turns out we have a GS thief here in atlanta... one guy for sure had his bike nearly stripped.....  So what do you use to prevent theft?

I was thinking some sort of motion alarm... or something.... granted I only really ride to work and it's in plain view but it doesn't take long to toss it in a truck or something...

IMO, your best bet is to immobilize the bike whenever you can.  This means chain it to something... anything.  Whatever you can safely and legally attach your bike to and will make the old grab-n-toss-in-the-truck theft tougher.  

The "I had a disc-lock/alarm on my bike and they just picked it up and threw it in a van" story is told over and over on many of the motorcycle boards.  Lock the bike DOWN and get insurance for that sort of thing if you can afford it.  

beyond that... hey, you ride a bike... they were gettin' stolen in droves a long time before any of us started riding, so we all knew (or should have known) the risk we were taking getting into this hobby.

Just do what Mad Max did, pack that bad boy with explosives!!

Seriously, there are alarms available through Parts Unlimited or Dennis Kirk that are pretty reasonable, usually under $200.  They even make covers (another good thing to do) that have built in locks and alarms.

The best thing would be to do as many things as you can; i.e. park under a streetlight or preferably in a parking structure or garage, lock the front brake, lock the handlbars, chain her up and slap on an alarm.  Extreme? maybe.  Will it deter theft? Most likely.

See if you can find a bicycle rack.  At my apartment I run an Abus cable lock through the frame (in front of the engine), around the bike rack, and through the front wheel.  I never take the cable lock with me, just leave it locked to the rack.  If I had it to do over again I'd probably get a chain lock.  Sometimes I conceal it with a bike cover.

I also park next to a guy who DOESN'T lock his SV650   :mrgreen:

look at kitchen...

disassemble kitchen table...

place large rug where table was...

pull bike in front door...

park on rug.




it's working for my 96, and after this weekend i'm going to need a bigger rug! there should be 3 GS500e bikes in the kitchen!

hehe
chris<pixelmonkey>

Big chain on a ground bolt in my forecourt, or a piece of street furniture.

looking for a good, inexpensive alarm?  Check out the audiovox MA-200

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=330-415

had one of these on the R6.  adjustable tilt/shock sensor, ignition kill, good, loud siren.  and the price was right.  I was happy with it for the price.

Quote from: vtlionlooking for a good, inexpensive alarm?  Check out the audiovox MA-200

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=330-415

had one of these on the R6.  adjustable tilt/shock sensor, ignition kill, good, loud siren.  and the price was right.  I was happy with it for the price.

how hard is that to install?

It came installed on the bike I bought, so I never had to perform the procedure.  I checked out the wiring and read the manual.  Its about as easy as mounting the siren and relay, a few wire snips and some soldering.  If you like, pm me your email and I will send you a .pdf of the instruction manual (which comes with installation instructions)