Bike Security in Holland

At this moment in time I am planning a trip to the MotoGP at Assen,
Holland next June. After searching through some old posts, (some of
the stories of bikes falling over on the ferries is a little
off-putting), I have a question that I can't find an answer for. Has
anyone any experience of taking a bike to Assen or Holland, or
anywhere similar abroad and have any advise on bike security? What I
want to know is will my bike be relatively safe from thieves with my
alarm and disclock or would you seriously recommend taking a decent
chain and padlock? How bad is crime over there? I want to travel as
light as possible so obviously I don't want to weigh myself or my bike
down with unneccessary items. What do you guys reckon?

 

If you're not staying somewhere with secure parking, chain & padlock
definitely, & chain it to something solid. A few years ago 3 bikes
which were chained together were taken from our hotel carpark. They
came mob-handed & lifted the whole lot into a van.

If you need somewhere to stay, take a look at http://www.bikemotel.nl/
It's owned & run by my co-moderator on the Yahoo MV Agusta list.

 

Bike theft in Holland is fairly rife so you want to find secure parking
if possible. I usually take a FOAD chain and lock and try to park near
a more attractive, and less secure, bike.

 

I went to the Dutch TT a few years ago, camped just outside Assen (with
a very short walk to the circuit) at the local pitch (Rugby or
Football, can't recall which because neither are interesting to me,
except Rugger players have bigger muscles), the bikes were kept in a
secure compound that you could only access with the correct
identification.

Which was nice.

The downside is, if you happen to be really bad with a sore throat and
cold through getting tonsilitis, no-one at the camp-site wants to give
you painkillers (you may have been drinking our really strong drinks
over here! [1]) and if you need antibiotics it will be costly despite
having an E111 as they aren't covered.

[1] Like, yeah, they haven't seen me drink. And I was in so much pain
just drinking non-alcoholic liquids that the painkillers actually cost
me more than my alcoholic intake for the long w/e.

--
Lesley
CBR600FW
SBS#11 (with oak-leaf cluster)
BOTAFOT#101A UKRMHRC#12
BONY#54P BOB#18
Real burds don't take hormones, they rage naturally