Vintage bike security
Discussion
Looking for a bit of advice here please.
I will (hopefully) be getting my full licence soon, theory and CBT done. I have a 1958 Velocette MAC that I plan to put some miles on, some of which will be to and from work, where we have a car park but I'm not sure how secure it will be. With this bike, assuming you know how to start it, you jump on, kick it and off you go, no keys etc.
So, I'm looking for the best way to secure it, short of taking the plug out every time. What locks do you use, and how do you carry the locks, can they attach to the bike when not in use or do you need a rucksack to carry them?
Many thanks.
I will (hopefully) be getting my full licence soon, theory and CBT done. I have a 1958 Velocette MAC that I plan to put some miles on, some of which will be to and from work, where we have a car park but I'm not sure how secure it will be. With this bike, assuming you know how to start it, you jump on, kick it and off you go, no keys etc.
So, I'm looking for the best way to secure it, short of taking the plug out every time. What locks do you use, and how do you carry the locks, can they attach to the bike when not in use or do you need a rucksack to carry them?
Many thanks.
Dependant on the layout of fuel lines you could add an inline quarter turn valve to cut off supply. Unlikely anyone will work out why it’s not starting in the timeframes of a theft. I have done this in one of my cars, even if I had the keys taken off me it’s unlikely they’d be able to drive it away. I also have a discreet battery isolator for the same reason
I would highly recommend not carrying locks with you on a regular basis, you have to imaging whatever is in your backpack is what your spine will be hitting as you hit the ground in an accident, would rather avoid a big chain being there.
Chain kept at work, disc lock, and the fact your average bike thief will look straight past it because its old will hopefully keep it safe
I would highly recommend not carrying locks with you on a regular basis, you have to imaging whatever is in your backpack is what your spine will be hitting as you hit the ground in an accident, would rather avoid a big chain being there.
Chain kept at work, disc lock, and the fact your average bike thief will look straight past it because its old will hopefully keep it safe
I started writing about disc locks - but then remembered of course that it hasn't got discs !
You need to make it impossible to push - to stop d
heads pushing it away and vandelising it
So a chain or U lock
Modern bikes they can be stored under the seat - no idea about yours but it can't be hard to sort it out - many will even leave their lock, locked to something at work to save carrying it
You need to make it impossible to push - to stop d
heads pushing it away and vandelising itSo a chain or U lock
Modern bikes they can be stored under the seat - no idea about yours but it can't be hard to sort it out - many will even leave their lock, locked to something at work to save carrying it
Use a chain to chain it to something solid to stop the casual thief.
Nothing will stop the professional thief - once they know it's there and have identified a buyer/value they will turn up in a van with a petrol grinder and it will be lifted and gone in 2 mins.
If you want to keep it, don't leave it in public where people can see it. This is a terrible state of affairs but it's how it is un the UK.
Nothing will stop the professional thief - once they know it's there and have identified a buyer/value they will turn up in a van with a petrol grinder and it will be lifted and gone in 2 mins.
If you want to keep it, don't leave it in public where people can see it. This is a terrible state of affairs but it's how it is un the UK.
If the rear sprocket has holes in it [many old ones dont] then just put a padlock with as tight a neck as possible through the sprocket and over the drive chain. Remember to use one of those dayglo coily things to remind to to not ride off like this.
We used to do this on enduro bikes many years ago. Simple but very effective.
We used to do this on enduro bikes many years ago. Simple but very effective.
A quality chain and anchor will be of help, and while you can't use a disk lock, perhaps something like this might help? I googled Motorcycle Fork Lock.
As others have said, out of sight, out of mind. It's better to have someone not attempt to steal it than trying to stop them once they're trying.
One more thing that's popped into my head, Vice Grip Garage showed a technique of swapping the leads on the distributer so it wouldn't fire. I'm not sure on the viability of this on your bike (looks like single cylinder?) but might be worth looking into. Even just popping the HT lead off and resting it where it should be would probably be enough to delay a thief or maybe even make them abort the theft.
