Safe as houses?

[Beerbelly]

I've taken the plunge and decided to get some good quality security kit from this company http://www.torc-anchors.com/index.php I'm going to try one of their anti pinch-pins through the frame hole with a beefy 16mm chain for the ground anchor I already have. The bloke I've been dealing with at Torc seems to be very knowledgeable on the subject and good to deal to deal with.

Hopefully it should arrive tomorrow so I'll update you with my thoughts later on.

[bill2828]

Some interesting items on that website. Looking forward seeing some pictures, and hearing how you get on.

[Beerbelly]

I received the goodies today, not cheap, but it's a seriously good bit of kit and should be a one off investment. The advantage of using the pin is that you can secure the bike through the middle of the frame, there's just enough room for it to poke all the way through. I went for the 490mm pin, two metres of 16mm chain and a couple of Squire locks as I wanted the ability to make whatever length runs I wanted. The good thing about the long link chain is that can you loop a link through any other part of the chain, it means you can get it off the ground to make it harder to sledge hammer. In hindsight the 2 metre length is a bit tight a 2.5m would have been a bit better. The head on the pin is big enough to stop it being pulled straight through the frame but it looks more secure with the chain effectively anchoring at both ends of the pin before it goes to the ground anchor.

[Strommer]

That's an interesting way of using the pin.

I've been looking at getting this stuff but assumed that the way to lock it was to put the pin where you have and then loop the chain through the anchor with each end of the chain stuck over each either end of the pin.  Such that the chain forms a U with the anchor at the bottom of the U and the pin going across the top.  This would also only use one padlock.

[Beerbelly]

Yep, you are right, I can still do it that way if I want to, but by passing it over the top of the bike it avoids having to crawl around in the dirt underneath it scrabbling about for the chain. At the end of day, which ever way you do it, in theory it would only need one cut in the chain to detach it from the ground anchor so I'm happy with the single run. As I say, I got an extra padlock just for the ease of altering the length of chain without have a load of extra weight in chain flapping about at one end. It would have been slightly cheaper to go for just one padlock and a longer run of chain. I suppose it doesn't matter what you do, a pro will have a bike away if they have the time to work on it, I guess I'm making it hard as possible in the first place for deterrent value. A V Strom isn't exactly the most desirable of bikes to nick, but when I do change it at least I should be able to use the same kit again.

[Beerbelly]

Just to continue with the security theme, I thought I'd share my views upon a fairly lightweight, reasonably secure chain / lock combo. As my U-lock no longer fits under the seat I decided to order an Abus Granit City X-Plus 1060 , Busters are doing a good deal on them at the moment for £73, http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/clearance/productinfo/AB28623-0/Security/Chains-and-Padlocks/Abus They aren't the last word in security, a hefty pair of croppers would probably get through, but you could say the same for a lot of chains around the 10mm to 13mm thickness mark. Of some comfort is that the lock did got a recommended tag from 'RIDE' a few years ago when put up against some expensive and thicker chains.

More importantly, they are dead convenient to use, and, if you get the 1.1metre version as I have, I've found that it will sit perfectly on the pillion pad locked with each end wrapped under the grab rails at either side. This means it's easy to carry around, and with a built in lock, you are more likely to use it. It's not going to stop a determined attack but it's better than nothing.

[2112]

That's an impressive bit of security    Should keep the theiving tw@'s at bay.