Ground Anchor and chain

[jimglasgow]

Hi Folks

Lookin for a ground anchor and chain for my new bike for putting it in my garage. Firstly is this a bit excessive? If not can anyone advise me of a good quality one without spending a fortune! or should i consider an alarm?

Look forward too receiving somefeedback

[2fast2soon]

Almax chains seem to be pretty well thought of but I don't think they're cheap! 1.5m series 4 almax chain, cisa lock and ground anchor = £250 approx. Probably less than your insurance excess?

An alarm and immobiliser system is good but its only going to make an annoying noise while someone picks up your bike and puts it into the back of a van, whereas chained up properly, the b*stards can't remove it from your garage/drive. How many times do you rush out when you hear an alarm go off outside your house? The same question for your neighbours (as chances are you won't be around when the aforementioned nasty people come around to lift your bike.)

I use an alarm and alarmed disc lock with chain in my yard with a secure(ish) door and am paranoid about alarms and noises from outside (am always checking when I hear noises). I'd buy a big vicious dog/lion too but I don't have enough space for either and don't fancy picking up poo - that's just sad!

[Ingah]

Hi Folks

Lookin for a ground anchor and chain for my new bike for putting it in my garage. Firstly is this a bit excessive? If not can anyone advise me of a good quality one without spending a fortune! or should i consider an alarm?

Look forward too receiving somefeedback

 

What bike is it? (it does make a difference).

No that's not excessive, and anyone that tells you otherwise doesn't mind taking chances.

Vans have been mentioned. Don't underestimate how easy this is to do (2 guys can lift up the front of a big sportsbike and that's all that they need to manhandle it in), and how common it is to happen.

80% of motorbike thefts are from the home.

Over half of motorbike thefts are done by lifting the bike into a van, which completely bypasses things like disc locks and immobilisers. Alarms are often trivially and quickly disabled. And generally ignored by people in the vicinity. This leaves theives to deal with everything else later, in privacy.

Almost every motorbike chain on the market can be silently bolt cropped (Almax series 3 and 4 chains being the pretty much only exception, apart from maybe a single Pragmasis chain but i'm less sure there and it's too late at night for me to look now).

Garages are notoriously easy to break into quietly, and provide thieves with a lot of privacy in which to work.

Every motorbike chain on the market can be angle grinded away (given varying amounts of time with loud grinding noise).

I believe only 10/20% of stolen motorbikes are recovered (most are broken and sold in parts, making tracking of these parts hard and difficult to trace back to the owner). Many second hand parts are from stolen bikes!

New/nearly new bikes are very attractive propositions.

Insurance penalises you heavily for making a theft claim (especially when you're young), resulting in inflated premiums for the next few years, along with loss/partial loss of NCB, and of course your excess and the game of you vs them when it comes down to valuing your bike. This is especially a problem with newer bikes and those on finance, where the owner can end up out of pocket easily.

It doesn't look good does it?

However, about half of motorbike owners don't bother with any security

I'm happy to provide more information, but it would be useful to know exactly what you're wanting to protect.

P.S. What about when you're out and about, 20% of thefts happen there.

[Guest]

if its inside a garage, why not get a garage lock system, the type that stops the door being moved...

garage Defender - M&p, £50,

although a lock would come in handy for away from home security...

[jimglasgow]

Hi Folks

Lookin for a ground anchor and chain for my new bike for putting it in my garage. Firstly is this a bit excessive? If not can anyone advise me of a good quality one without spending a fortune! or should i consider an alarm?

Look forward too receiving somefeedback

 

What bike is it? (it does make a difference).

No that's not excessive, and anyone that tells you otherwise doesn't mind taking chances.

Vans have been mentioned. Don't underestimate how easy this is to do (2 guys can lift up the front of a big sportsbike and that's all that they need to manhandle it in), and how common it is to happen.

80% of motorbike thefts are from the home.

Over half of motorbike thefts are done by lifting the bike into a van, which completely bypasses things like disc locks and immobilisers. Alarms are often trivially and quickly disabled. And generally ignored by people in the vicinity. This leaves theives to deal with everything else later, in privacy.

Almost every motorbike chain on the market can be silently bolt cropped (Almax series 3 and 4 chains being the pretty much only exception, apart from maybe a single Pragmasis chain but i'm less sure there and it's too late at night for me to look now).

Garages are notoriously easy to break into quietly, and provide thieves with a lot of privacy in which to work.

Every motorbike chain on the market can be angle grinded away (given varying amounts of time with loud grinding noise).

I believe only 10/20% of stolen motorbikes are recovered (most are broken and sold in parts, making tracking of these parts hard and difficult to trace back to the owner). Many second hand parts are from stolen bikes!

New/nearly new bikes are very attractive propositions.

Insurance penalises you heavily for making a theft claim (especially when you're young), resulting in inflated premiums for the next few years, along with loss/partial loss of NCB, and of course your excess and the game of you vs them when it comes down to valuing your bike. This is especially a problem with newer bikes and those on finance, where the owner can end up out of pocket easily.

