That sums up most people in London in a nutshell. They don’t give a **** about anything other than themselves. Somebody wheeling away a bike? Not my problem mate.
+1
so i take it that most of the bikers on this forum dont actually get off their bikes an walk about in london then 
to be fair. a guy doing some work across the street was up when he realised what was going on (they were pretty quick) he went after them, and got a brick in the chest for his efforts… a forgeign guy… and came back and was moaning why i didnt chase them… i had pretty much consdiered it, but then realised i didnt fancy getting stabbed !!!
just cant risk it these days !!!
Wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the ‘security’ staff in car parks aren’t getting a commission from the thieves for tipping them off when something worth nicking is left in their car park & then making sure they’re busy elsewhere when it gets lifted.
You can always buy an old shitter for work. People listen in. Times have changed unfortunatly for the worst I am affraid, bike theft is at a record high and for that reason we need to change our ways. 1. If you have an expensive bike don’t commute and leave it in London everyday. Buy an old peice of shit…Paint it cammo green and ur be fine.Thieves don’t give them an easy ride!
where would you pull the line between nick-worthy and old shitter?
Somthing like an old Diverson,ER5,CBF600,old CB 500
I don’t mean any of them are old shitters but what I mean is one of them with a chain or dics lock on is less likely to get nicked than say a enduro bike or sports bike…you want something boring to look at thats a bit tatty.
when you ride to work you only need a bike to get you from A to B…you don’t wanna ruin your nic enew sportsbikes parking in shitty london bike bays
don’t have a nice new sports bike fortunately.
but where would you rate an '01 fzs1000?
I like all the Fazers…good bike the 1000 not as likely to get stolen as say a sportsbike…
I ride an ER5 myself for leaving up town. Its black its shit…I have put two big dents in the tank with a hammer when I had the hump one day lol…its got no speedo anymore…its scratched ans scrapped to hell. I paid £300 for it and its done 70,000 miles…
oh and i don care if i lost it tommorow…its due to blow up soon really i ride it fooking hard…
heh, so your bike’s a shit bike by definition, eh? 
yep my ER5 is proper shit. Infact its that shit that even the breakers down at Erith marshes turned it away…
Infact I parked it up town one day and as the tax is out of date on it I had a 14day notice on it saying it was a dumped vehicle.Its that shit…I left the keys in it one day and the blokes ducati next to mine was stole and mine had the keys still in it and they left it…ITS THAT SHIT :w00t:
been commuting fazers for about 5 years current 03 plate for two never had any or anything go missing off the bike , never take the sportsbikes anywhere we’re i cant physically see it an get two it within seconds apart from the odd mayday run or bike spot where its parked with other bikes an bikers about that my rule of thumb 
totally understand about the old shitters… exactly the same thing my dad said… but i love riding the bike… even commuting… wouldnt get the samebuzz ridinga shitter… but then again, if the nice bike gets stolen, would probably only be able to afford a shitter !! lol
aarrggghhhh
So by my reckoning the options are these - 1. Buy an old sh*tter (as Moto King so elequently puts it! ;-)) that’ll attract no attention whatsoever - the insurance will be cheap, there’ll be no stress due to worrying that someone will either damage it or nick it, and chances are if it’s an old ER5/6, CB etc…it’ll do intergalactic miles relatively trouble free.
-
Keep your shiny R1/R6/CBR etc…yeah, fast, loud, fun to ride (negatives listed below)
-
Change your stance and by a cruiser/old school type ride - classy, joy to ride, fast and powerful enough for London riding and country hacks, chavs/scum won’t go near them because A. they don’t look like they’re going 2000mph standing still B. seldom broken down/stripped for spares and C. most are in some way customised and instantly recognisable due to being fairly unique. And, ya know what? chicks love 'em - seriously.
Re Supersports type bikes -
Ok, I love bikes, all sorts and if I could insure one I’d buy a 916 in a heartbeat. Thing is it’s like owning a Ferrari or Lambo on London - what’s the point? are you going to be able to do a 0-60 sprint, anywhere here? More like 0-30 if you’re lucky.
The roads are pi*s poorly maintained and quite attrocious in some places
They attract all sorts of unwanted attention
Insurance/gas etc…is sky high
I know you should be able to ride what you like and not have to worry about all of the above. But lets face it, there’s seemingly a huge market/problem out there right now with stolen bikes and they’re almost always the usual suspects.
I’d be confident in reckoning that anything 500cc+ is decent enough for town and without the hassle. It’s up to you if you want to go that route or continue to live in fear that your pride and joy could be taken at any time. It blows but that’s how it is now. 
Out of interest, has anyone had, or heard of a bike being nicked in broad daylight from a central London bike bay that was either anchored with an Almax chain, or Almax chained to another bike’s Almax chain?
I park my bike in the same bay as a geezer at my work, he has an Almax Series IV with the Squire SS65CS Lock and I plan on getting the same. The bay we park in doesn’t have anything to chain to so we’re going to chain our bikes together with the Almaxes. Although my bike is only a 125, it is new and probably attractive to the scummy little mugs, so hoping the Almax thing would be adequate security.
They are round here all the time, and I mean all the time. The guys at work have seen them picking over the bikes and checking the locks. I have a look over my bike each dinner time, and twice been stopped by the police incase I was a thief. They warned me abt ppl cropping chains and nicking bikes, it is so prevalent even the traffic warden warned me to lock up one morning. Eventually they tried to nick my co worker’s bike. 4 men on 2 scooters started to crop the chain in the afternoon, a guy in an adjacent office banged on the window and photo’d them on his mobile. The police, rather than turning up and saying oo no harm done, sat in the office until end of day until he came out to unlock his bike. All the above is true. I told him month in month out his bike wld disappear, o no no no, it is chained. 1) - they didnt try and nick the bmw R80, the oilstained cb500 or the 2 battered Vespas, just his nice big red Honda XR250 and 2) I lent him my Almax for a week, the heavier one. (I have two) Now he bought the lighter blue sleeved one, (Cheapskate!) they have not been back.
Sounds promising then, good to know, cheers.
I really enjoy riding the old ER5 actually. I ride that motherfooker hard…very hard. I try to blow it up everytime I ride it and the badboy just won’t blow 
but when you pay a couple of hundred quid for somthing you can afford to rag it!
Six - your bang on there with the pros / cons. I do it with everything. Even riding itself, ie worth the risk to commute over the cost of train… etc etc.
I was hoping that our office was far enough of the main route not to be noticed, I guess it was a matter of time…
I do love riding my “pride and joy”… it makes me get up in the morning, making the journey to work bearable… same on way home… trouble is now i guess i am going to be worried about it all the time … so probably equals that one out.
As for costs, the train journey in is around 200 per month, so the bike was more or less paying for itself, and I’d have a toy for the weekend. now i will have to a) commute b) find secure parking, both of which were not in budget, but guess thats life… will have to suffer that…
or buy an old shitter… but jes’ the embrassament !! lol
With regards to almax chains. After i had my bike stolen from my garage, i use them at home, but they are BLOODY heavy, would not commute with one for sure, so if your parking in a bay, you have to consider carrying the damn thing !