Relative thievability of newbie bikes?

I'm thinking of getting a bike, but worried by it getting stolen as I
live in a high-risk area (SW6), and I'd have to park on-street.

Does anyone have any idea how often the usual first-big-bikes are
stolen? I mean bikes like Bandit 600, SV650, F650 etc.

The Met police site is fairly useless as it only records bikes by
engine size, then gives you a colour code to indicate often that
category is stolen.

TIA

 

"Often"

 

Statistics are meaningless. It only takes one van full of pikeys
driving past to leave you with that sinking feeling when you look out
the window in the morning.

If you want to keep it, chain it to an immovable object with a top
quality chain, or find a garage to rent. Slinging a shitty old cover
over it will help too - the dirtier & oilier the better.

 

There's quite a high risk of theft if it is just parked on the street. This
will be reflected in the insurance premiums you will pay.

Many insurers will not insure the higher risk bikes unless garaged at night.

Buy a bike magazine and ring one of the insurance brokers that advertise in
the back pages for a quote. Just make sure you're sitting down when you
call.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

SW6 is quite posh in comparison to some London areas.

Is there no pathway you can leave it up or an area where the bins are
kept? The difference between that and leaving it on the street can be
the difference between a high quote and no quote at all.

 

Thanks everyone for comments and suggestions. I may be able to park
slightly off-street by the bins, though it'll annoy my snobby
neighbours.

The reason I asked was there's a Monster parked on the end of my
street, and it seems to have been unmolested for a couple of years.
Maybe it's a decoy set by the bike thieves, or maybe it's just seized
solid to the ground.

Thanks again.

 

I think you'll find that's what snobby neighbours are for. There's no
point having them if you're not going to annoy them once in a while.

 

wrote

Thieving scrotes take bikes for two reasons:

Grown up ones with vans take high value newish ones to break for spares
to sell to motorcycle racing teams and track days fans

and

The younger scrotes take small bikes and scoots to play with over the
park and use as barbecue fuel.



Decide which of the target groups you best fit and tool up as
appropriate.

 

good chance you wont get any insurance cover if its left outside , or it
will exclude theft from outside the house if its in a high crime area
my policy on the blade specifies that it must be garaged overnight / when on
my home premises

leave a bike like the ones your looking at outside and you will be lucky to
keep it a month there's a ready market for the parts on these bikes

 

Who you gonna call??

 

My bike ('99 CBR600) is insured TPO because it's parked on the street
at night in Camden; the rats wanted an extra £900 a year for theft
insurance, so if I manage to make it 3 years I've effectively got a
free bike. If I make it to 3 years...


It's covered when it's parked, and chained up to the back of my
girlfriend's car. This choice of ground anchor may indeed be a more
risky strategy than leaving it completely unlocked, but I'm hoping that
the Daihatsu Charade isn't powerful enough to pull the bike over when
she forgets it's there.

 

[reinserted text from higher in the thread]
Steve Robinson wrote:
"good chance you wont get any insurance cover if its left outside , or it
will exclude theft from outside the house if its in a high crime area
my policy on the blade specifies that it must be garaged overnight /
when on
my home premises

leave a bike like the ones your looking at outside and you will be
lucky to
keep it a month there's a ready market for the parts on these bikes"


Both of you are talking about much more stealable bikes that and SV or a
Bandit, though. The OP has already stated that a Monster has survived
on his street unmolested for two years, and I would have expected that
to be higher on the 'nick me' ladder than a GSF or SV.

FWIW (touches wood) I've had a Bandit and SV parked outside for over
three years, not chained to anything solid atall and neither has been
touched. Admittedly I don't live in SW anything.

As someone has already suggested: OP, phone some insurance companies
and find out, or try www.choicequote.co.uk for an idea. Go on to full
quoe, as that's when it gets round to asking you about where the bike
will be parked.

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

Its all down to shiftablity of the bits when broken up , bandit bits shift
quick , less likely to have any marking system on them , wider market place

 

Isn't Alphadot now standard on Bandits?

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

most dealers mark new bikes now , but that wasn't the case a couple of
years ago

 

Oh, okay. My '98 Bandit was Alpha dotted.

By the way, you should snip sigs when you reply to posts, or get a
newsreader which does it for you.

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

As is my P reg bandit and so was my N reg GS500e.

From the Suzuki GB website:

"We were the first manufacturer to introduce a free security marking
system for new owners – Alpha.Dot – a cost effective and proven theft
deterrent."