How to Prevent Motorcycle Theft

Having your bike stolen is even worse than crashing and mauling it beyond repair; at least as you crash and are (hopefully) still in one piece while the ride is going to the scrapyard, it was your doing, or for what's worth, the deed of another (ignorant) road user.

That's it - it's dead and buried. Get whatever you can from the insurance company and start thinking about a new one and where you would get the money from. On the other hand, having worked hard to earn the money for a motorcycle and waking up one day to see it missing is really painful, frustrating, and disheartening.

Unfortunately, motorcycles are highly "stealable." They have minimal security systems, easy-to-hotwire ignitions, and are small, meaning they can easily fit in a minivan.

To make things even worse, motorcycles are perfect for parting out. You don't have to be a mechanic or have a dedicated space, like a garage, to be able to take the motorcycle apart. After doing all that, thieves sell the parts for high prices.

A huge number of bikes are stolen around the world every year. In the United States, almost 55,000 motorcycles were reported as stolen in 2022. Thanks to the efforts of law enforcement agencies, more than 40% of them were recovered.

The components for high-performance sports bikes are especially sought after. This type of bike is also very popular, making it by far the most frequent target for theft. In the US, almost 20% of the bikes stolen in 2022 were Hondas (10,631 bikes), closely followed by Yamaha with 8,358 stolen.

This short guide should help you avoid being part of these statistics. So, let's get into it.

Thieves with a shopping list

Bike thieves can be separated into three groups: guys who do this for a living, thieves who steal a bike to commit other crimes, and those searching for a joy ride.

The latter are not necessarily looking for a certain bike to steal – they just want to ride and will most likely abandon your machine later into the night. Most bikes stolen "for fun" are later recovered by the police and returned to their rightful owners, some even in perfect condition. It's true that some joyriders are poor riders and will crash while aboard your bike, adding some personal injury to theft, driving without a license, and other potential damages.

Those searching for a joy ride are the "easiest" types of thieves to deal with, as there's a high chance you'll get your bike back. Most of these people will jump at an opportunity to hop onto your bike and drive off. However, in most cases, they won't be prepared to break your bike's locks and hotwire it. It's more of an impulsive decision where they will see your bike left unattended with the keys in the ignition. So, almost needless to say, never leave your keys in the ignition when you leave the bike, even if it's for just a couple of minutes.

Then, there are criminals who use motorcycles as getaway vehicles because they are fast and extremely maneuverable. Even more, they can be ridden in places where cars would not fit. Recent smash-and-grab crimes in the UK have shown the great potential of bikes when used inside shopping malls.

With very good acceleration, fast and easy to squeeze through heavy traffic, narrow passages, and similar places, motorcycles make almost perfect getaway vehicles for criminals. However, you'll most likely never hear of a Harley Davidson stolen to rob a mall. So, if you have a bulkier bike, there's a high chance you won't be the target of these ill-intended people.

The last category of bike thieves is the largest and the most dangerous: professional thieves, who track down and steal bikes on order. They are looking for certain bikes, manufacturing years, and even colors, and these guys commit the biggest chunk of all thefts. Many will go above and beyond to ensure they get their hands on your bike. So, you have to be prepared and make your bikes as hard to steal as possible.

If you do it, do it right.

Even though you live in a quiet and seemingly safe neighborhood, this has nothing to do with your bike: if a thief is after your ride, they will track your movement around the city, learn your habits, and strike when you're vulnerable. For example, when you've parked your bike in the city or when you're sleeping and the motorcycle is presumably safe in your garage.

So, if you feel like adding some protection to your ride, you better do things right. There is no middle road: you either leave your bike as it is and hope for the best or spend some bucks and take some precautions. What's the point of spending thousands of dollars on a nice bike if you spend less than $100 protecting it?

Thieves will be amused if you "secure" your bike with a flimsy steel line or a thin chain and a common 3-dollar padlock. When thieves decide to move in on your bike, they're not bringing hairpins and a pincer. These people, or at least the "professional" ones, come very well prepared, so you'd better give them a run for the money.

The tips

1. See no bike, steal no bike

With most thieves looking for certain bikes, yours is safer if it remains unseen. This means hiding your bike from plain sight, especially when you're going to be away from it for a longer period: during work hours, at night, or when you're simply away.

The best way to do this is by parking your bike inside a garage, or in a guarded parking lot. The latter is clearly a better option if you have the possibility, but unless your home garage is guarded, you'll probably have to pay extra to park your bike in such a spot.

