So I'm planning an RTW next year but this summer I'm thinking I'll do a 4 week tour of Europe.

My concern is bike security. I mean... It's everything, literally everything! Ar your bikes generally secure at hotels or is there a certain type of hotel you will try and book into?

What kind of security do you have on the bike? Do you empty the panniers and bring all gear inside?

I mean I've always felt secure at camp sites but I think I'd rather stay in cities this time...

I would appreciate any advice!

Thank you

Basically do what ever makes you feel good. If you are going to lay awake wondering if all will be ok in the morning then you need to do something about it. Europe is not that scary really


Use the search function top right with something like "bike security" I haven't tried it but I bet there will be some results.

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Lots posted on this topic if you search around. Lots depends on your travel style, budget, bike you are riding and personal level of paranoia.

I've done two 6 week long Euro tours: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco.

Nicer conventional type hotels are generally very safe. Some will allow you in lobby or locked patio area, others may have a "Bodega", shed, garage or under ground parking that is secure. I used ALL of the above on my Hotel Only tours on my 3 year old Triumph Tiger.

I got in the habit of using my Disc lock no matter where I parked, even in 100% secure locations. I also carried a cable lock, but only used it when location was exposed and when I could actually cable bike UP to something solid. I never, ever had a problem.

I would use "inner bags" in your panniers. Put everything in inner bags, then just carry them into your room, leave hard bags in place. So easy. This is basic ADV travel 101.

Here was my routine at hotels: (I got pretty good at it) first, leave bike out front, walk in, helmet in hand, all gear left on bike. Talk about room, inspect room. If I took room, I would leave my helmet and riding jacket in the room.

Then walk back to front desk/office and pay. Then walk out to bike and move it to safe parking (management approved). Then grab inner bags and tail bag off bike and walk into room. One trip only.

If you over pack and carry a stupid amount of crap ... then you'll have problems. If you're not camping then you need very little for a month or so trip. I always had room to spare with my two hard panniers and soft top bag.

The biggest problem for security is when you are passing through a city and want to stop to sight see but have no Hotel room. In this case first look for private, paid parking, hopefully with an attendant. This is a challenge.

The only Hotels (and I use that word loosely) that I did not feel safe were the
Auto Hotels like Formula One and other similar I found in France. There is NO ONE THERE! Parking is right outside your room, so not bad, but some were in dodgy areas (or that was my perception). No thefts, no mischief, not even in
Morocco.

It always pays to ASK for help for bike parking if there is no obvious safe place to park it for the night. They almost always can come up with something. Just not a big deal.

Europe, generally, is quite safe. Personally, I think my regime is a little overkill, but as you say "your bike is everything!".

When I stay in big Cities (I love Paris, for instance), the Hotels I use have underground parking - VERY secure! I always use my disc lock, and I also have a bike chain that I wrap around something immovable if parked above ground. If it looks like it's going to take effort to steal, my thinking is that people move on to easier prey - I'm working on the assumption that theft is often opportunistic.

Watching a lot of the HU DVDs, one thing that comes across from many travellers is the use of a bike cover; the more beat-up, the better! Mine was VERY cheap (and looks it - no logos and cheap material), has been ripped a few times and I've patched it together with duck tape. It looks even worse! But that's the point; it almost makes the bike invisible. I appreciate this sounds stupid, but you'd be surprised how little attention it gets when covered up. I was at a campsite in the Czech Republic a few years ago. Bike covered up, no attention at all. Cover off ready to get packing, swarms of people paying attention to me and the bike.

At hotels, I always just lift the panniers off and carry them to my room. Partly for security, partly because it's the easiest way to take my stuff with me. In Morocco, I've always tipped the security guy as well - nothing too much, but "keep an eye on my bike "!

Safe travels and don't over think things!

