Hi,
We travelled London to Melbourne in 2003-4. I installed a hidden switch that cut power to the fuel pump on 1150GS; used it every time bike was out of view. I carried a disc lock and a medium wieght cable lock. Installed cable lock through rear wheel, swing arm and frame then around a solid object if bike was on teh street overnight. Also used a generic bike cover. That was great in Asian countries, especially India.

Muslim countries we had no problem - whole of bike theft seems to be only a real problem in Europe and UK. We found pruinmg fingers in Asia would open, touch, switch switches but did not lose things like tie downs etc that we left on the bike.

We are heading off RTW again soon and intend to use the locks and a switch again, but the best will be the bike cover. Might see you on the road somewhere.

I was also thinking about some other type of anti-theft device that I haven't seen anywhere to buy, maybe someone else has?

It would be somehting like a wire inside a wire that would trigger the alarm if it would be cut off. Maybe I could connect it to the motorcycles battery so that I don't have to worry about batteries. The main thing would be that it could trigger a horn or something like that but besides that, it could send a wireless signal to a receiver in my pocket so I would know that someone is trying to steal my motorcycle.
It could be made of some kind of relativley thin wire so that it could also act as an "honeypot" for sealers so if they try to steal the bike, maybe they'll first try to cut that wire, and then go to disc lock, big chain or some other kind of anti-theft device.

It would be nice for receiver to have a range of around 500 meters. I'm thinking about this device as a way to leave my bike without worries while staying in a hotel or just leaving it in front of my building.

The receiver could also have a reverse kind of alarming, for example motorcycle could send a "ping" every 5 seconds, and if the recevier doesn't get a signal for 15 seconds it would alarm you. This way if someone finds a way around the wirecutting or turns of the motorcycle battery first, I could still be alarmed that something is wrong.


BTW I like Adventure950 idea about welding a lock to my central stand, I'll see if I can put that instead of disclock for example... Less things to carry in my top case...

Of course do what makes you feel comfortable about leaving the bike somewhere but all the alarms and remote activation devices don't help a couple of gorillas picking your bike up and driving off with it in a white van.

I have to agree with many of the other posters: where I live, virtually no motorcycle gets stolen by hotwiring and riding it away - bikes are heaved into the back of a van and later broken down into parts.

That said, maybe things are different in the developing world, and you have to worry more about someone riding your bike away. I think that the sturdy chain and lock does make more sense. Really the best deterrent is to try to ensure your bike is parked somewhere safe and secure when it's not within sight.

The only deterrant against that type of theft is Datatag or similar. many parts on my bike have been etched which would make them pretty unsaleable as spares.