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Post by armstrongracer on Feb 29, 2020 11:13:11 GMT
Missus went out early this morning, then rushed back in and said yer bikes gone!! Sure enough, bike was gone. We live in an old terrace with very narrow front garden only about 2 wheely bins wide. there's a narrow gate so getting bike in there is a right bastard. Its also hidden behind a high hedge so generally quite secure. Didn't fully surprise me though cos someone had been at it night before. Got up for work on Friday and cover had been lifted until they saw the chain & lock through frame & rear wheel. Big set, generally too big for bolt cutters and we sleep at front so grinding is out. No metal debris in garden so F**ers must have lifted the whole bike and maneuvered it out through a very tight space. Went back to bed pissed off. Son gets up for his match, then he comes back a few minutes later. "Why's your bike in the lane" says he. WTF. Rushed out back. Sure enough, parked in lane that runs behind all the houses, chain still on it, zero damage apart from smashed steering lock. Guess they were waiting to come back with a grinder or a van later. Lane is too narrow for cars to turn so is generally very quiet, I only use it to take bins round the front or taking bicycle. Looking at the track marks in the mud they must have lifted back wheel off ground and wheeled it on the front.
Assholes like that will be back, sooner or later so what to do? Front is soil & pea gravel so ground anchor is out of the equation, the only thing I can think of is a wheel chock for the front wheel and second chain, most chocks have bases wider than the garden gate. Any other ideas appreciated.
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Post by philthewindsurfer on Feb 29, 2020 11:25:08 GMT
Maybe do something with the gate. Maybe at night can you anchor a thick iron bar across it at 1m height they wont be able to get the bike out.
Is the garden walled as well or just a hedge?
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Post by philthewindsurfer on Feb 29, 2020 11:30:32 GMT
Or something like this at the gate overnight so they cant get the bike out the gap.  |
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Post by elnoodle the reasonable on Feb 29, 2020 11:52:24 GMT
You used to get those "alarms" which was basically a trip wire that set off a couple of blank shotgun cartridges. They'll still be wandering about in a daze when you blast out the door in your porn star onesie swinging your baseball bat with barbed wire and dug shite on it.
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Post by mekon on Feb 29, 2020 12:36:51 GMT
Retribution through a Deliverance style bumming is the only option.
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Post by armstrongracer on Feb 29, 2020 12:42:41 GMT
Cheers, good idea but won't work with our house. Although I'm in a run-down inner city area this is a properly nice Victorian townhouse with all the features still intact. Gate is cast iron and railings on 3 sides are all original. From front door to gate is a chequer patterned tiled path I'd have to chop into that for a post which would be a bit of a crime. Partner wouldn't allow it, even if I wanted to.
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Post by philthewindsurfer on Feb 29, 2020 12:55:45 GMT
Not enough room for a moat and drawbridge then. Not strictly Victorian either.
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Post by paulg on Feb 29, 2020 13:42:17 GMT
Your problem is owning a KTM...Thieves are like flies around shit with anything orange and from Austria. Chop it on for a Honda NTV 700 Deauville...I can absolutely guarantee no one will try and nick that
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Post by pantah on Feb 29, 2020 14:41:40 GMT
Put a sign on the gate saying beware of the dog with a picture of a fuck off alsation on it.
Maybe ever a dummy dog kennel to put the shits up them.
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Post by neilf on Feb 29, 2020 15:49:09 GMT
If you can't install a ground anchor, use a thick, put short chain on the front which doesn't touch the ground. Also, an alarmed disc lock on the front wouldn't go amiss.
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Post by Droog on Feb 29, 2020 16:27:24 GMT
It's difficult because if you have to put too many chains on, eventually you will get fed up with that and not bother. You could try one of those cheap disc locks with a built in alarm. They will make a decent noise if moved and they are only small.
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Post by Eddie The Bastard on Feb 29, 2020 16:28:59 GMT
We all know what these scum deserve but don't go there even though they are plainly hell bent on taking your bike armstrongracer. Can't you get something that looks like an ornament but it is a massive concrete filled vase with a thick chain buried inside. That way they'd need to lift that away too. |
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Post by mekon on Feb 29, 2020 16:40:47 GMT
Get one of those cardboard cutout policemen you see in supermarkets. That should work.
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Post by spuu on Feb 29, 2020 20:53:24 GMT
The only time I've ever had piece of mind is when I've been able to block it in with a car. I had a bike in London. 'Secure' gated parking. I had a bike safe rack thing which was bolted to the ground and the rear wheel locks in - and had it chained with a heavy duty lock to a drainage pipe that ran down the wall. Came home one day and all I was greeted to was just the back wheel still sat there bolted in. Second time around I lost my swipe pass to the garage, so just left it on the street. By the time I'd got up to my flat and looked out the window about 10mins later it was gone. Never had another one in London after that, wasnt worth the stress/worry.
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Post by Diego the toe clipper on Feb 29, 2020 22:01:02 GMT
I can understand not wanting to damage original floors and railings but surely there's a way to chain it to something solid?
I lived in a Victorian terrace too years back, similar thin garden in front of the bay window.
I made an alarm which consisted of a multicore cable loop with a 7 pin connector in the middle. The cable ran out of the window through a small hole drilled in the frame and then back in again to form a loop. If the loop was broken by being cut or the connector unplugged, a massive mains powered siren wet off inside the house. It could only be deactivated inside the house.
My thinking was that if they're going to break in to turn off the alarm, they're going to find the keys anyway.
It was also chained to a steel bracket bolted to the front of the house with the bolt heads welded.
Never had anyone try to steal it.
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