Can i park my bike anywhere?!

R

rg12

100 kW
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
1,591
I have put about $2500 to get my beautiful Mongoose ECD downhill bike with a 2000w motor.

Now, Where can i park my bike if i have to leave them outside?

Even if i take the battery with me, the controller and some wiring are there, two LCD's (LCD3+WattMeter),
and of course my bike draws attention (for some reason i don't know...) even without a motor on it.

I thought about using two locks for the wheels while one of them ties the frame but people like to fiddle with stuff,
all of the electronics and wiring is held by zip ties.

I'm mostly afraid of people messing with the bike more then theft issue although if i'm at work i wouldn't feel all that good about
leaving them on the street :cry:

Will i ever find a way to park my bike and feel safe?

This is the bike, except the battery is no longer on the front sides of the frames but is under the seat so the mid section of the bike is not that beefy.
 
The first thing I'd worry about is making that more stealthy if you are trying to avoid theft. Shrink wrap tubing, install metal brackets and clamps instead of using zip ties, etc. I'd like to see the latest pic of the bike. You don't still have that white...thing???...holding it all together right?

For locks, I would use the kryptonite, NY mini u-lock for the frame and a single piece of their kryptoflex cable to wrap around the wheels.

I don't think building an ebike on a dual-suspension frame that you wanted to keep stealthy was the best route.
 
Do you trust everyone around wherever you'd park it? If not, then don't leave it unattended. ;)

Realistically, the only way to prevent theft is to not leave it.

If you can't do that, then you can do a bunch of things, documented in hte various threads around here for "security" or "anti-theft" or "stolen bike", etc. A little searching will find dozens of threads to give you ideas.
 
Thanks, I got two Tonyon 12mm 1.5m locks.

*I don't have that white canvas there anymore :wink:

What do i do about the watt meter and the main LCD?
The watt meter is zip tied and the LCD is connected to the handlebar with it's two metal rings.

How do you suggest connecting the controller? Right now it's strapped to the frame with two very wide zip ties.

*All the zip ties on my bike are very clean looking, I didn't wanna go to that "home made" look.
 
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=256338011

At least this way they won't be able to steal it with a knife or pair of scissors.
 
Buy a sheet of aluminum and some tin snips then build a box for your center triangle. I did it a few years ago and the results were great. You can cover it with colored plastic film for looks.

You can also make a small box / housing for the display to prevent theft. Total cost is about $100 bucks and 4 - 8 days work. Well that's how long it took me with no sheet metal experience whatsoever.
 
One of my first ebikes ever is in the picture on the right. I made a cover out of a piece of 4'x4' aluminum sheet. At the time I was a college student and pretty proud of it. Now I look back and it's not so pretty looking. Either way, it covered everything and kept prying eyes off of all the expensive bits. That mostly prevented theft of opportunity, where someone walks by and sees something they can easily snatch and sell. With my cover the whole thing just looked 'odd' instead of expensive.

When it comes to long term locking, like 8 hours a day while you're at work, your best bet is a combination of two locks and always parking in different places. Once you've protected against theft of opportunity then you need to protect against targeted theft, where someone watches where you park everyday, makes notes of your type of lock and when the best times of day to make an attempt is, and then sits and waits until the perfect moment. By always parking in a different place (even just a hundred yards away each day in a new spot) you make it much harder for someone to 'case the joint' so to speak. Two locks then gives the thief one more reason not to try to steal it. They are gambling they can make it through one lock, but two locks just exponentially decreased their odds of a winning gamble.
 
Wouldn't dream of leaving it for 8 hours unsupervised.

If people don't steal the bike itself, you can guarantee pieces of it will go missing.

If you can't find somewhere inside and out the way, build something that you can afford to lose as well as the Mongoose.
 
We still don't know what continent you live on, let alone what city. Assuming you live in a city, rather than a tiny town, to leave a bike on the street for 8 hours will require a MUCH uglier bike.

And even then people will mess with it, flip switches, etc.

It can be carried off of course, but one good way to prevent a ride off, is to unplug all the phase wires, and then plug in a jumper that shorts them. The motor will resist like hell.
 
Even in a breakroom, people will mess with it if you are not around. A lady I work with was "trying to be helpful" and pushed it over, ripping the plug from the wall. One guy let the air out of my tires as a joke, and another guy kept honking my boat horn until the air was all gone. :x
Now I park it where I can keep an eye on it, and so far nobody has said anything negative. :wink:
 
Regarding breakroom parking, yes: A long time ago I had to park CrazyBike2 against the back warehouse wall, inside the store. Unfortunatley that's away from all the cameras and also wasn't visible to anyone in the breakroom end of it, due to the way stuff was laid out then (is even worse now, but there's no room to put it in there now anyway). So someone, almost certainly one of my co-workers, loosened all the bolts on the sprocket for the chain drive, to the point where they would fall off as soon as it was used. I almost got hit by a car because of that, trying to make my turn leaving work to go home.

So three things out of htat one: Don't ever trust anyone else, even if they are supposedly your friend, don't ever ride away from anywhere others have access to your bike without thoroughly checking it, and don't leave your bike anywhere that multiple people (preferably including *you*) can't see it at all times, constantly.
 
It seems U-locks of good well known brands are the safest. But if someone really want your bike they can use some freezing gas and cool it the locks so they will break/splinter with a little sledgehammer. But you could have 3 locks. Lock your wheels to the frame and the frame to something solid. Sure it will be a PIA the steal your bike.

