About locking up your bike

• Use common sense when locking up any vehicle. 
• Always park your bike in a well lit area.
• Use a locking device appropriate for your bike. Many people practice wishful thinking and use lightweight locks designed for bicycles or scooters.
• When locking your bike, make sure the lock is difficult to reach for the thief, and never leave excess cable or chain on the floor. If you do, you actually provide the thief with a nice working surface.
• If possible, lock 2 bikes together or lock to a secure object. with a good quality lock like an ABUS Magnum Chain, Steel-O-Flex cable or Cobralinks^®. Even in your garage, lock it to something. (see our LockDown products) It's common knowledge that most thieves prefer not to brake locks on the spot, unless they can do it in a few seconds. It slows them down. In fact, since most bikes are not properly locked anyway, why would they bother. Keep in mind that the one asset a would be thief does not have, is plenty of time.
• When using a floor anchor system like the Taffynackles Maximum Security Boltdown or ABUS WA50 floor Anchor, always make sure the anchor is under your bike. If secured with a tough chain or cable and the anchor is hard to reach, you stand a better chance.
• Try to build as many hurdles as possible for them to take. Two locks are better than one and a combination with an alarm works even better. Keep in mind that most alarms, by itself, will not stop the thief from dragging your bike out of sight.

About locks, Insurance, Etc

• There is a huge variety of locking devices on the market. Most motorcycle locks have been manufactured and improved upon for many years. As a result, these days, we find a lot of good quality locks  from a selection of manufacturers, made in the US as well as abroad..
• However, in many cases, we notice that locks being  used have not been intended by the manufacturer for that specific purpose. For example, we find locks on $20.000 bikes, intended for a school locker or child's bicycle at a cost of $5 in the local hardware store. It usually takes only seconds to open such locks.
• Can locks be broken?  Sure they can. We can brake any of our locks, no problem (well... some of them are not that easy). The issue is not whether they can be broken, the issue is the time it takes to do it. Anyone who sells locks claiming they are unbeatable needs a reality check. Time however, is the one asset a thief does not have a whole lot of.
• Keep things in perspective. Certainly for sports bikes. Lightweight is really not what you are looking for here. A good one that I run into all the time is a ' Titanium Lock'. Titanium is all about lightweight, not strength (in locking terms)
• Don't rely on your insurance alone. In Europe, were theft is at a much higher level, bike theft insurance is hard to get and very expensive. By relying only on your insurance, without properly locking your bike, chances of your bike being stolen increases substantially. As a result, premiums will go up for everyone and insurance will become unaffordable for most people. IN FACT, in most cases, you will still lose money in accessories and other valuables. Replacing that bike can be a pain too, if not impossible.