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by Zack Klapman



Last week the good people of Reddit submitted a good topic for their “Ask Me Anything” section. They wanted to talk to a motorcycle thief. They had a few specific questions, but it was expanded when there was a response by not just a thief, but also a British police officer. The advice from both sides is very interesting. For example, bike theft in the UK usually involves a van, for fast removal and stealthy getaway. Here, it goes down the old fashioned way: cut lock, hard-wire, ride away. The information is useful for any bike owner, and I found it very interesting getting inside the “whys” of a criminal.



You might wonder what thief would post advice on protecting his source of cash flow. Turns out he’s left the dark side. He says he’s remorseful for “ending up” in the career he did. Aw. How sweet. He’s probably being honest, but if you’re currently a thief with a heart of gold, wondering why you do what you do, I think the first step is stopping. Don’t get introspective while riding home on someone’s bike, do it beforehand. Mulling over your life’s mission is good, it’s important to evolve as a person. Just do it sitting on a parking cone, not someone else’s sport bike.





For 1.5 years, while living in Colorado, I owned a motorcycle; a Suzuki SV650S. I lived in Boulder, where crime was low, but in Denver, bikes were stolen pretty often. Every week there was the familiar but ever-fearful topic, “Help: Bike stolen from…” I can’t imagine the feeling you get walking outside, seeing the spot of pavement your bike should be at, and knowing exactly what happened. You wonder how it happened, how’d they get through your steering lock? Why is your Kryptonite lock (or the whole front wheel) laying on the ground, defeated? It turns out stealing a bike isn’t that hard, especially if you don’t defend it the right way.



I’ve been lucky enough to make it through life without having anything important stolen from me. That’s good, because the few times I found scratches or small dents on my car, I went into an thunderous and aimless rant about what I would do if I ever caught the ***** *** ***** *** that did it. I was verbal taqueria, slinging out burritos full of refried swear words and savory violent imagery that would make Louis Black tip his hat.



Had anything been stolen I would have stalked the streets, looking for blood, but invetiably getting arrested for being a 10-96 (stupid crazy person). “What do you mean my cape is suspicious?!”



If you own a bike, you must read the words below. I thought my bike was safe with a steering lock and u-lock; I was wrong. It’s not even what lock you have, it’s how you use it too. Some people even go so far as to install an anchor into the ground. I think, at that point, you should use the money to move to a safer area. So use the information below. It could save you money, stress, and prevent you being arrested for vigilantism.



The COP:

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[–]bobbypeel 27 points 4 days ago*

I’m not a motorcycle thief. Almost completely the opposite. I’m a police officer in the UK. I hope I can answer your questions. Hopefully someone here might take on some of this advice. I love nothing more than thwarting the little shysters. Maybe I take my job too seriously?

The thing is security costs money. Its not a 100% guarantee but it gives your bike a fighting chance.

1) The most popular bikes for thievery are sports bikes and those bikes which you see around more commonly. Reason being in an age of trackers, HPI checks and people knowing much more about how to be smart when they buy a new vehicle (so as not to buy a stolen one) its much simpler for the thief to break the bike up into parts and sell it for parts. In fact only a few weeks ago we raided a house and found 5 motorcycles in various stages of being stripped down.

2) The most common way of stealing a motorcycle is by lifting it off of the ground and loading into a van. Quick, easy, quiet, once the bike is in the van its invisible, riding it comes with a greater risk of being caught. Plus you don’t even need to know how to ride it. No need to override the ignition. It couldn’t be simpler. We have seen them in the past put a scaffold tube under the front forks and under the back of the bike near the shock and lift it between 4 of them. Even a big sports bike at 200kg is only 50 kg each. For this reason your first priority must be to stop it getting off the ground. Only a good chain, lock and ground anchor will stop this. Ideally you need something which is hardened and 16mm diameter plus. Otherwise they may well be able to cut it with bolt cutters. Which for them is ideal because its quick and very quiet. A good lock is one which is hard to pick and very hard wearing. We don’t see many picking attacks at all, in fact I don’t think I ever have but for peace of mind I use an abloy on my bike. Another good tip, always lock it off tight, don’t leave a lot of loose chain on the floor. If you do the the chain is vulnerable to freeze and sledge hammer attacks. A decent ground anchor should be very solid indeed. The ones which you sink into concrete are best but not realistic for most people unless you’re putting concrete down anyway. A strong bolt down is mostly very efficient. Some are better than others. I’ve got a hardie ground anchor because you can lift a lorry cab up with it and it won’t break. Another great thing, disc lock alarms. I’ve got two, one on each wheel. If the bike starts moving they go off and make a right ruckus, just what the thieves hate. Also things like alphadot, smartwater, with visible stickers are deterrents too. Ideally garage your bike. If its on a driveway then get one of those PIR security lights. The thieves do not want a “and by the light let your good work shine” type scenario. A dummy CCTV camera is good to, because a lot of thieves will be put off even if they think its a fake.

In terms of decent locks the very best padlock that I know of is the Abloy Protec 362. Its what I use. Its got a 15mm boron steel shackle, very heavy duty. Its military grade, used in bank vaults. The Squire 65CS is another good one, although not as hard to pick as the abloy. In fact the abloy is yet to be picked I believe. The abloy is very pricey. Look out for them on ebay. It will be a significant saving for you. Those locks are both very hard to bolt cut. The squire hides the shackle (shrouded). Makes it hard to get any sort of grip on it with bolt cutters. Often you can’t even see enough of it to put cutters on it. The weak point is normally the chain. A lot of manufacturers make lightweight chains you can use around town but are bolt cutter resistant, not proof.