Me and my ex wife travelled Europe on our GS's and never had a problem leaving our bike outside hotels over night, only used disc locks. Also left in cities fully while we went looking around, again no problems. Yes there is always that will it still be there in the morning feeling but no matter what you do if they want it bad enough they will have it

Or maybe it was because we were riding BMW's and nobody wanted them hahaha

Wayne


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The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

Well there's hotels and hotels. And I don't mean you'll have a safe and secure time in a five star €1000/ night place and the bike will vanish in five minutes from somewhere that rents the rooms by the hour. My rule of thumb with choosing a hotel is that out of sight parking - even if it seems secure, gives me a sleepless night. I'm much happier if I can see it from the room- even if it's on the street. I have literally spent nights awake worrying that the bike would not be there in the morning - a hotel in Ceuta comes to mind where the car park was about 200m away and round a corner. I've come back to an underground car park in the morning to find the bike picked up and moved (not hard on my 90kg 125) so someone could park their car in the space.

Often a chat with the receptionist about whether there is somewhere safe to park the bike gets a helpful response, even if it's only to be given a room that overlooks the car park. Sometimes they are very helpful even in the cheap chain hotels like F1, Etap (as was) etc. I've been allowed to park in the middle of the garden so the bike is in view of the reception desk at one hotel, been shown into a private courtyard at another and (not in Europe!) been to told to ride the bike into the reception area quite a number of times. At one hotel not only was it parked by the reception desk but they had a staff member sleep underneath it.

On the other hand I parked in a secure, locked car park complete with an all night guard at one hotel only to find the luggage broken into and loads of stuff stolen when I returned next morning. The guard of course had seen nothing. All my luggage now comes with me into the room even at the inconvenience of several trips each way.

In reality nighttime theft isn't a huge problem as long as you have some kind of feel for the sort of area you're overnighting in and take reasonable precautions. Fear of theft though is probably a bigger issue and feeling that you're paying for the privilege of spending a sleepless night racked with worry is not my idea of value for money. My choice of hotel is often more governed by whether I'll fell the bike is secure rather than whether it actually is.

All good advice above.

Theft from the bike and theft of the bike are somewhat different.

Your phone/GPS/tool kit/dirty washing/half eaten lunch are of interest to street level scrotes who want to use it or sell it for drugs. They are defeated by taking everything into the hotel.

Your bike only appeals to low level scum if it's easy to steal. Outside London a disc lock (get one with a stated time to break it, not some cast Chinese thing) makes other bikes look more attractive as a way to get home from the pub. Only new, flash bikes appeal to the sort of gangs no lock will defeat and they only work in big cities. If your 2 week old Ducati is your choice of travel bike I would invest in the sort of hotels where the car park in underground and has CCTV and a concierge who earns more than you do.

If your bike has hard luggage leave it unlocked if empty. The locks are always **** and can be broken by any druggie with a screwdriver. They can't tell it's empty until they've ripped the lock to bits and ruined your day.

Andy

Take everything with you. If it's too much to carry then you need to seriously re-think your packing/luggage.

A rattle free hollow cable lock is worth it's weight in gold. It helps you sleep better and is actually a decent deterrent to the amateur bike thief. They're chunky so prevent bolt cutter use. Also, they're usually hollow so a lot lighter than you would think and they don't rattle.



A bike cover made to look all old and dirty is a good idea to. Out of sight of out of mind. And a dirty old cover probably hides a dirty old bike to the layman. I buy a decent one and then cover it in lots of spray paint. This way it looks dirty but actually isn't.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Disk lock: definitely but only one with a flat key. The round keys can be opened with a pen. They come alarmed as well, but they piss me off when I take the thing off, so I don't like them. Put it on the rear wheel. There's an interview off a bike thief on here somewhere that runs you through their thinking.
Chain lock: I wouldn't. It's plenty easy to buy a cordless angle grinder so it doesn't way up against the weight and bulk of the thing. The disk lock and the stuff below would discourage the passer by thief.
Cover: Yep, had ours stalled along the wall in down town Almaty for over a week and nobody even looked at it. We just used army poncho's. Would you look under a dirty dust old cover to see if there is anything to steal? Or would you look into that Merc or at that 1200GS parked 2 stalls away instead.
I would remove all luggage though so it looks more like an abandoned POS.


