Motorcycle security when away from home

[grantmac]

….. all paid for by your premiums… which by all accounts, reading here, keep going up and in some cases insurers won’t even take the risk….
If thefts were reduced then premiums would come down. Vicious circle…. But then I’m not an insurance bod and am stating the obvious….
Off topic. I tried to avoid places that don’t have some form of off road parking and have an alarmed disc lock as well as alarm as OE

As above by @Morety if they want it, they’ll take it…

 

[Pukmeister]

Why would one walk home? This might come as a surprise to you but there are airports and train stations on nearly every major town or city now. I certainly wouldn’t be walking home.

It’s not meant literally. Nobody simply walks home from an overseas bike trip.

In the case of my mate Mick, he flew home from Nice in the clothes he stood up in, that being his one piece leathers carrying his helmet. No idea if the clothes in his tailback fitted the bike thief that rode off on his new Gixxer thou K5 ?

My point about walking, whilst meant to be a tongue in cheek comment, is that it’s the mother of all inconveniences to have your bike stolen especially when far from home when a few preventive measures and minor effort might save you all the hassle.

 

[Wapping]

Insurance is, by its nature, cyclical.

Losses (whether through theft or - often expensive - vehicles being written off due to damage or, put simply, fraudulent claims) rise, until it becomes uneconomic for the insurer to continue. The insurer is then faced with a choice, they either:

1. Increase the premiums across the board.

2. Increase the premium for specific vehicles and / or post codes.

3. Refuse to insure specific vehicles and / or post codes.

4. Withdraw from the market entirely.

5. Go bust.

We have seen all five since about 2015, when ‘high value’ motorcycles (roughly above £15,000 then £20,000) became harder / more expensive to insure in some post codes. This then accelerated come the 2020’s. The market then starts to level off and then, as we are seeing now, premiums start to fall and / or some of the most onerous terms softened or removed. In short, competition for business (market share) comes back in. The cycle then repeats itself. It’s not a phenomenon unique to motorcycle insurance, it happens across the piece, sometimes involving premiums and risks of multiple millions (sometimes billions) of pounds.

 

[Pukmeister]

If insurers didn’t profit, it wouldn’t be much of a business ?

People mistake the profit of business with profiting from another’s man’s misery.

 

[Wapping]

My point about walking, whilst meant to be a tongue in cheek comment, is that it’s the mother of all inconveniences to have your bike stolen especially when far from home when a few preventive measures and minor effort might save you all the hassle

In one.

 

[Wapping]

If insurers didn’t profit, it wouldn’t be much of a business ?

Indeed so.

We have seen insurers withdraw from the market and, in extreme cases, go bust. The highest profile failure was, of course, Lloyd’s itself, which was effectively bankrupted as a body due to a combination of asbestosis, historic US pollution and clean-up claims, computer leasing, natural catastrophes, massive fires and explosions, such as Piper Alpha. The AIG, at the time one of the world’s largest insurers, was destroyed (the US government had to take it over) in the global banking crash, the causes of which AIG were a key player in.

Much closer to home, some might remember the Independent. There has also been several motor insurers, sometimes based outside of the UK, who filled their books with very cheap premium motor cycle insurance. To these can be added the brokers / intermediaries who have folded.

But we digress.

 

[Wapping]

People mistake the profit of business with profiting from another’s man’s misery.

Insurance: “That the misfortune of the few, may light upon the many”. That was the founding principle. Itself is a reworking of other similar words, used in other contexts.

 

[Morety]

Wow . That’s a huge fucking D lock !!!

No, it's just a very small motorcycle

 

[Pukmeister]

I would want to be within sprinting distance if the tracker went off. Yes I would risk injury to chase them off

Really ?? That’s a brave notion, but foolish.

Better off just whipping out your smartphone and videoing their thievery to prove your case to your insurers and the Police.

These criminal gang members would happily beat you into a coma with a blunt instrument if you tackle them, they don’t give a fuck and they never operate alone plus they have a getaway rider in case it all goes tits up.

It’s not worth spending your life mumbling and dribbling from a wheelchair with severe brain damage from a hammer blow to the skull.

My mate was a member of the Poole Mafia, hard as fucking nails but not much he could do about the French bike thief that stole his Gixxer when it was fired up and wheelied off down the seafront. By the time he realised, it was too late, literally taken in seconds.

 

[Wapping]

Really ?? That’s a brave notion, but foolish.

But not as brave (he’ll see it as foolish, of course) as to step foot into France. Funny old world.