When you’re away from home, use the disc locks, a 16mm+ chain is heavy and a pain to lug around, but do if you can. try and use something solid to chain your bike too. I’ve seen some street signs snapped in half, and those were just for bicycles! Park where there is going to be a lot of pedestrian footfall so that people will see if someone is trying to steal your bike. Thieves hate witnesses! You could consider investing in a lighter chain for use when away from home. Note if you’ve told your insurance co you use a 16mm+ chain they may not be impressed if the thieves have gone through a 12mm chain. ideally keep your chain off the floor, as high up as possible. This helps to make it hard to use the floor as a lever for bolt cutters.

3) Ideally not through a wheel. A wheel is easy to remove. Its great having a really secure wheel but like I say a lot of the time they get sold as spares so through the frame is great. You can’t do that with my bike so I’ve put it through the gap between the engine block and the down pipes then through the front forks which is either going to be quite time consuming (likely set the disc lock alarms off) or very noisy. Lock the chain off tight. What I mean by that is it shouldn’t have much slack between the bike and floor at all. You may have to make a cut in the chain sleeve in order to be able to do this. But its really worth it. If the chain is loose on the floor its much more vulnerable to sledge hammer attacks, freeze attacks, wedge attacks and bolt cutters.

4) The biggest deterrent is a secure motorcycle. Reason being there are lot of insecure ones out there and they will go for the low hanging fruit every time.

Remember what a thief doesn’t want is to be caught. Being caught is the biggest hazard in their line of business. Business is how most of them see it. Make your bike more risky than other bikes and they’ll go for easier pickings. Reminds me a while a go I was on foot patrol and saw a lovely Ducati 916 with a chain through the back wheel, not attached to anything. I did give the owner some advice and it was heartening to see that he did take it on board. Ultimately your goal should be making getting caught in the act as likely as possible and the maximise the time it would take to steal the bike.

TL:DR; get disc lock alarms, a decent chain, lock, ground anchor. Use something like alphadot or smartwater. When away from home park somewhere you’re bike will be easily seen by others.

Edit, something I forgot to mention. Something which is becoming increasingly more common is the millennium burglary or fishing. Really simple to guard against. The thief comes up to the letterbox and fishes for the keys using a stick with a hook on the end through the letterbox. All you have to do is keep your keys out of reach, in another room. Simple really. Doesn’t seem to be such an issue with bikes yet. More of a problem with cars.”

Source: Reddit



The THIEF (who calls himself, tremendousguilt):

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PLAYBOY COUNTS DOWN THE 25 GREATEST CARS OF ALL TIME
Ferrari GTO Speeds to the #1 Spot

Take a drive through auto history in Playboy's new comprehensive list of the best cars of all time. Jaguars, Lamborghinis, and Porsches all find their way onto the list, but the Ferrari GTO gets top honors in The 25 Greatest Rides.

The cars range in price from $7,000 to more than $35 million and date back to the 1940s. Playboy editors Ken Gross and A.J. Baime share their definitive list in the magazine's May issue (on newsstands and on i.Playboy.com Friday, April 20).

Following is the list of cars that made the cut:

1. Ferrari GTO
2. Porsche 911
3. Shelby Cobra
4. Jaguar E-Type
5. Mercedes-Benz Gullwing
6. McLaren F1
7. Chevrolet Corvette
8. Aston Martin DB5
9. Lamborghini Miura
10. BMW 507
11. Lamborghini Countach
12. Jaguar XK120
13. Ferrari 275 GTB/4
14. MG TC
15. Ford Shelby Mustang
16. Chevrolet Camaro
17. Ferrari 458 Italia
18. Datsun/Nissan Z
19. Chrysler 300
20. Pontiac GTO
21. Mazda Miata
22. VW Beetle
23. Chevrolet Bel Air
24. BMW 2002
25. Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

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Starting with the 2013 Altima, Nissan will be launching five all-new products in the United States over the next 15 months. And while the sedan you see here is initially heading to China as the Nissan Sylphy, it'll be heading to our shores as the Sentra later this year, albeit with a few market-specific tweaks.

For now, Nissan has released a short video teaser of the North American-spec 2013 Sentra, which you can view after the jump. The video shows the new compact sedan in its SR trim, which Autoblog has learned is only a North American-specific trim package. The rest of the Sylphy's styling appears to carry over largely unchanged, with new details like LED running lamps and taillamps rounding out a design that's essentially a downsized version of what we see on the new Altima.

In China, the Sylphy will be launched with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine mated to Nissan's next-generation Xtronic continuously variable transmission. It might not be an all-new powertrain, but remember, this is the same strategy that Nissan is using with the new Altima – one that has paid big dividends in fuel economy. The engines themselves haven't changed, but with an improved CVT, we should see gains in not only performance but fuel economy, as well.

We'll see the North American-spec 2013 Sentra this summer with the car officially going on sale this fall. Scroll down to watch a teaser video of the Sentra SR, and to read the full press materials about the Chinese-market Sylphy.

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