I always think of security as a balancing act. Strike a balance between the faff of undoing your security when you want to use your bike and keeping it safe from the local scum. If you're happy to undo 3 chains, disk/fork locks, steering lock, alarm and putting your spark plug back in then sure, your bike will probably be as safe as houses but it'll be a right headache to get out on every time you feel the need.
As others have said, out of sight, out of mind. It's better to have someone not attempt to steal it than trying to stop them once they're trying.
One more thing that's popped into my head, Vice Grip Garage showed a technique of swapping the leads on the distributer so it wouldn't fire. I'm not sure on the viability of this on your bike (looks like single cylinder?) but might be worth looking into. Even just popping the HT lead off and resting it where it should be would probably be enough to delay a thief or maybe even make them abort the theft.
I always think of security as a balancing act. Strike a balance between the faff of undoing your security when you want to use your bike and keeping it safe from the local scum. If you're happy to undo 3 chains, disk/fork locks, steering lock, alarm and putting your spark plug back in then sure, your bike will probably be as safe as houses but it'll be a right headache to get out on every time you feel the need.
Has it got manual ignition? If so, just fully advance the ignition and take the lever off.
When you come back the bloke who tried nicking it will be the one laying next to it with a broken ankle if he tried to start it
But joking aside, it is an issue. We just use chains and locks. Some old bikes had a hole in the fork yolk and one on the frame so you could turn the steering fully one way then put a padlock through it! But, not Velocette...
When you come back the bloke who tried nicking it will be the one laying next to it with a broken ankle if he tried to start it
But joking aside, it is an issue. We just use chains and locks. Some old bikes had a hole in the fork yolk and one on the frame so you could turn the steering fully one way then put a padlock through it! But, not Velocette...
srob said:
Has it got manual ignition? If so, just fully advance the ignition and take the lever off.
When you come back the bloke who tried nicking it will be the one laying next to it with a broken ankle if he tried to start it
But joking aside, it is an issue. We just use chains and locks. Some old bikes had a hole in the fork yolk and one on the frame so you could turn the steering fully one way then put a padlock through it! But, not Velocette...
Very good!! When you come back the bloke who tried nicking it will be the one laying next to it with a broken ankle if he tried to start it
But joking aside, it is an issue. We just use chains and locks. Some old bikes had a hole in the fork yolk and one on the frame so you could turn the steering fully one way then put a padlock through it! But, not Velocette...
I assume your Velocette doesn't have a rack to wrap a chain around (many old bikes do and that's what I do on my AJS)?
You could hide a switch to interrupt the low tension circuit if coil ignition or earth the magneto? Will stop it being started but as older bikes are so bare it may be easy to spot if people know what they're looking at....but is that likely?
A really small padlock would fit through a chain link, won't get spotted, won't stop an attempt but would probably put the chain off the sprocket causing hassle a thief wouldn't want. Messy to carry afterwards though.
I thought about a brake/throttle clamp but with cable brakes cutting the cable would take seconds, or removing the lever. It's not like the front brake does much on an old bike.
Only a chain will stop it being pushed away, but a decent d-lock might be easier to carry? A lot of old bikes have sidecar mounting loops high up on the downtube so maybe you could use that as a carry point if you have one (slip the d-lock through and a bungy cord around the bottom of the lock and downtube to stop it flapping around maybe?
You could hide a switch to interrupt the low tension circuit if coil ignition or earth the magneto? Will stop it being started but as older bikes are so bare it may be easy to spot if people know what they're looking at....but is that likely?
A really small padlock would fit through a chain link, won't get spotted, won't stop an attempt but would probably put the chain off the sprocket causing hassle a thief wouldn't want. Messy to carry afterwards though.
I thought about a brake/throttle clamp but with cable brakes cutting the cable would take seconds, or removing the lever. It's not like the front brake does much on an old bike.
Only a chain will stop it being pushed away, but a decent d-lock might be easier to carry? A lot of old bikes have sidecar mounting loops high up on the downtube so maybe you could use that as a carry point if you have one (slip the d-lock through and a bungy cord around the bottom of the lock and downtube to stop it flapping around maybe?
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