Good locks about 50 $ and upward. Make sure your insurance covers theft and see if they lower the cost if you get approved locks from your company.

A cheaper way is to carry your bike with inside up the stairs, or in an elevator. Do the same at work and still use 1 u-lock at work...
 
I also made up a little sticker that says "this vehicle is protected by hidden GPS locator" with a fake company name and logo. Maybe it's useless, but I like to think of it like the little ADT home security signs people stick in their lawns. It's not going to make the bike more likely to be stolen and it might ward off some thieves who don't want to get caught.

That's kinda just an added bonus. The main things I use against theft are:
  • Kryptonite New York Lock
  • Second cable lock for wheels
  • Almost never leaving it locked outside for more than an hour or so.
  • When I do leave it for more than hour, I take the battery with me.
  • I've made the bike look fairly ugly and more worn than it is, and the battery is in a triangle bag to look less ebike-ish

After that, it's pretty much up to the big guy upstairs if he wants someone to steal my bike... :wink:
 
I never thought making my bike look the coolest will be the biggest PITA.
I get people looking at my bike all the time, one guy even almost crushed his car to the guy in front of him and after
braking really hard he stuck his head out the window and said "dude, did you build that?!" with a big smile.
Not to mention all those kids on ebikes today who are eyeballing my bike like i eyeball a good cleavage.

I guess i will drop the idea of leaving them outside and just take my wifes two fitty slow ass motor with the baby seat on it...
ughhh feels like driving a ferrari in a poor neighbourhood.

Thanks guys!
 
Ussyamoto said:
I'm surprised these are not more popular. Bully lock with pager. Yellow part is useless, but the lock it's self is good and loud and the pager works well for me
71r53A5xqcL._SL1500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Bully-Locks-A...TF8&qid=1410081186&sr=8-1&keywords=bully+lock
Click to expand...

Just as an FYI, the yellow part is a reminder cable, not a locking cable meant to secure anything. Reminder cables are more commonly used for scooters, motorcycles etc where you lock through a wheel or disc brake but don't actually lock the bike to a physical object. In this way the bike can't be ridden off because the lock would jam into the bike as it goes around. The yellow cable goes from the lock up to the handlebar or brake lever to remind you to remove the lock when you return to the bike before you start riding again. Sounds stupid, but when your bike is just locked to itself and not to a post or something, it's much easier to forget that it is even locked and you might just try to drive off, likely damaging your bike.

Motorcycle-Lock-Reminder-Cable-Disc-Locks-Accessories-Lock-Reminder.jpg_350x350.jpg
 
mlt34 said:
Just as an FYI, the yellow part is a reminder cable, not a locking cable meant to secure anything. Reminder cables are more commonly used for scooters, motorcycles etc where you lock through a wheel or disc brake but don't actually lock the bike to a physical object. In this way the bike can't be ridden off because the lock would jam into the bike as it goes around. The yellow cable goes from the lock up to the handlebar or brake lever to remind you to remove the lock when you return to the bike before you start riding again. Sounds stupid, but when your bike is just locked to itself and not to a post or something, it's much easier to forget that it is even locked and you might just try to drive off, likely damaging your bike.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying! That makes a lot more sense xD
 
Your real problem with theft is the nice bike, not really the electric stuff on it. I'm not sure what the fork alone costs, but it's so obviously not a $50 fork. Part out to ebay and make $$$ Thieves know what brands of parts sell easy.

Well, you are on your way to being like many of us, several ebikes for various purposes. One of those bikes could be a cheaper and or uglier bike for the commute. Less expensive controller and motor of course. Then secure the battery best as you can, off the bike.

I was lucky, when I commuted my workplace was a nice safe place, no problems leaving my bike there to charge. No problems with jokesters, since I was the boss. I simply never hired any jerks. Now I'm even luckier, and work from home. Hopefully your workplace is full of nicer people than Amberwolfs. But it could be worse too.

I never had much problem with leaving my bikes outside a store for a quick shop, but I have to admit if I want to browse around for an hour or more, I take the car. Grocery runs, I'm in and out fast.
 
Cables are worthless. They are cut in like 5 sec with an ordinary bolt cutter. Then wheels, motors and forks are gone within 25 more seconds. Thieves uses big bolt cutters, battery drills to take valuable parts. And those thieves are fast working. They don't get paid by the hour so to speak. Hi end DH forks alone can retail for 1.500 - 2.000 USD. Then there is lacing of rear wheel, hub motor, controller etc. E-bikes are targeted due to expensive parts and easy resell.

U-locks are the only thing that will slow them down so much that they might not think it will be worth it. And even if the use liquid nitro to freeze the U-locks they will need to use sledgehammers to break em. And that makes noises, lots of noises.
Bult cutters don't work on the strengthen steel in U-locks. And power tools like grinders will make noise and it will still take some time to cut, especially if you got more then 1 U-lock. And that cutting will make noise.

If you can't park inside, or somewhere semi-safe at least I would personally only use a budget e-bike. An e-bike with little to none personal time invested and as cheap as possible for parts.
 
mrfeelgooddrag26 said:
pretty much i only did that one time and everybody was scared to touch the bike for fear of being zapped :) even tho it was only lead acids
Click to expand...
 

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I think i will leave them home...no matter what someone will mess with them.
Thanks alot!
 
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