revtothelimit - motorbike forum

I do love my KTM SMCR, but I'm concerned about who else might love it.

I have an invite to go to the cinema in Plymouth tonight, but it would involve leaving my bike parked on the street for a couple hours plus.

I'm nervous about leaving it. I have a couple locks I can use. But the thieves carry angle grinders and the locks I can feesably take with me are little more than pushbike spec.

Would you choose not to leave your bike parked on the street in a city?

Or am I being paranoid?!

Jody wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:12 am I do love my KTM SMCR, but I'm concerned about who else might love it.

I have an invite to go to the cinema in Plymouth tonight, but it would involve leaving my bike parked on the street for a couple hours plus.

I'm nervous about leaving it. I have a couple locks I can use. But the thieves carry angle grinders and the locks I can feesably take with me are little more than pushbike spec.

Would you choose not to leave your bike parked on the street in a city?

Or am I being paranoid?!

TBh i've never much given it any thought. It's one of those things that may possibly happen in some world somewhere, but if you worry about that, then you worry about it at home, in the garage, going to the shops, then it snowballs into insanity from there.

You can never say never, but sounds fairly low risk in that it'll be only for a few hours in an evening. So it'd be only if the thieves happen to pick that particular time to look. I'd be far more worried if it was everyday for work or something when they know what's there. No idea how rough (or not) Plymouth is. Take all the locks you can reasonably take. I often see £15k-£20k worth bikes parked in London bike bays with nothing but disc locks on! I do get your worry though I hate leaving my bike in places but then as Weeksy says it's probably a road to madness.

I think a lot depends on the bike. I wouldn't worry too much about my 5 year old commuter, a brand new big sports or adventure bike would be a much juicier target. I would be tempted to put it in a car park rather than on the street though, preferably one with CCTV.

I'd be happy throwing it in a multistorey but not on a city street. Screechy disk lock would be all I would put on it.

If they are determined and tooled up it's a goner anyway.

Apparently my Himalayan is more desirable to thieves than my Griso according to my insurers. (Although I suspect it's down to the fact hardly any Griso's get nicked because most of them are garage queens in the UK whereas I'd happily leave the Himlayan on a scrotey street)

Don't park your bike in Swansea -

If in you're in any doubt, use public transport, you'll only spend the evening worrying if you don't

Lutin wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:58 pm Don't park your bike in Swansea -

She's had her bike stolen twice, once in Iraq and now here. Says a lot about how thieves prosper in the UK. The tracker did it's job though largely. Seems the usual MO for thefts now, kids on scooters scouting and coming back to steal them but then stashing them to see if they have a tracker presumably. I wonder if they had of found the tracker then the bike would have gone in the van.

Even though I've never yet had a motorcycle stolen,I think I'd be uneasy leaving it anywhere for a couple of hours while I watched a flick. It would probably interfere with my enjoyment of the film. Bike theft over here isn't on the epidemic scale of cities in England,but there are scrotes everywhere and I'd not be in favour of making life easy for them.

Cousin Jack wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:59 am I think a lot depends on the bike. I wouldn't worry too much about my 5 year old commuter, a brand new big sports or adventure bike would be a much juicier target.

That was my approach until my well-used commuter 2008 Caponord was stolen for a second time. This was sometime between 10am and 7pm on a street just off Regent Street, W1. Bike was 'secured' with an Abus U lock, thieves cut through the spokes to remove it.

PLYmouth??


I thought you were currently based in Sussex?

Car or public transport...it ain't worth the worry.

Rockburner wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:16 pm PLYmouth??


I thought you were currently based in Sussex?

I was, until 10am this morning.

Now I'm in Cornwall !

Mate had his fairly new 1250gs robbed from Swansea hospital car park, I work on the basis of having fairly unpopular bikes (see Griso above & up the anti to a Centauro ) and always locking them up away from home. Called in to see a guy in a not particularly savoury part of Wycombe yesterday, I think he averages 3 chain locks per bike and none of his 6 bikes are particularly nickable, should've taken out shares in abus.

I don't worry about bike theft over here. I go to lots of events where parked up bikes don't have any obvious locks on them. But then I don't live near any of the bigger cities.

I do put a lock on my Yamaha scooter if I am leaving it out on the street overnight though. Nine out of the top ten bikes stolen in Spain are scooters, most of which are allegedly exported to Morocco , Algeria and other North African countries.

Thankfully theft here is not a problem. Almost impossible to get the bike off the island.
I've 2 pal's with V4 Panigales and insured TPO.

I have toured in Europe for years. Bike theft just doesn't seem to be an issue in most places. Scruffy parts of big cities may be an exception, but I don't go to those places.

Cousin Jack wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:59 am I think a lot depends on the bike. I wouldn't worry too much about my 5 year old commuter, a brand new big sports or adventure bike would be a much juicier target. I would be tempted to put it in a car park rather than on the street though, preferably one with CCTV.

This is what concerns me, I can imagine a SMCR being a 'joy riders' dream steal !?

Not something that has ever given me any real concern, just throw a lock around a wheel and get on with living life.
Yes I've got a Harley, no one would ever think to nick it, hell it's not even got a locking gas cap, but I did the same with my Speed Triple and both CCM's.

Cousin Jack wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:59 am I would be tempted to put it in a car park rather than on the street though, preferably one with CCTV.

I had a friend have his tatty R6 stolen from the third floor bike park in The Minories car park by the Tower Of London.

Also two former colleagues have their bikes stolen from car parks in Stratford and Croydon.

The odd thing is that all of them have CCTV covering the bike areas, but which never captured footage of the bikes being stolen, or because the cameras were temporarily not working at the time the bikes were stolen. No one could prove anything against the car park employee's, but all had their suspicions