subject: 5 Simple Steps To Reducing The Chances Of Your Motorbike Being Stolen [print this page] Whatever type of vehicle you own, whether a motorbike, car or bicycle, it is at some threat of being stolen. The risk may be reduced significantly if you have all of the latest security technology installed on your vehicle, but there is still a risk, albeit minimal, of the vehicle being stolen.
Motorbikes are one of those vehicles that are unfortunately stolen on a somewhat regular basis. A report by the Home Office in 2000 showed that on average, 25 motorbikes for every thousand that were legally registered were stolen in the UK. Whilst this data may be from 10 years ago and security technology has increased, naturally, so has the number of legally registered motorbikes and therefore it still gives a good idea of just how substantial motorbike thefts are within the country.
If you own a motorbike and are concerned about it being stolen, take the following 5 points into consideration to ensure that the likelihood of becoming a victim of theft is greatly reduced.
1. Always remove the keys from the ignition when you are not sat on the motorbike. It may seem like an obvious point for some, but if you leave the keys in the ignition for even a few seconds whilst you, for example, put something into a post box, it gives opportunist thieves the perfect chance to steal your vehicle
2. By keeping the motorbike in a locked garage or shed at night, you immediately reduce the chance of it being stolen. Although a brick garage with a metal door will be much safer than a wooden shed, the latter will still offer some protection and should it be broken in to, will no doubt make such an amount of noise that it will alert people in the house
3. Using a bike chain may seem like something that you'd fit to a bicycle, but there are some heavy duty versions available to protect motorbikes, regardless of their size. Working in the same way that a bicycle chain works, there are some variations where a metal loop is attached to the floor of the permanent area where the motorbike is kept. The chain then passes through a wheel on the motorbike and the loop and can only be taken off, assuming that you don't have the code or key, by either digging up the floor or having a pair of industrial strength chain cutters.
4. Whilst motorbike insurance won't stop your motorbike being stolen itself, the policy documents will state certain expectations that the motorbike insurance company assumes that the policy holder carries out. By abiding by these and ensuring that they are in place, you will not only have a fully valid motorbike insurance policy, but you will be receiving advice from experts in the field
5. As a final pointer, if you're really concerned about motorbike theft, buy an old motorbike with a 125cc sized engine. A 2005 Home Office report found that the motorbikes which were most likely to be stolen were those with a small engine that were less than five years old.