If you're lucky enough to have a garage, it's best to beef up its security. Basic measures include checking all the locks and adding extra ones where necessary. Moreover, I know that metal bars aren't an aesthetically pleasing addition to your garage, but they're a fantastic deterrent to bike thieves or anyone who wants to break into your garage. Moreover, if possible, you should also make sure the bike is not visible from the doorway. If it's hidden, there's a higher chance a thief will simply move on to the next house rather than risk investigating further.

Garage door defenders are also an excellent idea – they're installed to the center of your garage door and are fitted to a solid base, such as your driveway's concrete. Furthermore, they're compatible with most garage doors, including roller shutters and up-and-over garage doors.

However, if you don't have a garage, you have two other options: parking it out of sight and hopefully in the angle of a surveillance camera or in plain sight. While a camera won't prevent your bike from getting stolen, it's an excellent deterrent for thieves.

I'd love to say that parking your bike in a public, crowded area is a safe choice. Sure, it can be, but thieves have been getting increasingly brazen. And not only brazen but also very efficient. Many will have no problems stealing your bike from a public place, and they can do so in minutes or even seconds.

It's certainly safer than parking in a dark alley. Some people might think that hiding your bike in a not-so-public spot will reduce the chances of it being stolen, but the opposite is typically true. Dark alleys or similar places offer the perfect cover for thieves to spend time bypassing security measures.

Another excellent tip is parking next to other motorcycles. Statistically, theft is much less common when motorcycles are parked together. That's because it increases the risk of a rider returning to a motorcycle and reporting the theft. What's more, it's tougher to break a motorcycle lock when the bike is wedged between a few others.

If you're out in town eating or doing something else, find a spot where you can keep your eyes on your ride. Avoid parking in large lots, underground mall parking lots, or airports, as your bike might end up getting stolen. If you need to do it make sure you have the proper security system installed – more info on that below.

Finally, the easiest way to hide the bike is to cover it. Having an eye-catching, head-turning motorcycle is great when you ride it, as you gain the attention of everyone. However, when it's parked, one such motorcycle will also stick out like a sore thumb to thieves. So, an excellent idea is to cover your bike with the dullest, most boring cover that still protects your bike. Or, you could go even further and use a Harley Davidson branded cover to really decrease the risk of someone going near your motorcycle.

2. Steering locks

Motorcycles have had steering lock systems for quite some time now. They're the first line of defense and might prevent thefts by themselves when it comes to less experienced criminals.

Unfortunately, "expert" thieves will find a steering lock relatively easy to bypass. Still, they serve as an additional impediment to thieves.

Remember to lock your steering - there's no point in having one if you have a great first-step defense against bike theft. It might save the day in the case of less experienced criminals. It's certainly one box you should tick regarding your defenses against thieves.

3. Locks, chains, and lamp posts

The next step in preventing bike theft is using passive locking devices, such as brake disc locks, chains, u-locks, or devices like the RoadLok. Rideaway thieves will definitely not be happy as they see a powerful rotor lock on your brakes, and they will most likely be looking for another bike. Moreover, some disc locks also come with alarms to fully discourage the thief from trying to steal your precious motorcycle.

Make sure to remember it when you get on the bike. If not, you'll probably drop the bike in a very silly way. Most disc locks are sold with stretch lines attached to the throttle to make sure you remember about them before riding off.

At the same time, securing your machine with a hardened steel chain to solid, fixed objects will make your bike's disappearance much harder. When possible, try to lock your bike to solid objects, such as rails, lamp posts, and the like: not only are they impossible to move, but they will also cause loud noises if hammered into, thus attracting attention and increasing the chance of a bystander calling for police.

Cheaping out on such anti-theft devices is simply throwing money away. A thin chain is no obstacle for a determined thief, and it will give way with the most basic bolt cutter. And trust me when I say that most of the thieves come prepared – a bolt cutter is part of their essential toolkits.

On the other hand, using a thick chain (Abus, On Guard, Kryptonite, and so on) means that the efforts for cutting it, prying it open, or breaking it after spraying with freezing agents will take a lot longer and the end, not worth it. The more time a thief spends on a bike, the higher the chance of them getting caught. So, most thieves won't risk their freedom (more than they already do) to spend more time breaking your heavy-duty chain.

