A couple guys talked about using a ratty cover. My advice is to dress down the body panels of the bike also. On my trip to Latin America I covered the panels with a plastic material that is used to protect the bottom of silverware drawers. Then I duct taped over that. It didn't look the greatest, and it took a good 2-3 days to get done, but I'm sure that act saved me hundreds of dollars on the trip.

I think it helps to think like a thief. My guess is that 90% of the time the thief gets a tipoff from a friend about the location of your bike. Rather then deter the thief, maybe think about deterring the tipoff person. What causes that person to notice your bike. Emblems, parking location, brand new riding jacket, you riding around town during the day before staying there, hanging out with a lot of random locals and showing them your bike, etc, etc

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http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)

At home my bike lives in a locked, alarmed garage with no external signs there are bikes in it. It's a quiet village so (fingers crossed) little threat of feral crotch goblins and people take notice of unusual goings-on.

Out on the road is the issue, of course, and whether your bike costs hundreds or thousands you're basically stuffed if somebody decides they want it badly enough. Even the cheapest bike will be of interest to somebody if they're poor enough or need transport enough, it doesn't have to be stolen for resale.

I rely on layers of security, since the best security is a really big chain. Even a cordless angle grinder or freezer spray won't defeat a top of the range Almax, but that's too heavy to carry around. So I pack a bike cover (camo design for wild camping), a 3 metre heavy gauge steel cable lock and an Oxford alarmed disc lock. None of these is an impregnable defence on its own but together hopefully enough of a deterrent. And obviously if I can get secure parking that's good.

I've also got a tracker, in the hope that if the bike does go I might be able to get it back. The two I've tried are Monimoto and Pegase, and both work on their apps linked to your phone. The first of these is a small, self contained battery powered item with low subscription (36 EUR/yr). Pros: easy to conceal. Cons: a pain to have to take a load of bodywork off when you need to renew the batteries a couple of times a year; you have to remember to take the matched fob with you when you ride or it goes to alarm mode. Pegase is a French made unit that claims to work in every country in the world and has no ongoing subscription charges (covered by the 299 EUR purchase price, the makers say). It's powered by the bike's 12v battery but stops taking power when the battery drops to 12.2V, running for a further week on its internal rechargeable batteries. Pros: no subscription; no batteries to change. Cons: if your battery isn't good you may have starting problems after a few weeks; you need to find a power lead away from the battery or it'd be too easy to find and remove the tracker unit; the Pegase app still needs development as it displays the bike position on a map image without the ability to link to Google Maps or another navigation app.

I allways put a chain through front wheel and fix to a secure place + steering lock + 2 padlocks through disc .......... and just hope they dont pinch my padlocks !!