Best methods to secure ebikes in public?

Would like any suggestions for the best way to secure your eBike and components when you have to leave it in public places. Best locks?, Best security devices?, Best cable locks?; Best methods? I would like to prevent the ultimate gear failure...spontaneous disappearance(!) :|

Once my Greyborg is finished I know I am going to want to ride it to work, but leaving it in the bike rack by the security desk still worries the heck out of me. I work at a building that deals with the general public and we just recently had an employee loser he bike. Scum bag walked right up and cut the lock, no one said a thing, security was doing rounds. Theft is the #1 reason I don't ride my bicycle to work. I have had 3 bike stolen in my life. I would seriously love to run a catheter up bike thieves urethra's and inject some Draino into their bladders, video tape it and post it on live leak as a warning to all bike thieves.

As for securing, make it a pain in the ass for them. The wife and I road our bikes to the harbor here and took up an entire bike rack to ourselves. Used two locks, securing through both bikes and the rack. One chain is made of 3/8th super hard link and weighs about 5lbs, costs about $20 at Harbor Freight. Other one is also from Harbor Freight and about 1" in diameter making it harder for cutting tools. Bikes got a lot of looks at the Harbor and I'm sure we upset a few people by taking up the whole rack, but our bikes were there when we got back from lunch. Other bike rack which was empty was packed when we returned

I use kryptonite faggetaboutit

https://www.google.fr/shopping/product/2945955854463868369?q=kryptonite+fahgettaboudit&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.51495398,d.d2k,pv.xjs.s.en_US.M4-36_38X9A.O&biw=1366&bih=670&tch=1&ech=1&psi=8qslUtraMIrD0QWg_IDoAQ.1378200575291.5&sa=X&ei=A6wlUqbBBoyz0QXK04HYCA&ved=0CEcQ8gIwAQ

I just recommend you don't do it.

If you must, don't do it more than about 10 min. That will at least improve the odds a bit, unless the bastard was waiting for you to show up as usual.

Ugly ugly bike.

One thing that might help, if you unplug the phase wires to a dd motor and short them with a jumper plug, the bike will be very hard to pedal off on.

I tie my Akita to my bike. He's loopy and on guard if I'm not there with him.

About the only sure to work method. Roadwrinkle seems very interested in having a very pretty bike. He's gonna be hosed if he parks it anywhere.

This is how I park my bike in public area

Furthering on dogmans great suggestions. which i wholeheartedly agree with all the points. re shorting the phases. you can just make a jumper plug that shorts the batt + and - main leads. remove battery plug and insert shorted plug end, it will effectivly short the phases together, good trick!!

Every time I consider getting a nicer bike, bigger badder motor and controller the security issue enters my mind. If you've got to lock your bike out in public for any significant amount of time it's probably best to use a beater bike, including a cheaper controller and motor. Save the expensive ride for leisure.

A cellular GPS alarm system has to be the next best thing to having the bike nearby and visible. If you're not too far from the bike a paging alarm could be an alternative. That along with 2 big locks, ulock and chain.

Jumper plug that shorts the main battery + and - wires? God I hope that was a joke!

I was saying short the phase wires, ON THE MOTOR SIDE. Don't short the controller side. It will make the wheel very hard to turn, so if they try to pedal off, they might give up and leave the bike.

Won't help if they brought the van around the corner.

dogman said:

Jumper plug that shorts the main battery + and - wires? God I hope that was a joke!

I was saying short the phase wires, ON THE MOTOR SIDE. Don't short the controller side. It will make the wheel very hard to turn, so if they try to pedal off, they might give up and leave the bike.

Won't help if they brought the van around the corner.

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Yep, 'learned to keep 5 minute watch riding Harley's back in the day! Ever go to a m/c swap meet and see parts offered in front of vans with oil covered floors?

For bicycles all it takes is a serious hydro cutter and bam - gone in 6 seconds! Not that I believe there's a large black market for eBikes yet but high quality bicycle components will draw attention and unfortunately, people steal...