Heavy-duty hardened chains and ground anchors make an excellent motorcycle security combo. Ground anchors are either securely fixed into the ground using bolts or simply cemented into the ground. From a thief's perspective, ground anchors are hard to deal with, but they're not foolproof.

If the bad guys have a large, strong crowbar, they could use the very ground as leverage and break the ring, thus making lifting the bike into a van possible. Of course, rideaway thieves will most likely drop the job.

4. High and through

Whatever you use to secure your bike, make sure of two things: that you're not leaving it lying on the ground and that you have it through the frame.

The reason for these tips is quite simple: having a lock down on the ground gives the thief solid support for hammering into it. If the "ties that bind" are in mid-air, there will be no hammering, as we've never heard of thieves carrying an anvil and a riser when out for a bike.

On the other hand, passing the chain through the inside of the frame, if possible, makes it very secure: nobody will cut a bike's frame. You can also use the fork or rims, but damage may occur. If, however, you've got a chance to run the chain through the frame, go for it! To make sure you can do that, you could purchase a longer chain.

If you route the chain through a wheel instead of the frame, you make the thief's job a whole lot easier. All they have to do is remove the wheel, and they can take the rest of the bike. Most will happily sacrifice a wheel to get the rest of the package.

5. More systems are better

If you want to add to your peace of mind, locking your bike with two security systems is quite a good idea. A chain AND a disc lock, a U-lock and an alarm - pretty much anything goes. Thieves may be prepared to tackle one safety device, but nobody is ready for every scenario.

A fairly inexpensive motorcycle theft prevention devce that can make a hige differnce is a fork lock. If you lock the fork of your wheels, thieves won't be able to roll your bike away. So, even if they get it started, they'll have to find a way to remove the fork lock if they want to drive away with it.

A brake lever lock is also a good addition to the other sturdier locking system I mentioned above. It clamps over the front brake lever and the right-hand grip, locking the front wheel and making it difficult to move the motorcycle. These products are compact and easy to carry around.

Another very simple yet potentially effective tactic is to remove your motorcycle's spark plug. It's not foolproof, obviously, but this step is worth considering if your bike will be stored away for longer periods.

6. Make it ring loud

Yes, I'm talking about alarms. With many such units capable of producing noises in excess of 110 dB (a metal concert usually goes around 123-126 dB), an alarm will easily draw attention in case someone meddles with your bike. Drawing attention to the job is exactly what thieves are trying to avoid, and there are so many ways to put them in the spotlight.

Alarms now come in tens of designs, and most of them have accelerometers which make them go off in case the bike is moved, lifted or flipped. Such alarms are now even present in disc locks, so there is really no reason not to get one, just to be on the safe side.

You can always add a sticker on your bike, letting the people know that the bike comes with an alarm system. Or, as a more budget-friendly (but also riskier) option, you can use this trick even if you don't actually have an alarm system. Few will be daring enough to try and check the facts.

You could use some alarms for the garage doors. Most alarms will do the job, but if you really want that extra layer of security, get one that connects to your smartphone and lets you know of anything happening inside your garage. Furthermore, a camera system will also come in useful, especially if you place a sticker on the garage door, letting the thieves know that they're being watched.

7. Be evil, creatively evil

One more way to cause thieves to leave the bike in place and get away cursing you is installing additional gimmicks to prevent them from starting the engine: hidden killswitches!

Even if the thief managed to cut your bike free, installing a supplemental killswitch in a hidden place makes it impossible to fire the engine. Installing an additional killswitch is easy, poses no threat to the safety of the machine, and takes 20 minutes.

If you are sneaky AND evil, you can add more switches, reverse the main killswitch, add an inconspicuous spring-loaded button which needs to be pressed along with the ignition one. Why not make bike stealing a puzzle? So even if someone get their hands on it, you can at least know they'll have a really hard time with it. Maybe so hard that they'll actually abandon the bike, although that's hard to believe since the thieves can sell parts individually and still make a good buck.

If evil is your middle name, you can follow the hint of a very twisted guy and install three unlabeled, unmarked mini-toggles and wire them in a certain sequence. Only one of the total number of possible combinations will close the electrical circuit and allow the bike to be started. Drum rolls... ta-da!

8. Be vigilant

"Professional" bike thieves often have a few boxes to tick before actually stealing your bike. For instance, they will scope out your area by visiting multiple times. So, keep your eyes peeled for any unusual activity - I'm not saying to become paranoid, but rather to be aware of your surroundings and notice if there are any people you don't recognize near your home. By the way, local neighborhood watch groups are great for monitoring dubious activity.

