I’ve had to move jobs recently due to big cuts in spending on Healthcare in the recent budgeting for this year. The only place where there are still jobs in what I do is the larger cities. I love London and have friends there but I am very concerned about keeping my motorbike in city.
I’ve heard a few horror stories about leaving things alone for five minutes and returning to nothing.
I’ve got a yamaha fazer 600 2002 and I love it to bits. I secure it with a heavy duty cover, chain, disc lock and alarm lock too. When I park it up at work I just use the alarmed boss disc lock. It’s very sensitive and goes off if you just touch the bike. I also sometimes use a lightweight cover to keep it covered too.
I’m gonna be living in Wood Green and working in Lambeth for the first few months at least. I’m bricking it about my pride and joy getting loaded into the back of some filthy scummer’s van. I’m new to big bikes so my insurance is still fairly high, a claim might put it up very high.
I love motorcycles and have always owned one since I’ve been working, from a moped aged 17 to various 125’s until I got my license. I don’t want to get rid of my bike at all, I enjoy owning one and riding it and would like to keep it, but the prospect of taking into London scares me. I know I shouldn’t be crying too much over the loss of 8 year old fazer, but it would really grate me to see it get knicked by some low-lifer.
u only hear of the horrers what u dont see is the many thousands that nothing happens to.get a tracker or text alert then u will have peace of mind,but look at the bigger picture not just the stolen ones
Scum bags don’t want to get court stealing bikes!!! if u cover and disc lock your bike they will move onto something they can see is easier straight away… If you look at a solo bike bay in London… for every 1 person who uses a lock of some kind there are 3 or 4 who don’t…:hehe:
Park it next to a Ducati 1098 or something like that … your 8 year old Fazer will still be there… the Ducati might not be but yours will ( not dis-respecting your pride and joy!!)
Assuming there’s nothing solid for you to chain your bike up to at your workplace in Lambeth, just look slightly further away to see if there is more secure parking nearby. All you need is a pole or something you can Almax your bike to. If you can’t find anywhere suitable pop into the nearest police station and ask what they suggest or ring the council.
Finding somewhere to lock up to shouldn’t be a major problem especially further away from the West End like Lambeth. You just might need to think slightly outside the box and switch on the charm when asking a favour of a complete stranger.
A good place to look for is a business eg a pub with dead space at the back which they can’t use easily, such as beneath a fire escape (although someone will no doubt come on here now and say this is illegal).
Welcome to LB, and I wish you all the best with getting this sorted.
If your work is within walking distance of Westminster Bridge then pm me, as I know the perfect place to park there.
Cool. I think it should be okay providing I take the right precautions.
I had my Honda Varadero nicked once a few years ago. It was just an horrendous time, cost me an absolute fortune to get it back and on the road and then within months it virtually fell apart. Well, sh*t happens and I’ve learnt my lesson in terms of security now.
i think your bike should be fine, it is mainly high end sportsbikes and KTM’s that tend to go missing…tho you never know!
if its fairly secure chances are they will go looking for another bike to try and take, dont wash it for a few months, put security on it and it be fine:)
I think with a 2002 Fazer you should be def at a lower risk than with some other brands. I had various bikes - a Yamaha 125, a Honda 250, an ancient 650 Bros and then a 2005 Hornet and left them all over the place in London, when out, at work, at friends houses etc with just a wheel lock. I had no problems. However, now I have got a Street Triple that might be more of a risk. However, the big risks seem to be sports bikes and KTMs. Having said that I know someone that parked his KTM outside his house for years in Brixton and the only time it was touched was when he forgot to tax it and it was lifted by the council. So it just depends on where you work, what kind of bike you have, the security on it and whether you are unlucky. Depends where you are working in Lambeth and the bike parking situation there too. I live in Lambeth and I am sure other LB ers also can give some advise about best areas to leave it.
Make sure in your home in Wood Green you secure it with an almax and a ground anchor, if you have room to do so.
Cheers for the advice. I thought it best to seek out advice. I had a varadero stolen form a very quiet street in Northampton and it took me £570 to get it back on the road. But still, live and learn.
When you go to buy petrol don’t leave anything with the bike. Lids and Gloves are very nickable as are satnavs if you have one. If you have a steering lock put that on too. One of our members had to chase after her bike after some chavs tride to wheel it away when she went to fill up.
I work in Lambeth most days of the week and park there. Haven’t had any problems so far, (touch wood)!
Personally, I don’t use any locks as I figure if someone wants to steal your bike then one way or another they are going to do it. Lock = cable / bolt cutters. Alarm / tracker device = refrigerator van.
As many have said before, your type of bike isn’t as likely to be a target.
Bike safety in general, I guess it’s just one of the joys of living and / or working in this city…
Get some fake tracker stickers made for your bikes, the scum will think twice about taking it. Plenty of graphics places around, cheaper than all the security.
I left a shitty beat up old XRV650 in a bay overnight next to a pretty new gixxer. Both had only disc locks. Some prick tried to steal my shitty old bike and left the gixxer alone.
On the flip side, I stupidly left the keys to a 2 or 3 month old 10 grand bike sitting on the seat in a bike bay in Westminster for about 3 hours. I just happened to be walking past and saw they were still there. Deffo a ‘thank **** for that’ moment.
I guess so, it’s just as someone who rode a scooter round the city for some time before getting a bike I used to hate lugging a lock around with me everywhere I went due to lack of any type of real security on the scoot.
On buying a bike with an immobiliser I figure that will be enough to put any opportunists off. Beyond that, if they’re serious about taking it, they will.
Although, don’t get me wrong. When the bike’s at home it’s under a cover and locked up with the Oxford Monster in an off road location. I’m just talking specifically about when out and about.
But still, live and learn.