Hydro cutter? As in, a mobile water jet cutting tool? I've never heard of this, the idea sounds exceptionally interesting.

http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html Those interested in locking strategies might give this a read.

bowlofsalad said:

Hydro cutter? As in, a mobile water jet cutting tool? [/size] I've never heard of this, the idea sounds exceptionally interesting.

http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html Those interested in locking strategies might give this a read.

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Naw, my bad. I meant heavy duty hydraulic pinch cutters like I've seen Parks dept workers use to remove old bicycles, locks, etc.

Though highly unlikely, I'd favor a knife which erupts from the seat, giving a perineotomy to the thief.

This is such a geography dependent question. Where I live, bike theft is so rare, if you lock your bike at all, you are probably OK. Plenty of bikes are locked by the FRONT tire and that is with quick-releases. In NYC, I don't think you can have enough lock. I use a u-bolt with a short throat so it can't be jacked open easily. My battery, which is the most expensive thing on the whole bike, is just bunge-ed on. It helps that ebikes are so rare here that no-one knows what it is. My bike is surrounded by better looking bikes with crappier locks so that is probably the best insurance. I leave my panniers full of crap all the time and nothing has ever been touched. Of course, when something gets stolen, I'll feel like a dumb-a$$.

You have to consider who the thief is. If they are true professionals it does not really matter what you do. However I don't think they exist. A bike thief is more likely a scruffy weasel with extremely cheap tools. The best they are going to find is a $5 tree lopping tool, which will deal with most cable locks. These seem to be the most common lock, and the cheapest to tool up for. It is a no brainer. A totally skint crook can have a pair from my shed and run off with someones bike with no outlay at all.

If they know your lock will fall apart at the sight of a large hammer, they may move it towards the floor or railing and take a swing. They are not going to want to hang around though. Bike racks are generally in public places and they want there cutters concealed in a sports bag with a hole in the corner so nobody see's. They don't want an 18v grinder spitting sparks out as it screams through solid metal. They might use a cordless and spring compressors on a D lock though, as there common so worth tooling up for with garage 'finds'

The best option is probably to buy a chain and padlock from a tool shop. The padlock loop wants to go through the links and also round one of the bikes tubes. If they start levering and swinging at it the bikes frame gets ruined so it's a bit pointless. There stuck with cutting the chain and taking the lock off later. Only true Pro's invest in tools that can cut chain quickly. There hacksaw blade will be to cheap to scratch a proper chain, but forget mild steel that takes seconds.

Master locks street cuffs and perhaps others in there range offer $3500 of insurance for 12 months. USA only. I have them and like to protect my back wheel as the rest of my bike is of little interest. They might take my deore branded rim brakes, but my bike is 20yo and they recognise non of it. My battery is perhaps at risk, but who they going to sell that too? And are trackers not $25 now? I really must get one in my battery box, but can't seem to spot one with 'listening' abilities from the mobile phone based tech they used to use.

Might also wanna do a search on locks and security and theft and stolen and steal and terms like that, cuz there's quite a few threads here on ES already discussing this in a lot of detail.

The emotional trauma of having a bike stolen seems so common that it would make a great 'reality' serial show. The fact that most people were probably children when the first theft occurred makes the emotional hook even stronger.

Watching intellectually challenged men getting busted in the Dateline pedo stings was just creepy, but who wouldn't love seeing bike thieves taken down by the freshly outfitted SWAT teams found in every city of 50K these days? Plus, you might get a bunch of chase videos and pit maneuvers with 3000 lb. police cruisers vs. thief on bike.

Or, organize the local bike clubs to make their own YouTube videos. Wouldn't it be great if it got to the point that you could leave your bike unlocked anywhere because the potential thief was afraid he was being baited? The takedown could be precipitated by a recording played on a public address loudspeaker of Jim Nabors' Gomer Pyle character:
[youtube]9efgLHgsBmM[/youtube]

dogman said:

About the only sure to work method. Roadwrinkle seems very interested in having a very pretty bike. He's gonna be hosed if he parks it anywhere.