9. On keys, title, and more

If you store your bike in the garage, make sure you don't leave the keys there. Once inside your garage, the thieves already have plenty of tools to carry out their plan, so it's no use to help them. The same goes for the papers: if they've got your papers, they'll be able to effortlessly make it past police officers before the bike is reported stolen. And by that time, it may be too late.

You should always carry your bike's registration and proof of insurance with you. If you get pulled over, you'll probably need to provide both to the police. If you don't have them, law enforcement could perform a time-consuming vehicle check. The only document you should never keep with your motorcycle is its title. This piece of paper is the key to legally transferring ownership of your bike, so it's best you leave it safely locked at home or in a safety deposit box at your bank.

10. Get smart

Regardless of how well you secure your two-wheeler, it's always best to prepare for the worst. And in this case, "the worst" is your bike disappearing.

Get a GPS locator and hide it inside the frame so you can track the bike from the moment you notice it's gone. Telling the police the whereabouts of the motorcycle helps them do their job better and faster, and it may also lead to catching more than one thief and recovering multiple bikes.

In many cases, a professionally installed tracking device might also reduce the cost of your insurance, making the addition of a GPS tracker a win-win for motorcycle riders.

You should also keep detailed photographs of your motorcycle. If your bike ends up stolen, photos can help authorities find it, especially if it has unique markings or mods.

11. Be aware

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, thieves have different ways of operating. Some of them prefer picking out a target and waiting for the right moment to make their move. For instance, they might see you riding and follow you to find out where you live and work. This is where situational awareness comes in very useful, as it can save you and your bike.

So, what should you do if you notice a vehicle following you? First of all, don't go home or to work. Change directions frequently and randomly, and head toward a public place with plenty of potential witnesses in case you get bike-jacked. Stop there and wait for the thieves to leave.

If they don't and you feel threatened, don't hesitate to call 911. In fact, if you use a Bluetooth headset or something that allows you to place calls while riding, you can contact emergency services as soon as you're sure you're being followed. If worse comes to worst and you end up being attacked, don't risk your life for your motorcycle – after all, your safety is a lot more important.

12. Secure your gear

How about our gear? Well, we don't want it stolen either. This is where locking luggage compartments come in useful, as they offer a relatively safe place to store our gear when we park our motorcycles. Sure, you can always take the gear with you, but it's nice to have a solution that involves you not having to carry your equipment around.

Many bikes are equipped with a basic helmet lock. If yours doesn't have one or you want to have another spot to secure a second helmet, you can get an aftermarket helmet lock. Furthermore, you can use it for other types of gear. For instance, you can secure a jacket by looping a thin security cable through a sleeve and then locking it to the motorcycle.

Be mindful of any other gear you leave on your bike, like a motorcycle navigation device or a phone holder, as they can quickly be removed and stolen. The best practice would be to remove them when you park your bike and take them with you or place them in locked luggage. However, I'm aware most of us (me included) will find that too much of a hassle to do every single time we ride. Maybe just do it if you park in sketchier parts of town.

13. Be cautious when selling your bike

Thieves have various ways of stealing your stuff. Here's one scheme that's annoyingly simple yet effective.

Let's imagine you listed your bike for sale. Someone will respond to your ad on Craigslist, Kijiji, or whatever platform you use and come see the bike. Naturally, the possible buyer will want to take the bike on a test drive. S, you give it to them, only for them to ride off into the sunset and never return. I don't even want to imagine that horrible feeling of being left waiting and slowly realizing that your bike isn't coming back.

What if you ask for some sort of collateral before letting a random person take your motorcycle for a spin? Well, it's a move in the ride direction, but you have to be cautious about it. For example, in one case, a man left his SUV as collateral before test-driving a bike. However, a second man was hiding in the trunk of the car. He then climbed in the front and drove away.

If you really want to be safe and minimize the risks, consider using a friend's motorcycle to follow along. Oh, and always make sure to follow your instincts – if you feel a person is sketchy or something is wrong, don't hand over the keys.

In the end, maybe the only way to rest assured your bike is never stolen is not to buy or ride one, but that's not why you're here on autoevolution, is it? If you have anything to add to the article or want to share your favorite way of protecting your motorcycle, please leave a comment below.