Been off of two wheels for over 10 years, and really need some advice...

Motorcycling
1

Hi everyone, I’m new here!

I’ve joined to ask a few questions, as I’m really in a bit of a pickle, so please bare with me.

First things first, I’ve been thinking about getting a motorbike to commute from Kent to London Bridge, to avoid the ridiculous Travelcard prices every month, for a completely unreliable service.

I was inspired by the new ‘streetfighter’ style bikes, and then I saw the new Honda CB500F, and fell in love. HOWEVER. I used to ride many many years ago, I had an Aprilia RS125, it was chained to a ground anchor, and the one day that I was a little lazy and chained it through the front wheel instead of the frame, I walked out in the morning to go to work and the wheel was laying on the ground with the rest of the bike gone.

I refuse to purchase a bike if I cannot secure it properly (chained through frame or swingarm, not just wheels). And it seems to me that the CB500F cannot be chained anywhere apart from through the wheels, which leads me to my next paragraph nicely…

I would purchase a Hardie ground anchor & Almax chain. The bike would be parked outside all night every night. I spoke to Alex of Almax on the phone about the CB500F in particular for use with his chains, he said “Just chain it through the wheel, none of my customers have ever had a bike nicked doing that”. Which really pissed me off, because as far as I can see, that’s bullshit! I did ofcourse tell him my story…

Should I decide to get a bike I need to do my theory again, CBT again, and direct access test (I’m 30). I was planning on getting the Honda on a finance plan, but it seems the bike cannot be secured, so I’m looking for possible alternative bikes that can be secured properly, either new on finance, or older and cheaper so I can actually buy it.

Sorry for the long post, but this is all really doing my head in. I don’t want to go through all that, just to have a bike nicked the next week!

Really appreciate constructive advice and suggestions for bikes?

2

Welcome to the forum

What you need is a motorcycle that looks far less attractive than those parked either side of it, secure it best ways you can. I’m no longer commenting on Almax but I’ll make this one exception

I just spat my coffee out

3

Why Art, did you have a bad experience with Almax?

4

Art thinks PJB are better value. or summat. look at the other security thread.

have you checked out the pinch pin?

http://securityforbikes.com/anti-pinch-pin.php

5

I just spoke to Almax. Never spoke to them before. Nice guy hetold me straight away don’t even consider sitting the chain in a rucksack andto buy a tailpack, he also said straight away id recommend the 2m so I can putit through the frame. Then he gave me quality advice on having a Y anchor setuptoo.

Defo buying my chain tonight

6

the older the bike, the less likely it’ll be stolen

7

Get a pinch pint that will slide through the back of the engine area. I’ve got a CBF500 and it will accept that with no issues. 2m Almax change, ground anchor, secured bike. Only issue is that ground anchor should be on private ground… I use a tree…

8

yeah too heavy to carry in a back pack, I use the tail/tank bag form aldi, it unzips and can use part of it as tail pack as well as tank bag, also I would see you can chain up to something in London bridge too.

9

@makman

Firstly, I’m jealous of your bike!!

Second, what’s a pinch pint? Am I being dumb? I was thinking I could slide through something like a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit and use that to chain to but I’m not sure how secure they are in comparison to the Almax. I already have the Fahgettaboudit which I use for by bicycle. Yes the anchor will be on private ground (driveway), until I move that is!

This was the kind of response I was hoping for. I also saw another thread on here about welding on a loop, but that seems like a lot more faffing around. Thanks.

10

did you not see that link?

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Ah yes, thanks. I must have missed it in my excitement!

What size and length pinch pin would suit the engine area of the CB500F? And is that the most secure place to use the product on this bike (I don’t know much about it’s construction).

12

No, speak to Alex or Maxine, that is ALMAX, and it’s the same old song - ‘none of our customers have ever had a bike nicked’

13

Well he didn’t say that, he did speak of methods that cannot be stopped and that it had happened but was rare. But telling me to chain a brand spanking new bike through the f*cking wheel is ridiculous. I would have expected the kind of help & knowledge I’ve found here. Although ofcourse I suppose he didn’t want to mention rival companies products.

quote] Art (13/01/2014)

No, speak to Alex or Maxine, that is ALMAX, and it’s the same old song - ‘none of our customers have ever had a bike nicked’
[/quote]