There again, not breathing French air will negate the need to arm himself with a curtain pole and sleeping beside his bike.

 

[grantmac]

Really??? Not sure why the sarcasm…..again…..

@djgsa you shouldnt be any more worried about venturing into France any more than anywhere else in europe. I personally think UK is the worst….
Just stay away from larger towns / cities or find a place to stay which has decent secure parking. Normally the places we go on France do.
Personally i find being sensible is best. If someone is going to steal you bike they will give it a good go. As said above I ‘m not confronting anyone. Its insured……thats why we have insurance….
Just get on and ride… and take some general precautions….

But…. Beware of all your lights in Holland

 

[SBD]

Good luck persuading bikermates to pay for that.

Given the money people pay for weight saving (rather than simply cutting down on the pies), the bikermates might just be up for it.

OTOH, good luck, persuading the insurance to pay for the incinerated bike too…

 

[Wapping]

Good luck, persuading the insurance to pay for the burnt bike too…

Though I like the joke, others might not ‘get it’….

Fire, is a standard inclusion, I’m happy to say. Fire, as a consequence of the act of pernicious thievery by malign and masked individuals is similarly not excluded.

Beating scrotes senseless with a curtain pole, attired in nothing but yesterday’s Y-fronts or Winnie the Pooh pyjamas will, similarly not trouble the Man from the Pru either. The bloodletting is bound to be caught on someone’s Ring doorbell and get a million views and even more shares, making the fellow a national hero. Plod might of course view it differently, but the defence team of UKGSer will be there to advise (from a safe distance, natch).

 

[Pukmeister]

UKGSer will be there to advise (from a safe distance, natch).

Or as the French might say, Naturellement !

 

[grantmac]

Natch, natch, natch, natch, natch,….





I’m having an @ATT moment here….

 

[SBD]

Which isn’t the same as “au naturelle”, which would eliminate the need for the Winnie the pooh pyjamas…

 

[Wapping]

Naturellement

Which isn’t the same as “au naturelle”, which would eliminate the need for the Winnie the pooh pyjamas…

It’s an image more than even my vivid imagination could conjure up.

 

[djgsa]

In

Really ?? That’s a brave notion, but foolish.

Better off just whipping out your smartphone and videoing their thievery to prove your case to your insurers and the Police.

These criminal gang members would happily beat you into a coma with a blunt instrument if you tackle them, they don’t give a fuck and they never operate alone plus they have a getaway rider in case it all goes tits up.

It’s not worth spending your life mumbling and dribbling from a wheelchair with severe brain damage from a hammer blow to the skull.

My mate was a member of the Poole Mafia, hard as fucking nails but not much he could do about the French bike thief that stole his Gixxer when it was fired up and wheelied off down the seafront. By the time he realised, it was too late, literally taken in seconds.

Maybe it's just me but it wouldn't feel right just letting them take if they could be stopped. It's happened to me once (in the UK ironically) I chased them off and it didn't even occur to me to let them have it leave it to the insurance. The police weren't interested in the slightest. Insurance doesn't protect, it replaces. And you have all the polava of getting home after.

I've had bikes stolen before sadly (again in the UK). Even if the insurance pay out. It's. Second hand bike replacing it. I had the things from new formed a bond, named them and everything lol. It's not. 'a' bike it's 'my' bike. I had an ex called it 'our' bike. She didn't last long

I hear what you guys are saying and I don't disagree. Maybe it's just me I don't want them to win.

 

[Wapping]

You do entirely the right thing, securing your bike as you think best. Lots don’t bother, even inside city areas or because they trust too much in: “I’ll only be gone a minute”. Getting a coffee in Starbucks, always takes more than a minute; stealing an unsecured motorcycle does not.

Certainly don’t write off France. There’s lots of good threads and trip reports here on the forum (along with open invitation jaunts) to hopefully prove that it’s not all monsters. Likewise, anywhere else in Europe, really.

Don’t put too much store by: “The UK is the worse” either. Again, there are lots of posts and threads on UKGSer on places to go, things to see and do, along with places to stay, all quite safe; but don’t assume that it’s so safe that nothing will ever happen. German and French touring magazines often suggest the UK and Ireland as destinations; no doubt they too will have Pierre and Herman saying they’ve read that it’s a war zone and will be staying in France and Germany.

Your first ‘Big trip’ across the Channel went well, with good support along the way from the forum. Your next could be even better.

In brief: Go to places and see for yourself, taking a sensible bit of precaution…. Just as you hopefully did with your ex.

 

[djgsa]

Maybe I'll find a trip to tag along with next year