Securing Theft and Vandal Proofing ebike ideas?

[elliothaughin]

How about a big ass dog?

Just build a little trailer for him so you can scoot round, just make sure he's really pissed off when you leave him tied to the bike.
Alternatively, wire your batteries to the frame, so anyone touches it they get a nice 72V blast.

Or both!

 

[amberwolf]

Already got the dog and the trailer:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18671&start=0
Sorry a lot of the pics are still broken (until the forum admin finishes the file transfers/restoration), but there's enough to get the idea.

Problem is she'd just lick any would-be thieves to death (although she'll bark their ears out first, and the jumping she'd try to do would be pretty scary as big as she is).

 

[neptronix]

Two large DD hub motors..
Nobody's gonna be lifting that.. lol

But really.. i live my eBike at home, and only park it inside a place i trust. I live in a high-theft area already. Nothing is going to protect my bike from a portable plasma cutter, bolt cutter, etc.

For getting groceries and stuff, i just take my dark forest green step through frame 700c bike. Lol.

 

[elliothaughin]

Already got the dog and the trailer:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18671&start=0
Sorry a lot of the pics are still broken (until the forum admin finishes the file transfers/restoration), but there's enough to get the idea.

Problem is she'd just lick any would-be thieves to death (although she'll bark their ears out first, and the jumping she'd try to do would be pretty scary as big as she is).

Brilliant! Great start, but yeah, you'll need to get more of a rabid wolf thing going on than big softy!

 

[GCinDC]

Public Parking:
Overtly park it where it can be seen by dozens of people all the time, such as at the entrance to a building....

Hide the Bling:
...For some reason black nylon mesh works well to obscure wiring – possibly because our brains are used to seeing it in conjunction with auto & motorcycles.

Agree completely! Knowing where to park safely is most of it. I use public garages whenever possible, often have bike racks.

Also suggest hidden switch, lockable battery case.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

Several ways. Simplest is a 3-pole double throw (and for extra feature, make it center-off) toggle switch, but it has to be big enough to handle the full DC current of the phases during regular motor operation, and that could be a big switch. Since you'd never be switching it while power was on, it can be smaller, but still not a tiny thing.

Wire one set of poles to the controller phases.
Wire up the center pins to the motor phases.
Wire up the other set of poles shorted across each other.

Toggle the switch to the controller and you have normal operation.
Toggle it to the shorted poles and now it's a heavy load on the motor with teh controller disconnected from it, making it really hard to rotate the motor at anything above hand-rotation speeds, so you couldn't ride it away.

The active antitheft in controllers is "better" in that it actively fights the motor rotation at any speed, but it uses a lot of power to do that. This method uses no power.


You could also do it with relays, so that when the bike is off, the relays are shorting the phases. But it's possible for vibration to close a relay contact sometimes, which could be bad. Or for you to be riding along and have the BMS cut out for whatever reason, or you otherwise lose power, relays close, motor actively stops rotation, and bad stuff happens (especially on a front wheel).

That is a really good idea!

I would think for the most simple and effective method would be a 3-bullet common connector that would cause all three phase wires to short together, that way you don't have anything to burn-up or fail. Sure it's not as convenient as a switch, but it can't be flipped by accident while riding, and you won't have to worry about it being able to take the high current.

Public Parking:
Overtly park it where it can be seen by dozens of people all the time, such as at the entrance to a building....

Hide the Bling:
...For some reason black nylon mesh works well to obscure wiring – possibly because our brains are used to seeing it in conjunction with auto & motorcycles.

Where can I get this nylon mesh? I have seen it on an A2B bike and it made everything look really clean too!

 

[katou]

You live in an area where thieves carry portable plasma cutters ??!!!!

Holy crap! Where do you live??!!!

Katou

 

[GCinDC]

Where can I get this nylon mesh? I have seen it on an A2B bike and it made everything look really clean too!

What I use is not mesh, but woven with waterproof backing, heavyweight, typically used for backpacks, etc. It's called 'Cordura' but there may be different weights. I got mine at a giant fabric store, but it could be this, at amazon.

 

[x88x]

Where can I get this nylon mesh? I have seen it on an A2B bike and it made everything look really clean too!

Check out the cable sleeving selection on mcmaster. Depending on what kind you're looking for it can be had quite cheap, and as long as you're not worrying about it being waterproof (which, really, I feel like if that portion has to be waterproof you're doing something wrong somewhere else), any sleeving should be fine.

 

[neptronix]

You live in an area where thieves carry portable plasma cutters ??!!!!

Holy crap! Where do you live??!!!
Katou

Portland, Oregon.
Bolt cutters are just as effective though... they sell them at hardware stores.

 

[katou]

Do you have a link to any particular sleeving that you thought looked good? That site is huuuge.

Katou

 

[x88x]

Do you have a link to any particular sleeving that you thought looked good? That site is huuuge.

Katou

Hahaha, yes, yes it is. And unfortunately they don't let you link to sections.. If you browse down to 'Electrical & Lighting', and select 'Sleeving', you'll see the stuff I'm talking about. They have a huge variety of different materials and weave types, so whatever suites your needs. The specific stuff in there I was talking about is the 'Expandable Mesh' section, but like I said, if you think some other type will work better, go for it. If you do use the expandable mesh, I would also get some heatshrink tubing (same section) to bind the ends and keep the strands from fraying. Depending on the position, you might also want to put a zip-tie over the end of the mesh but under the heatshrink.

