Question About DiskBrake Locks

After 20 years of riding (old) cruisers I finally broke down and bought
a "almost" new Kawa Concours. Its a real beauty and all I have to do
now is learn to ride in the new position.

Anyway, to my question, do disc brake locks help prevent theft? Mine is
garaged 95% of the time but once a week or so I go out to Clement St.
and do some shopping and have to leave it parked on the street. I have
heard stories of people having their ignition punched out and the bike
taken within minutes of parking it. Would that happen with a lock on
the rotor? The only way as I see it would be a tow truck could lift it
into the bed of a pickup and its gone but I would think punched
ignitions are crimes of opportunity.

Thanks

Jack

XJ1100J
XJ750J
03 Connie

 

I have an '88 zx-10 I leave in an outdoor carport. I have been betting
it is old enough that no one is going to bother with it. Still, it is
in very good condition, and most people who don't know bikes think it
is late model. I am religious about putting front and rear disc locks
on it. The rear has a U-lock, the front, one of those
through-the-disc-hole solid locks. About two years ago, some punks
came through and broke into a neighbor's car. They had some kind of
weak bolt cutters and there were cut marks on the lock on the
carport's overhead storage (didn't manage to cut it through--- real
bolt cutters would have no problem), and these little bastards put
several gouges in my front rotor next to the lock--- maybe to "teach
me a lesson" since they couldn't get it around the disc lock itself.
With a 600lb bike, four guys could come by and just pick it up, if
they wanted to. Luckily, nothing else has happened to it. I note
another person in the complex with a nice, new yellow Ducati parks
their car strategically next to the bike (so one can't lift it out),
as well as chaining it with a cable (I guess that would be "cableing"
it?). I've toyed with getting a remote alarm for my bike, just in case
(it's only worth in the high 2s at best, but it's worth more to me),
but I don't think I would want to go to jail for shooting someone, so
it's best that if it's going to be taken, so be it... though me
rushing out of my apartment with the M1A might induce some
pant-crapping enough that I wouldn't have to do much else than punch
911 on the cell phone and wait.

 

Oooh, I just did that, too. Moved from a '96 Vulcan to a (new!) '03
Concours. The riding position's not *that* difficult.

If your dealer didn't remove it, there's a chain lock underneath the
seat that appears (to my eyes) to be decent deterrent to opportunistic
folks -- chain it to something (a post or tree) for extra security.

 

Steve, I guess great minds work alike .

The riding position seems to affect my elbows and palms since I tend
extend my arms, lock my elbows and put my upper body weight on the palms
of my hands as I reach for the handlebars. I guess its just something I
have to learn...

I do have the chain, in fact all the bikes I have had since '82 have had
them but I never had much faith in them. They looked flimsy and easily
cut but it could deter punching the ignition and driving away I guess.

I saw some great cable locks but they looked heavier than my bike

 

Possibly, they also keep your friends from pushing your bike around the
corner when you aren't looking.

They also make possible the following scenario.

<Dave, outside crowded nightclub>

"Blah, blah, blah" (Talking with folks outside)
"Well time to go"

Vrooooom, Vrooooooom, Vrooooo *thunk*

Dave proceeds to vainly struggle with a bike that suddenly decided to stop
after 6 inches of travel.

Dave gives up, drops the bike, turns to the crowd and says: "THIS is why you
remember to take of your disc-locks!"

Dave picks up bike and spends next 5 minutes trying to kick the locks off
the rotors.

Things to learn:

1) Remember that you put them on
a) People say to put a cable on the bars attached to the lock
b) I would probably look at the cable, say WTF is that there for?
2) If you put them on, make sure you butt them up against the swingarm or
the caliper so you can't move the bike until you take them off.
3) You can't kill all the witnesses, after the first few shots it is hard to
chase them all down.