[pocketcthulhu]

Not mine but Really fraking close to home.

So there are 5..... scratch that 4 bikes in the apartment complex now, one old mid 60's harley one large touring bike (it's always under a tarp so i haven't got a good look at it) my phantom, my room mates lafan :razz: and a little Kawasaki duel bike. Well a couple weeks i went to go hop on the bike and go for a ride and the covers on my honda and the lifan were pulled back to the seats but nothing was damaged or missing. so about two days later i get a flyer taped to our front door about the kawasaki and a $1000 reward for the return of the bike, they had it chained to a lamp post about 50 feet from where the rest of us park in a group. I noticed today the chain is still laying next to the post where it was cut off the bike.

Im not overly paranoid that my bike will get stolen as it's still just a thing but i can't say i wouldn't use them for target practice if i caught someone messing with my bike ether

makes me consider asking a friend who lives nearby if i can store my bike in his garage when it gets Really cold.


side note; any advice for someone who is stuck in an apartment for the foreseeable future?

 

[MikeAstringer]

My CBR was stolen in a townhome community in 1992. The police found the frame weeks later in a wooded area. I can't imagine there is much you can do beyond a lock and full coverage insurance. Maybe an alarm with a pager? Tracking device?

 

[Canyon]

Do you have line of sight to where you park? I'm on a dead end in the middle of the woods. I have a (number of) wireless pan/tilt/zoom camera(s) in secured location(s) which I can check from my laptop, phone, iPad, TV, or even while @ the office over the internet. I also have motion sensing software that records and (one of) the PTZ camera(s) is programed to follow the motion. Any motion triggers a secured server to record for X amount of time, send me a txt & email. The video is also pushed to another server off my property.

I busted the meter reader 2 years ago having lunch on my back deck and using my grill. Management fired him and I had free electricity for a while to not go any further with that info, though the local news REALLY wanted to talk to me.

Granted I doubt you could pull all that off in a complex, but a real time cam to a phone or something could prove helpful. These days they are cheap enough and some come with motion software (on the camera to nothing to install) that will at least email you a shot when they detect motion. Doesn't keep chit from disappearing, but can give you a time frame of about when it happened and maybe the dumbass looks your way so you get a face or better, a license plate.

 

[pocketcthulhu]

Do you have line of sight to where you park? I'm on a dead end in the middle of the woods. I have a (number of) wireless pan/tilt/zoom camera(s) in secured location(s) which I can check from my laptop, phone, iPad, TV, or even while @ the office over the internet. I also have motion sensing software that records and (one of) the PTZ camera(s) is programed to follow the motion. Any motion triggers a secured server to record for X amount of time, send me a txt & email. The video is also pushed to another server off my property.

I busted the meter reader 2 years ago having lunch on my back deck and using my grill. Management fired him and I had free electricity for a while to not go any further with that info, though the local news REALLY wanted to talk to me.

Granted I doubt you could pull all that off in a complex, but a real time cam to a phone or something could prove helpful. These days they are cheap enough and some come with motion software (on the camera to nothing to install) that will at least email you a shot when they detect motion. Doesn't keep chit from disappearing, but can give you a time frame of about when it happened and maybe the dumbass looks your way so you get a face or better, a license plate.

While i am Just paranoid to do this in my current apartment the kitchen window is recessed just enough that it wouldn't be able to see it i think (i might be leaning out of a second story window tonight checking on this) Ideally i would want a camera that detects motion and saves a small video or snap shots, i have a Nas with 2 terabytes of storage on it running on my network so i could just have video dumped into a folder.... hmmm food for thought. perhaps the landlord wouldn't mind me sticking a camera on the roof of the building >,>

Also good job on the reader, I would LOVE to catch someone pulling that crap.

 

[Canyon]

Check out Trendnet and buy thru Amazon.com for the best price.
TRENDnet | Products | Internet Cameras

I started with the TV-IP410WN and a Seagate 2TB NAS. They have a nice outdoor dome too that's not too much $.

I can PM you a URL to check out my entire front yard later if you want.