I would also consider an alarm. They're small and relatively cheap. In Europe that pisses people off enough to look around. In Mongolia and Kazakhstan they set it off for fun though.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Personally I hate alarms. They drain your battery, immobilise your bike when they go wrong and as you say, people set them off for fun.

The only alarm I'd use is a direct to battery one like the Gorrila ones. They don't self arm and you can disconnect it easily with a hidden inline switch.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Yeah, I'm thinking of the simple ones. Gorilla is one I've had, but it's large. There are smaller ones. Def not the ones that are wired in so deep they can demobilize.

When people set it off at least they're not stealing it. I sleep better knowing I would be able to hear an alarm.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I've used battery powered rape alarms as the poor man's version on and off for about ten years. The alarm bit is velcroed somewhere out of sight and the pull string clipped to a rear spoke. Move the bike, pull the pin and off it goes. Not much use if the bike's parked half a mile away or you've got triple glazing in the hotel and no real problem for a pro thief to throw into the next field but a bit of a shock for the casual chancer in the dark. Just remember it's set the next morning.

I've been travelling around Europe a lot for the last 30 years without a bike going missing !

Never had an alarm fitted, just used a big, heavy duty disc lock and chain (though the frame of the bike and around some solid street furniture) whenever the bike was going to be out of my sight.

F1 hotels were also OK - the front door/reception may be where everyone stands to chat and smoke in the evening but that area is always lit and there is almost certainly also cctv watching the front door - so try and make sure your bike is in view as well......................

I like that idea !!

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hello Ash:

I've been touring Europe for between 6 and 8 weeks every summer for the past 10 years. I always stay at hotels. I've never had any cause to worry about the security of my motorcycle.

I stay at all sorts of hotels, ranging from €40 to €400 a night. I really don't think that security - or the procedures one follows to find a secure parking place - varies all that much regardless of the price of the hotel.

When I arrive at the hotel, I ask the reception staff where the best (most secure) place to park the bike is. The reception staff will always give you a good answer, an honest answer. Often, they will suggest an 'out of sight' location such as in the back yard, or inside a small garage where they store garden supplies, that kind of place. If the staff don't have any good ideas, I will ask if I can park the bike within sight of the front door. 99% of the time this request is approved.

I have a Honda ST1100 (a PanEuropean) - it is a large, heavy motorcycle, 300 kg, hence it would be difficult to steal without raising a fuss. I remove my GPS from the handlebars, and take into the hotel the items I want to have with me (clothes, toilet supplies, tablet computer), but I don't make any special effort to empty out the moto, nor do I go to the trouble of emptying out the little (non-lockable) compartments in the front fairing.

I have a very robust Kryptonite cable & padlock, but I only use it about 10% of the time - typically, only if I am in a port city in a questionable country (Romania, Ukraine, Albania, far eastern Poland). If I do decide to lock the bike up, I attach the frame & rear wheel to a fixed object like a lamp pole.

Best advice I can give you based on all my experience is to either put the bike somewhere where it is well out of sight (in the back yard, in the garden shed, inside a garage, etc.), or; put it in the most visible location you can find (near the front door).

If you elect to stay at smaller hotels or pensions, you will probably find that the owners will offer you the possibility of storing your bike in their own personal garage.

Basically, unless your bike is something that just cries out to be stolen (like a heavily customized Harley-Davidson, for example), I don't think you have much to worry about.

Michael

PS: For goodness sake, don't stay at low-end ratholes like F1 or Etap. Life's too short to put up with that kind of suffering. For the same price, you will be able to find a pension, or a really good restaurant that happens to have a few rooms upstairs, and stay there instead. If you have not done so already, get a little app called 'TripAdvisor' and put it on your phone, use it to find the pleasant, smaller, non-chain hotels to stay in.