away!


a great trick is to leave some old plant pots, rusty shovel and a half empty back of compost leaning against the shed. most opportunists will take a glance and think it's just a bog standard gardening shed, rather than housing a monster downhill rig!