Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site reed.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!pyramid!hplabs!tektronix!reed!felcher From: felcher@reed.UUCP (William Abernathy) Newsgroups: net.cycle Subject: Re: locks and alarms Message-ID: <2776@reed.UUCP> Date: Wed, 12-Mar-86 19:49:48 EST Article-I.D.: reed.2776 Posted: Wed Mar 12 19:49:48 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 14-Mar-86 08:25:36 EST References: <966@h-sc1.UUCP> <1182@ihlpa.UUCP> <530@kepler.UUCP> Reply-To: felcher@reed.UUCP (William Abernathy) Distribution: net Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon Lines: 40 Keywords: Paranoia, Fear and Loathing Summary: Security In article <530@kepler.UUCP> mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) writes: >Reading about stolen motorcycles is very sobering. > >Does the fork lock provide any deterent? > >-- >Mojo >... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development >{lll-crg,ptsfa,dual,well,pyramid}!micropro!kepler!mojo The only thing a fork lock will do for you is to prevent frisky adolescents with no tools/mechanical aptitude from swiping your wheels. A screwdriver, a hammer, and a healthy set of vise-grips is all it takes to crush the lock pins, rendering your fork lock and ignition switch utterly ineffectual lumps of shattered steel. The best way to prevent theft is to keep your bike off the street; "out of sight, out of mind", and all that. If you can't keep your bike off the street at night, the first item on your shopping list should be one of those bigass Krypto-4's, specially designed for motorcycles. The most cost-effective method for preventing total bike loss is to hook this puppy through your frame to a solid steel pole. DO NOT HOOK THE LOCK THROUGH YOUR CASE SAVERS OR CRASH- BARS, as another user has reccomended, as such attachments can be unbolted in mere seconds. This method will prevent non-professionals from removing your bike from the scene. Now to worry you a bit more, I will suggest that *in addition* to a Kryptonite, you get an alarm, for the following reasons: 1) No lock (or number of locks, for that matter) is invincible 2) Even if you had a perfectly infallible lock, it would not be capable of protecting your scooter from the twin terrors of stripping and vandalism, as does a good motion detecting alarm. 3) Like policemen, solid steel poles are seldom there when you need them. 4) Each additional system, though vulnerable, (yes,even alarms can be neutralized.) taxes the intellect and talent of the thief one more power. Given the choice of a Krypto'd, fork-locked, and alarmed bike or a bike with only a fork lock, the choice becomes obvious... Before you cut your wrists, realize that a hefty quantity of vehicular theft occurs to vehicles which have been left *with the keys in the ignition*. Use your head and, once you have bought a good security system, USE THE SUCKER! Happy riding! bike from the scene. Kryptonites, alas, can be destroyed or picked by serious thieves.