It doesn't look good does it?

However, about half of motorbike owners don't bother with any security

I'm happy to provide more information, but it would be useful to know exactly what you're wanting to protect.

P.S. What about when you're out and about, 20% of thefts happen there.

 

Thanks mate quite detailed feedback. To answer your question here is the following

1. Its a GSX 650F.

2. My garage is under my room and its also part of the house alarm.

3. Frig knows what i will do when out and about, didnt want to a a frigging chainaround with me. that said, most of my motorcycling will be for pleasure so it shouldnt be out of my sight

Look forward to further advice

[Guest]

Ya can never have too much security!!

Insurance needs paying each year, but a decent chain will see you a few years....

For out and about, assuming your bike isn't alarmed, you can get a disclock for the front wheel that has a built in siren,

this will sound if tampered with. Never used one myself, but quite a few members have them. And it can stay on the front wheel whilst it is attached to the mammoth ground anchor and chain you will fit under your window!!

Like Ingah says, Almex are apparently the best on the market. Have a look on youtube for them.

Another point worth making, is a decent cover for your bike. If it can't be seen ....

[Ingah]

Thanks mate quite detailed feedback. To answer your question here is the following

1. Its a GSX 650F.

2. My garage is under my room and its also part of the house alarm.

3. Frig knows what i will do when out and about, didnt want to a a frigging chainaround with me. that said, most of my motorcycling will be for pleasure so it shouldnt be out of my sight

Look forward to further advice

 

Assuming your house alarm is used every night:

No need to add an alarm to the bike itself as well (the house alarm will be far more effective and far less hassle and bother). Chain and ground anchor the bike in the garage every time it's in there. As you're essentially relying very heavily on this chain (min. 80%...) i'd recommend an Almax series 3 (i refuse to recommend a (silently) croppable chain, so that pretty much does restrict me to Almax), with suitable ground anchor - attached through the frame of the bike to the anchor whenever it's parked in the garage. The series 3 is also portable (just - but far better than the series 4 which is outright not portable - and also the series 3 is cheaper than the 4).

I'd recommend a tank bag if you plan to take the chain with you on the bike and suggest this is probably best for when you're out and about too, if you can be bothered to use it properly (frame of bike <-> immovable object), every time (if not, be prepared for the worst one day). If you're not going to use it every time, you should probably leave the Almax at home every time, otherwise you'll kick yourself when it goes on the one time you didn't bother, and instead use a quality (price is not proportional to quality a lot of the time!) alarmed disc lock to deter casual thieves (this being, in my mind, an easy to use, easy to carry minimum standard). You can store the disc lock under your seat. And carry a lucky charm

A compromise solution (arguably best of both worlds) for out and about - carry and properly use the Almax on the times when you're going to be leaving the bike unattended (i.e. it's going to be out of your sight and hearing for longer than a few seconds), every time. This would mean that when you pop into the corner shop you can leave the chain at home and just use your alarmed disc lock, and on the time you plan to go shopping for a new kitchen in Wickes (i.e. big stores where you aren't going to be able to see and hear the bike from the back of the shop) or are going to stop somewhere overnight, pop the tank bag on, and take the Almax on that occasion.

What i would say though, is to stick to whatever you decide. Have a system.

Alot of people recommend covers, but i find them to be a faff (on the other hand, i ride an "undesirable" commuter rather than an "attractive" sports bike).

A random idea, considered security tagging? (I think alpha dot is the cheapest to apply, costing ~£25-£30) This will slightly deter professional thieves (good for the times when you've got only a disc lock on the bike, and they have a van and are thinking of how much they could get if they dragged your bike in and broke it down for parts (it is unlikely to put off a steal-to-order, but then i don't think many people will be ordering your bike). What's more, you can declare security tagging to your insurer, and unlike alarms/chains etc (that give them the excuse to avoid paying out when you forget/don't bother to apply the declared security), you can't switch tagging "off" and you still get the "security" discount they provide, often up to 10% (insurers generally only give a discount for one item of security - subsequent items are usually ignored as far as discount goes, but will of course be used against you at a later date - so this makes security tagging the ideal security to declare).

[Jixerman]

if its inside a garage, why not get a garage lock system, the type that stops the door being moved...

garage Defender - M&p, £50,

although a lock would come in handy for away from home security...

 

In some areas that could serve as an advertisement

I have a ground anchor within the garage and a f**k off heavy chain, but tbh if they are set on nicking it they will

All we can do is make the job harder, but how far do you go?

Bike Alarm, Tracker, Datatool, Ground Anchor + Chain, Door Defender and CCTV?

[Ingah]

if its inside a garage, why not get a garage lock system, the type that stops the door being moved...

garage Defender - M&p, £50,

although a lock would come in handy for away from home security...

 

In some areas that could serve as an advertisement

...

All we can do is make the job harder, but how far do you go?

