G'day All.

 

It looks like I'll be buying a Sportster soon (well, actually, I'm still tossing up between that and a Kwaka W650) - I'll be watching eBay till something comes along for $7-8k, most likely a mid-90s 883.  I'm concerned about theft as I'd have to keep the bike permantly on the footpath, commuting on it every second day.  I live two kilometres from the Melbourne CBD in a very busy area.  I know that some years ago HDs were being stolen at a mad rate until around the time that Grant Roff did some investigative journalism into the matter.  But my sense is that things have quietened down these days.  I'd have the bike insured for the street, and I'd chain it through the frame to a concreted pole out the front of my house with a serious chain, and fit an alarm, and keep it covered from the moment I pulled up.  So I'm thinking this is a realistic proposition, but my none of my riding mates are into Harelys so I don't know what the common experience is these days.  I've kept an array of bikes out there over the years -  including my Hornet 600 (unchained) when it was more desirable, and my beautiful Yamaha SR500 - and never had a problem, but the thought of leaving a HD out there does give me pause.  Any opinions on the level of theft risk?

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

Have you thought of paying someone close by to park it in thier property, mates do it all the time with thier trucks.

 Move to A bigger state Where theres enough land to be able to have a front/back  yard 

 

Thanks for the replies.

There's no front yard unfortunately - the street is your typical 19th century line of workers cottages (that are falling to pieces and worth a million a pop!).

There's nowhere to park it privately nearby, unfortunatley, especially as it'll be my transport so I need it close and ready.

The insurance is actually not too bad. I've got a rating 1 and it's only $300 per year with InsureMyRide with street parking.

At the end of the day, I guess it's an experimental matter: buy it, insure it and do all I can security-wise, and if it gets stolen quickly then I have my answer and collect my insurance and get something else; if not, I'm riding around on a great bike.

I had bikes in Fitzroy an Brunswick for years with no dramas.... sometimes just a disc brake lock, sometimes nothing but the steering lock... under a cover.

Then again the one time a group of dudes tried to run off with it (had just got home at 3am from work and hadnt come back out to lock it yet), the chef from the restaurant I lived above chased the 4 or 5 Sudanese lads down my street with a cleaver until the gently rested it on the side stand and took off - thank shit they didnt drop it!. What a champ.... drank through a couple bottles of chivas with him straight after his shift.

First month I had my new iron it was on the st.... wasnt comfy with that. Even with the alarm and my big ears.

 Thats exactly what I had in my backpack for 5 years! Took the battery out after a while though coz it would go off when delivery trucks went past it in the mornings.

These day's i dont think it would make any difference if it was a sportster or a jappa (unless it was a collectable), probly equal odds of getting stolen, but i dont know Melbourne or your nieghbourhood or if your on a busy or quiet street. The best chain money can buy and an alarm, the odds are probly on your side.

I'd suggest you check the fine print - I am insured with insuremyride and they wouldn't even cover me if it was in a carport, they wanted it in a locked garage or "inside" [I suppose they mean a lounge room - LOL ]

 

 

As it happens, I am looking for a new place soon [this one is being sold] and I was just thinking on the weekend at least if I have to find somewhere a bit out of town it will give me more time on my bike - that's not a bad thing!

would not last long where i live at

Keep in mind, if the thing gets knocked off your insurance premium on the next one is through the roof. In my part of the world they flog em outa ya garage! Just ask poor old Fangio!!

sporty would fit through the front door.....put in the lounge room. shit you could watch tv and work on the bike at the same time......fantastic.

No chance of getting it inside I'm afraid - even if my other half allowed me (I have dropped hints in the past...not a good reaction!), the house is the size of a caravan, is a rental, and the floorboards are rotting and collapsing (we have pieces of metal covering holes in the floor!). Besides, there's as much water falling into the house as there is out in the open! :lol:

I just re-iterated the quote on IMR - parked on the street, $330 per year.

Move house.

Put In The House buddy.

Mine was in the shed behind a gate and never to be seen again

Sounds to me like you need to get the hell outta that house before it falls in on ya, move a little further out of town where ya should find bigger house for less rent and get to ride ya bike more.

I'm a country boy (originally) - it's either the inner-city or way out of the city for me. And who'd want to commute through all that traffic into town? Nah, I love my 130 year old home. And the area. There's ghosts everywhere. The landlord charges us stuff-all rent and we don't hassle him about the holes in the floors, roof, the falling down cornices, the rain coming in various places.... Last of old Melbourne!

Chains, locks or alarms either way, you leave it on the street and there will be tears at some stage.

I just measured my back gate, which I had dismissed from consideration because it's quite narrow and it's hard enough getting the skinny SR500 in through it everyday (especially as the gate feeds on to a narrow cobble-stone lane, the surface of which is angled down from both sides to form a drain. I have to push the bike backwards up the lane to the gate, making a 90 degree turn at the right spot, then give it a thrust to get the rear end through the gate, then sit on the bike and wheel it backwards up the slight incline, weaving the handlebars to fit through the gate). The gate is 63cm, or just over two foot wide. I'm mentioning all this because some people are getting their bikes through their front door, though front doors are typically wider than 63cm. I do know that my XV535 is a pain to get through this gate, and not something I'd like to do every day (though maybe it just needs some special technique which I've not been forced to discover?). Does anybody know the width of their Sportie with the pegs folded in?

Either way I'm staying where I live; I can't store the bike in the house; but I'll be damned if I'll spend the next so many years not riding what I want.



The gate in question: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fqG8tCwgXuM/S7AbWAzGbdI/AAAAAAAABBQ/EVekCktmA3Y/s1600/1.JPG

Easy, spend a couple of bob to widen the fkn gate.

Matt - That gate looks more than wide enough (a fat set of westerns would make it interesting but I reckon if it meant the difference between keeping it and losing it - and sleeping better at night - I'd find a way) . I'd be doing whatever it takes to get the bike in there.

Philthy