 

[rkforrest]

Strap a 99 dollar game camera to a tree up high and you are good also.I do Alarm/CCTV for a Living and it all depends on how much Money you have to spend on the pictures of the Guy that stole your Bike because if they want it they will get it outside.
Mines in my Alarmed Garage

 

[CrazyDave]

We have had stuff stolen, but to the best of my recollection in three years of living hear, no vehicles. I suppose you could get an alarm if you do not have one already but personally by the time you get to the parking level your bike is parked on it would probably already be gone anyway. There are varying disabling maneuvers, both simple and complex but in the end, no matter where it is if some one really wants your bike and they have enough time afforded them, along with ignorant/apathetic neighbors to ignore them, then they will have your bike.

 

[Canyon]

Another deterrent and way to keep the bike form rolling off on it's own power would be to install a hidden kill switch. They both need to be in the run position. When I live in an Apt & had a sport bike...I forge what it was called but I had basically a big neon yellow lock on my front rotor, I think it mounted over the brake calliper. Even if they busted the steering lock, they weren't rolling it anywhere. Plus the bright yellow says don't even think it..... In today's technology you could get some sort of locator GPS and hide it on your bike too. Let's face it, it the want it bad enough, they ARE going to take it. Lojack had a great idea, they just cost to damn much.

I didn't get my cam(s) for fear someone would come on my property, I (like to believe I) live in a great neighborhood. There have been times I've accidentally left the garage door open all day. The cam(s) were origionally for all the deer and turkey that would come thru the yard. It was cool to watch while in the office and I had $$ to burn. ) It was just bonus to catch that frikkin moron using my back yard as his own.

 

[nraluke]

Could hook up a removable or switchable mercury tilt switch like used on cars to detect opening of hood or trunk from bike battery to relay and a horn or directly to a light and also solar powered motion detecting light mounted some place close to bike.

 

[pocketcthulhu]

Well it's like you guys said If they want it they will get it, My thought is i don't want to make it easy for them, i will look into what you guys suggested.

and i can't really mount any think down to the parking lot, what you see in my sig is what iv got to work with.

 

[davelisowski]

lojack?

 

[SteveSchu]

Sports bikes are simply picked up by human hands and put into a pickup truck; they weigh very little. If you are afraid of someone stealing your bike I would suggest preventative measures, not cameras. A big ass chain and lock connecting both wheels together I think would be your best bet. Sure, EVERYTHING can be stolen, but if it is difficult, thieves will find an easier target. Insure your bike for theft should my advice fail.

 

[punkrockda]

non cut able chains ( they do make em ) in the spokes of both tires, uncut able lock, and put the fuse box where you can get to it easily and take one of the more important out ... then they would seriously have to pick it up ... unless you also put an anchor into the concrete with that non cut able chain ... (and they do work pretty well ) ...

 

[mblosch]

All chains can be cut given the right equipment. 3 guys can pick up a bike and be gone in less than 45 seconds. Insurance is your only choice for a chance to recoup losses.

 

[punkrockda]

yeah ... there is a point there ... and also maybe a chance for a lawsuit !!!

 

[Canyon]

Where's your closest storage facility? I know that option kinda sucks but I know a guy who would take his truck to the storage unit, park all day there and take the bike out....

Having to worry about this just blows. I'm glad I have my garage.

 

[davelisowski]

lojack and remote c4??

 

[markspike]

Keyless Ignition & Push Button Start from Digital Guard Dawg

(^Thanks to elfnyc for this! You da man - installation has been delayed a few days)

Lojack.

Or

 

[pixelpusher]

The deterrent I use is that my neighbor parks his nice expensive Harley four spaces away from my shadow at my apartment complex. (i also cable use a thick cable through the disk lock.)

 

[rmw]

I've mentioned this before but I watched three guys steal a HD touring bike from a hotel parking lot in about a minute. All they did was push it over onto a mattress on a dolly and rolled it and the bike into the back of a trailer. Fork locks, wheel locks, etc would be useless.

Most of the so called high security chains sold are junk. I know from my time on the FD that most of them can be cut with bolt cutters in a matter of seconds. The case hardened chains we used on the rescue trucks were very-very expensive but it took hydraulic cutters to get through them, which most thieves wouldn't bother with, so they will attack the lock or what it is chained too.

I heard of a case over in Louisville where a bike was chained through the front tire and the crooks left the tire and stole the rest of the bike. They don't care about riding them, they want the parts. Anything with a vin gets dumped.

Lojack is good but pricey, Alarms, maybe, cameras are nice to show you what happened but in the end a good insurance policy is your best bet.