Bike Alarm, Tracker, Datatool, Ground Anchor + Chain, Door Defender and CCTV?

 

Motion sensing alarm/immobiliser with 2-way long range remote key fob, Almax series 3 through the frame to either a lamp post or (when i get the house with garage) ground anchor, CCTV in the area, datatag, steering lock, sometimes even a cover as well (so i'm most of the way there). What's this jewel of a bike i'm protecting you say? It's a 1995 CB500 with almost 50K miles on the clock

And TPO insurance - alone saving more more money in a year than all that security put together

I do agree about the "advertising" aspect of a garage defender. They're (apparently) able to be prised open without too much difficulty as well someone was moaning in a review about them (there's some unnecessary plate or something that provides excellent leverage).

[jimglasgow]

Thanks mate quite detailed feedback. To answer your question here is the following

1. Its a GSX 650F.

2. My garage is under my room and its also part of the house alarm.

3. Frig knows what i will do when out and about, didnt want to a a frigging chainaround with me. that said, most of my motorcycling will be for pleasure so it shouldnt be out of my sight

Look forward to further advice

 

Assuming your house alarm is used every night:

No need to add an alarm to the bike itself as well (the house alarm will be far more effective and far less hassle and bother). Chain and ground anchor the bike in the garage every time it's in there. As you're essentially relying very heavily on this chain (min. 80%...) i'd recommend an Almax series 3 (i refuse to recommend a (silently) croppable chain, so that pretty much does restrict me to Almax), with suitable ground anchor - attached through the frame of the bike to the anchor whenever it's parked in the garage. The series 3 is also portable (just - but far better than the series 4 which is outright not portable - and also the series 3 is cheaper than the 4).

I'd recommend a tank bag if you plan to take the chain with you on the bike and suggest this is probably best for when you're out and about too, if you can be bothered to use it properly (frame of bike <-> immovable object), every time (if not, be prepared for the worst one day). If you're not going to use it every time, you should probably leave the Almax at home every time, otherwise you'll kick yourself when it goes on the one time you didn't bother, and instead use a quality (price is not proportional to quality a lot of the time!) alarmed disc lock to deter casual thieves (this being, in my mind, an easy to use, easy to carry minimum standard). You can store the disc lock under your seat. And carry a lucky charm

A compromise solution (arguably best of both worlds) for out and about - carry and properly use the Almax on the times when you're going to be leaving the bike unattended (i.e. it's going to be out of your sight and hearing for longer than a few seconds), every time. This would mean that when you pop into the corner shop you can leave the chain at home and just use your alarmed disc lock, and on the time you plan to go shopping for a new kitchen in Wickes (i.e. big stores where you aren't going to be able to see and hear the bike from the back of the shop) or are going to stop somewhere overnight, pop the tank bag on, and take the Almax on that occasion.

What i would say though, is to stick to whatever you decide. Have a system.

Alot of people recommend covers, but i find them to be a faff (on the other hand, i ride an "undesirable" commuter rather than an "attractive" sports bike).

A random idea, considered security tagging? (I think alpha dot is the cheapest to apply, costing ~£25-£30) This will slightly deter professional thieves (good for the times when you've got only a disc lock on the bike, and they have a van and are thinking of how much they could get if they dragged your bike in and broke it down for parts (it is unlikely to put off a steal-to-order, but then i don't think many people will be ordering your bike). What's more, you can declare security tagging to your insurer, and unlike alarms/chains etc (that give them the excuse to avoid paying out when you forget/don't bother to apply the declared security), you can't switch tagging "off" and you still get the "security" discount they provide, often up to 10% (insurers generally only give a discount for one item of security - subsequent items are usually ignored as far as discount goes, but will of course be used against you at a later date - so this makes security tagging the ideal security to declare).

 

Ingah thanks for all the advice think i will go for chain and anchor lock with house alarm connected to garage

[Guest]

if its inside a garage, why not get a garage lock system, the type that stops the door being moved...

garage Defender - M&p, £50,

although a lock would come in handy for away from home security...

 

In some areas that could serve as an advertisement

Your right, but so does parking it on your drive.... in full veiw, and be careful when washing it in full veiw, its probably its least secure at that time...

[Coume]

Almost every motorbike chain on the market can be silently bolt cropped (Almax series 3 and 4 chains being the pretty much only exception, apart from maybe a single Pragmasis chain but i'm less sure there and it's too late at night for me to look now).

 

I went with the Pragmasis Protector 16 instead of the Almax as they were doing longer chains. I use a 3m one around a tree to which I link a 2m one to my bike wheel (http://www.torc-anchors.com/proddetail. ... ctor16-x.x). They cost a fair amount but I will keep them for life but I am confident that my bike won't be easily stolen. It would make a massive noise to cut the chain and/or the lock, a Squire SS65CS. (btw, if you buy good chains make sure to buy a good lock too...) and they could not cut the tree easily as it must be 15m+ high and it has a 2.90m circumference

Overall I am very satisfied by my chains and did not regret spending these 350GBP...