Hello all I feel so angry and frustrasted I have to vent about this one. First let me say that if any of you feel safe when you kick your bike up on the center stand and lock the forks, DON'T. Apparently all it takes is a screw driver and about 5 to 10 minutes and your bike will be gone! Here's the story...

Last night I was at work and I get a call from a friend who is passing my work on the street outside. She tells me that there is a guy out smoking next to my bike. Now usually I blow these incidents off because people stand and smoke and they sometimes look at my bike. But this time I went out there to check. Sure enough there he was just standing there looking at my bike then he got on. That's when I started to go over to him, he saw me, got off and went around the corner of the building. I went back inside and quickly retrieved his just desserts for tearing up my bike, a .45 Sprinfield. When I got back to my bike I saw where he had just simply gutted the ignition switch the parts lay strewn about on the ground. I searched behind the building but he had already retreated into one of 3 or 4 slum houses that are behind my work. To say I was pissed is an understatement. You know my motorcycle is only worth maybe a grand and I've put at least that into it. It's just that I have worked really hard to fix her up and I rely on her for my transportation. Then here's some gutter maggot trying to get for free what I have worked to get. I'm not rich folks, I work for a living. There are a few reasons he didn't get away most of which was my guardian angel working over time, but also the fact that I never use the kill switch to turn my bike on and off I always leave it on and use the key to turn her on and off. The stupid POS got the key on then flipped the kill switch, which since I always leave it in the on position he had just turned it off, the writing on the switch has long since worn off so he couldn't tell. Are you all familiar with the credit card comercials that list a few things worth $$$ then one that is priceless? Well here's one for ya...

Price of a new ignition switch $50
Price of one jacketed 230 grain bullet $1.66 (or maybe 3 or 4)
Price of blowing a maggot off my motorcycle PRICELESS

Would I have shot him, no. Would he have been staring down the barrel of a .45, YES. I would have tried to hold him for the police but if he'd have ran I'd have let him go. As mad as I am and was I still don't feel shooting some POS over most material objects is right. But then again he'd have only been shot whether he died or not is between him and God. Of course in todays pathetic court system it's the criminal with all the rights and Jo Blow who gets thrown in jail. Ah but the satisfaction of cleaning up the gene pool, tempting! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Wow, what a worthless puddle of AIDS. I am a true believer in defending your property with lethal force. If there was the fear in people's mind that if they try o steal or otherwise fuck with another man's property, that there was a good chance they'd get their head blown off, crime in this country would drop considerably.

That being said, the ignition switch is supposed to be secure, in that you have to dismantle the whole front of the bike to get to it. Did he force it apart or hit it with a slide hammer or something?

Of course nothing is going to stop someone who really wants your bike, but deterrents are rather effective. I have a simple flashing light on the dash to give the appearance of an alarm. You can get a very simple car alarm for like $20, which you don't even need to use the alarm part, just install the starter kill on the main fuse circuit, which will at very least make them have to push it if they want to steal it, they can't just hightail it out of there.

My other line of defense is I have a Kryptonite "New York Lock". It's a hardened steel U-Bolt lock (not a chain, not just a padlock) These things are uncuttable and unbreakable. You lock it to the brake rotor, which immobilizes the front wheel, kind of like a Club.

Now of course none of these things will stop a bunch of guys from just picking it up and throwing it in the back of a pickup (thank god that's not easy, being as the bike weighs almost 600lbs), but it should keep you safe in all but the worst neighborhoods.

Matt

Good thing he didn't get away with the whole bike. There's a good chance he'll be back for it. Better watch out for a couple weeks or so.

My Maxim has a chain included. The motorcycle key fits the lock on the chain.

I do not completely disagree with your sentiments Rocketrider ;) I moved my bike in front of my work people go in and out all day and I can watch it from the window. I also use a chain lock now, but soon I'll be picking up one of those locks you mentioned Rocketrider! I loathe thieves and I kinda hope he does come back I might not shoot him but I'll beat the shit out of him with my Asp :blink: Ride safe all !!!!!

I got mine here:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item....=640&Division=6
They're backordered now, but they say they'll ship mid-August.


They also now have this one:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item....=640&Division=6
Which is big enough to lock the wheel to a post/parking meter/etc. You can also just put it through the wheel and around the fork leg, and it would serve the same purpose as the disc lock.


As convenient as the chain the comes with the bike is, it offers almost zero protection. It would take a little under 3 seconds to cut through it. The New York locks are some of the toughest security locks ever made, and it takes several minutes with a very loud, very OBVIOUS pneumatic cutoff wheel to cut through them. If you try to cut it with bolt cutters, it will break the cutters. A hacksaw won't even put a mark in it.. It takes power tools and a very determined theif to get one of these suckers off. They're about $70, but worth EVERY penny, especially if you only have liability coverage.

ok im gonna add my two cents on the subject. When i was a freshman in highschool back in 90 i had a yamaha xt500 round about 1980 year. The bike was taken from me out of my parents basement garage while we went to a christmas party. They broke thru a very tough door and knew what they was after. Due to some great deputies i got the bike back three months later. I was very upset so I got an inkling on how you feel. Some years have passed since then and i now hunt those types of scum. I would NOT advise going after one and chaseing a guy down. Unless you know what your doing you could get in a bigger mess. I've been in front of many grand jury's and internal affairs officers and you dont wanna be their, trust me. The way the court system is if you would have shot him you would be charged legally then after you got put in jail his family would own every last thing you had, I've seen it happen to people with badges trust me it's not good well thats my 2 cents. :ph43r:

Oh I understand the American justice system and I completely agree with you Kace44mag. Like I said he'd have been starin' down a barrel but if he called my bluff and ran I'd have let him go. Which goes against my princepals, when a gun comes out the situation has instantly escalated to a lethal level. Talk is over and if a maggot calls your bluff it's shoot or not shoot and the law in Washington state says that lethal force can only be used if serious bodily harm or death is being threatened or used on yourself or another person in your presence. As pissed as I was I don't feel even my bike is worth a life and I have spent countless hours reloading and shooting. Aiming for anything but center mass is out of the question.
Taz thanks for the website to get the lock, I'm gettin' one as soon as they can ship! I know that one chomp from a pair of bolt cutters and my chain is history. I'm just hoping that it being right in front of my work and bolt cutters will slow them down enough so I can scare him off. I think he'll be back, this same piece of filth has stolen stuff from outside my work at least 3 times not to mention 6 cars have been robbed in the last 5 years in our parking lot. Maggots all of'em!! Ride safe all :D

The sad thing is that anything can be undone. It just depends on who the thief is and how serious they are about stealing. The weakest part of any lock is the point where the key enters the lock. Picking a lock is not too hard. I am not a thief and I have picked a padlock with the file part on small nail clippers. (lost key)

While at home, I usually try to make things as difficult as possible. Just trying to buy time and trying to make the thief make some noise.

I don't leave my Maxim alone for too long while out running around town.

I get nervous if I leave my quad to take a walk while out in the woods. I do things like park it in 4th gear, turn off the gas, of course take the key. Just trying to delay things a little longer. (My quad doesn't start while in gear.)