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WHY?

Edit: As in why post that comment?

gogo said:

Watching intellectually challenged men getting busted in the Dateline pedo stings was just creepy, but who wouldn't love seeing bike thieves taken down by the freshly outfitted SWAT teams found in every city of 50K these days? Plus, you might get a bunch of chase videos and pit maneuvers with 3000 lb. police cruisers vs. thief on bike.

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This would be a great use of our militarized police that exist everywhere. They can probably even find some random dogs to shoot for extra action and high fives back at the station on "just doing what they need to do to get home". It would make a great TV show. Bike thieves with riddled with fully automatic gunfire... awesome!

dogman said:

I just recommend you don't do it.

If you must, don't do it more than about 10 min. That will at least improve the odds a bit, unless the bastard was waiting for you to show up as usual.

Ugly ugly bike.

One thing that might help, if you unplug the phase wires to a dd motor and short them with a jumper plug, the bike will be very hard to pedal off on.

Click to expand...

Yes,...I could also cut the frame in half :lol: Please explain what the procedure is in detail (since I would not want to "Frankenbike" my "very pretty" new bike in anyway and void the warranty).

RoadWrinkle said:

dogman said:

About the only sure to work method. Roadwrinkle seems very interested in having a very pretty bike. He's gonna be hosed if he parks it anywhere.

Click to expand...

WHY?

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If you search on the previous threads about this (here on ES and elsewhere on the internet), you'll find people note that the better a bike looks, the more of a target it is.

It doesn't matter how good your security is, it still probably only takes seconds to defeat with the right tools, if somebody wants your bike. Make them not want it as much as someone else's that's easier to steal, and at least it might take longer before they get around to stealing yours.

amberwolf said:

RoadWrinkle said:

dogman said:

About the only sure to work method. Roadwrinkle seems very interested in having a very pretty bike. He's gonna be hosed if he parks it anywhere.

Click to expand...

WHY?

Click to expand...

If you search on the previous threads about this (here on ES and elsewhere on the internet), you'll find people note that the better a bike looks, the more of a target it is.

It doesn't matter how good your security is, it still probably only takes seconds to defeat with the right tools, if somebody wants your bike. Make them not want it as much as someone else's that's easier to steal, and at least it might take longer before they get around to stealing yours.

Click to expand...

Thank You Amberwolf.
This is why I am trying to get recommends, my shiny new bike will be attractive to thieves and since there is no way to make it look ugly or undesirable (defeats the purpose of shelling out for a new bike), I thought going overboard with securing it would be the best idea. Any actual product recommends would be great...

ES Members: Thanks for the great info you all post everyday on ES...sorry I did not do a DIY build...sorry I bought a new bike...

There are some great discussions about products and recommendations in some of the existing threads about this subject, which I highly recommend you poke around the site for.

Nothing wrong with buying something new rather than DIY, and wanting shiny and pretty; it's just that it makes a more prominent target....

Heck, if I had the money, and anyone acutally *made* a bike like I need, I'd go buy one in a heartbeat, rather than deal with all the little problems I always have. :lol: But it would not be as safe to leave unattended as my monstrosity that many people are afraid to even touch.

amberwolf said:

There are some great discussions about products and recommendations in some of the existing threads about this subject, which I highly recommend you poke around the site for.

Nothing wrong with buying something new rather than DIY, and wanting shiny and pretty; it's just that it makes a more prominent target....

Heck, if I had the money, and anyone acutally *made* a bike like I need, I'd go buy one in a heartbeat, rather than deal with all the little problems I always have. :lol: But it would not be as safe to leave unattended as my monstrosity that many people are afraid to even touch.

Click to expand...

Once I develop your skill set, I will build my own "monster" as well (or I should say as soon as stuff starts breaking on my new bike). I hit the search window, you were right, found tons of stuff here, will do so in the future before starting a new thread...