 

[oldhaq]

Saw this on my daily gizmag, be easier than feeding my coiled wire lock in & back out of the spokes and frame all the time

http://www.gizmag.com/tigr-titanium-bowed-bike-lock/18516/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=da344d4a78-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

How much would a metre of Ti bar cost, bend it a bit, coupla holes in each end, heatshrink it, then add a nice $100 padlock?
The $100 pledge for one seems good value comparatively.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1051734209/tigr-titanium-lock-as-cool-as-your-bike

 

[lxstang]

I think if a thief really wants your bike he's going to take it.Best thing would be to have an alarm system that will page you when it's being tampered with and if they do steal it you would have to be able to track it.Also maybe instead of hiding the wiring we could use them to our advantage,with danger high voltage stickers.I doubt thieves would be dumb enough to disconnect a bunch of spaggetti.Here's a video I saw on youtube,I dont think i`ll be leaving my bike out soon.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbklkFuFk-4&feature=related.
 
 
 

 

[oldhaq]

I think if a thief really wants your bike he's going to take it

yeah but how really? any lock has gotta be better than none at all, to cover easy-opportunity-thefts, and the more massive a padlock and chain is, the serial thief will be more likely to look for an easier target.
I'm thinking that a motion sensing alarm with an on/off key-switch on the battery box which sounds a buzzer/siren and/or flashing lights for a few minutes each sense would be another good deterrent, and/or a voice recording "Theft in Progress, Call the Police".

Best thing would be to have an alarm system that will page you when it's being tampered with and if they do steal it you would have to be able to track it

SMS or paging might work sometimes but you'd need to stay nearby or else they'd be long gone.
For a while there I was carrying two, a "D" and a cable lock, makes it roughly twice as difficult for them.
Hard to defend against cordless angle grinders though,
A visual and loud audio alert would hopefully encourage them to go away.
This might be ok, a cable lock with motion alarm http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Heavy-Duty-Coil-Cable-Lock-Built-In-Alarm-Bike-Scooter-/200578186625?pt=AU_Sport_Cycling_Accessories&hash=item2eb3643d81
I'd like to get one but also like to know how loud it is, my guess is it's like a watch alarm.

 

[Rifle]

The TiGr lock seems pretty great to me. I might end up buying one of those.

 

[swb]

This might be ok, a cable lock with motion alarm http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Heavy-Duty-Coil-Cable-Lock-Built-In-Alarm-Bike-Scooter-/200578186625?pt=AU_Sport_Cycling_Accessories&hash=item2eb3643d81
I'd like to get one but also like to know how loud it is, my guess is it's like a watch alarm.

I reckon it would be pretty loud - its not hard to make a piercing alarm sound from a small battery (like a smoke alarm)

That eBay one looks OK but I wonder about its quality, like standing up to wet weather.
Here is another http://www.stealproof.com.au/ (which might be the same product with different packaging)

 

[Rifle]

Here is another http://www.stealproof.com.au/ (which might be the same product with different packaging)

Omg, that video is hilarious.

 

[LegendLength]

Here is another http://www.stealproof.com.au/ (which might be the same product with different packaging)

Omg, that video is hilarious.

Wow I was laughing hard even before the balaclava came out.

 

[Lemlux]

I like the famous South African (world carjacking capital) device to actively repel carjackers. Three mini flamethrowers are mounted on each side of the car and shoot 3 to 4 foot flames when a panic button is pushed inside the car.

Perhaps a smaller version could be triangle mounted with a bidirectional flame thrower in the diamond. Activation could be wired by any of the means earlier discussed.

 

[thedarlington]

GPS PAGER FOR KIDS

alright guys, now things just got serious, id seen this a couple weeks ago and thought it was interesting but i didnt jump on it and quickly forgot, however being here with all you electrical wonderminds, im sure we can finally come up with some sort of implementation, there is a GPS for kids in bestbuy called littlebuddy, free for a year or something and then 0.99 for every page after that, not bad at all, trick is to keep it charged up all the time, we could somehow syphon charge from the main battery to power this thing, keep it like in 1 of the frame tubes ro somewhere where it cant be removed, and wait for the bike to get stolen, check this out, ALSO there seem to be deals on it every now and then so we should discuss the pricing scenarios first before jumping, looks like it can be found for $20 it seems like the perfect thing we need tho, im sure even best buy laughed when they said for kids, knowing full well itll probably be used for cheating couples spying etc

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjKbMlaMbM&feature=related [/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyjKbMlaMbM&feature=related

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/23/insignias-little-buddy-child-tracker-encourages-kids-to-run-awa/

 

[Kingfish]

GPS PAGER FOR KIDS

alright guys, now things just got serious, id seen this a couple weeks ago and thought it was interesting but i didnt jump on it and quickly forgot, however being here with all you electrical wonderminds, im sure we can finally come up with some sort of implementation, there is a GPS for kids in bestbuy called littlebuddy, free for a year or something and then 0.99 for every page after that, not bad at all, trick is to keep it charged up all the time, we could somehow syphon charge from the main battery to power this thing, keep it like in 1 of the frame tubes ro somewhere where it cant be removed, and wait for the bike to get stolen, check this out, ALSO there seem to be deals on it every now and then so we should discuss the pricing scenarios first before jumping, looks like it can be found for $20 it seems like the perfect thing we need tho, im sure even best buy laughed when they said for kids, knowing full well itll probably be used for cheating couples spying etc

[youtube]LyjKbMlaMbM[/youtube]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/23/insignias-little-buddy-child-tracker-encourages-kids-to-run-awa/

Fixed your video.

What an excellent idea! Thanks for sharing 8)
~KF

 

[Rifle]

Holy crap! This is perfect. Less than $50 up front cost and only costs after that if the bike actually gets stolen. Not fool proof, but should give you a pretty good shot at getting your bike back in most cases.

 

[dodjob]

this may be a solution
[youtube]pTPFrww6zdA[/youtube]

 

[Rifle]

Hehe, not so good for 80lbs e-bikes though I bet.