I live in a second floor flat. The people in the bottom of the house own’s the garden to the back and the parking at the front of the house.
Before i got my bike i asked them if i could park it out front and put in a ground anchor. They said “no problem” i just had to remove the anchor when i moved out. This was in April.
Today the knocked on our door and told us that their daughter was moving out. She’s the only one with a car so i will be the sole user of the space. The mother told me that they want to rent out the parking space now and if i want my bike to stay it’s 100£ a month.
The parking is just a space in front of the house, no security. There’s no parking spaces on the road.
It’s their property, but I’m still pretty annoyed about this.
So i’m properly going to park my bike in the adjacent side street where i can see it from my kitchen window. I’ll chain it to a lamp post, witch i think will be secure…? And still have a cover over it.
I might be able to park it at a neighbors, haven’t had a chance to speak with them yet.
Thing is i don’t know what this is going to do to my insurance, not parking where i live :blink:. And i don’t like not having it “close”
£100 a month seems pretty ambitious - there are a number of websites that can help you get an idea of the going rate for the area eg http://www.parklet.co.uk/ etc
Would there be room to park at end of the space at 90 degrees to it? Then a car parks in front in the remaining space and you squeeze out at the sides, still with access to the ground anchor - I had this arrangement a few years ago.
Imagine a wall where this picture says ‘motorcycle parking’ with an anchor hanging off it & car exits forwards:
As for the insurance, speak to them. I remember with CIS and ebike, I used to park in the street 3 mins walk away. As long as you declare it on the road and it’s not stupidly far away, it shouldn’t be an issue.
For less than £100 per month I’d expect a secure garage with heating, lighting, power, ground anchor etc. all thrown in and inclusive.
All the insurance want to know is the postcode and where the vehicle is kept over night normally i.e. on street, off street, private drive, brick/concrete garage etc.
whereisgibson I’ve had a look on the site, parking spaces to let in the area are. The prices are cheaper then 100£ or more if you want gated + secured. But failed to mention it’s 250 m. from tube station with Piccadilly line. So could drive the price up.
I park up against the house wall. There’s room for 2 cars at once, but my bike doesn’t make any difference. you can’t park more cars if it was not there. Here’s a picture.
AGREED. £100pm for a ‘spot on some bricks’ a metre from the pavement is daylight robbery.
Stick your name down on the council garage list HERE - you’ll find out if any are available in the area or not & my council garage is £17 a week.
Alternatively, advertise for another biker(s) in the area and go halves on hiring a private garage.
So then I’d offer them a ‘deal’ where you keep the bike where it is, pay them [i’m guessing] £40 a month, and they can still make £100 out of the space that’s left. Plus with the ‘investment’ of the ground anchor, when you move on, it will be even more attractive to biker commuters. Worth a shot.
Markie76 Yeah it’s some price they want
I applied for a council garage in dec. last year. Called them about 6 momths later for a update and was told the wait is years!
Ahh could do that to. Where to find one? parklet.co.uk…?
whereisgibson I was thinking the same, some sort of deal with them.
Id rather by a tracker and have in on the street then pay them that kind of many for nothing extra.
simple fact is, no matter how well secured the bike is a determined thief will take it. 100% prevention is better than a cure but once you’ve prevented all you reasonably can it’s about managing risk and your incident response.
Try Dudrich Holdings HERE they have garages all over the place.
Wanted ad on Gumtree can field good responses.
Parkl@t/Yourpark1ngspace/Parkatmyp1ace seem to be full of inflated expectations aimed at commuters who can save time & money (petrol & fuel) by paying a tenner a day to park near a station and get public transport into the city. There may be a good deal in there somewhere but don’t hold your breath…
Speaking about BikeTrac - the device + installation is around £350. Afterwards you can choose a 1, 2 or 3 year subscription. Obviously the more years the cheaper per year it gets. It supports all the wave types (UHF, VHF, GPS, whatnot) so hopefully it would be easier to find should something happen (hopefully I won’t have to test it).
I accidentally moved the bike once while washing it with no keys in the ignition and got a text and call within seconds so that at least gives me the peace of mind that I was after. Totally worth the money I’d say and is transferable to another bike should you decide to get one (not all trackers are, make sure you check that before you buy!).
fully comp and leave it on the street, good chain and cover, tracker if you want a stolen bike back, personally I’m not that keen, rather get the insurance dough and buy a new one, and for the difference in premium for having one V the price of a tracker and the subscription, it just aint worth it.
Well i can tell there definitely are different schools of thought on trackers. Some really like them and others don’t. Valid points from both sides.
Update on my situation!
Call the council today to get a update on my garage wait. Spoke to the lady in charge and she informed me that i had been registered to the wrong area :(. There was a garage not so suitable for cars but fine for bike’s available now! And had been available for some time!
I was a bit pissed . But the lady was very nice and said could have it right away.
So now i’m the proud owner of a council garage, cost’s me less then 40£ a month. So a lot better then 100£ a month for a space om some bricks.
Best of luck with sorting it out, owning a motorbike in London can be such a pain at times!
. But the lady was very nice and said could have it right away.