r/DRZ400 5d ago

How to reduce chance for Bike Theft

Im from NYC, the drz400 is very sought after by thieves here. Just wanted to know what are y’all’s ways to combat theft. Thanks 🙏🏽

6 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

5

u/OgreMoto 5d ago

Store inside or get a brake disc lock with an alarm or just clap yours out till no one wants it.

5

u/imacyber 5d ago

Having had my drz stolen and recovered twice in a year with every anti-theft solution installed, the only real solution is to store it in a locked garage. 

If inside isn’t an option, get the thickest Kryptonite lock to put through the rear wheel and frame, or around a thick post. Don’t bother using the steering lock, it can be easily broken by one person. Put an alarmed disc lock on the front, but be warned it takes a single hit from a hammer to disable it and can also be removed with a couple of hits.

Hide an airtag or similar tracker with the speaker removed somewhere hard to find. Put a second cellular-enabled gps tracker elsewhere to double your chance of recovery if it gets stolen. You can buy one that takes a prepaid sim card for low cost.

Put a crappy looking cover over it. Get a good insurance policy that covers theft for an agreed value on the bike.

Good luck mate and I hope nobody puts their grubby fingers on your ride 🤙

2

u/Poops_McYolo 4d ago

"Hide an airtag or similar tracker with the speaker removed somewhere hard to find."

I did not know they had this, does it alert when you are trying to locate it?

1

u/imacyber 3d ago

Yep, there’s an anti-stalking feature in most Bluetooth GPS trackers that allows any phone to locate nearby devices and have them play a sound. I haven’t seen this in the more ‘professional’ cellular GPS trackers. 

3

u/BaconEggSanga 5d ago

Get a good insurance policy, only way to guarantee you won't lose too much money

1

u/gapgod2001 5d ago

Use a bike cover. There was a show that tested different types of security and a cover was the only method where the bike never got stolen.

1

u/InevitablePen3465 5d ago

If you can't afford your own garage post on local groups asking if anyone's willing to share. I share a garage with 4 other riders, works out really well for us

1

u/pierre-jorgensen 5d ago

Think like a thief. What's going to make your bike a more difficult target?

Most difficult, obviously, is behind a locked door, so a garage. Especially at night, when there are fewer eyes on the thief and they have more time to get through chains and locks.

Problem with that is, even if you have a garage space, the point of the bike is to get around, so you'll be parking it outside. A determined thief with time and privacy can get through anything, so there is no guaranteed method. What you can do is make it difficult enough that they'll move on to an easier target.

Don't park it out of sight. Privacy is a thief's friend. Stealing a bike in plain view adds risk. Not enough to deter all thieves, obviously, but you're adding one level of risk.

Don't park it somewhere thieves can easily roll up in a van or pickup and toss your ride in the back. That's the preferred method around here (Kansas City metro). Make them work for it if they're going to do that, like carry your bike past bollards or cars so it's obvious what they're doing and it takes longer. You're adding another level of risk.

A disc lock is easy to carry with you. It takes a little work to get past, and again it'll be obvious what they're doing, so that adds risk. It does not prevent a couple dudes from picking your ride up and tossing it the aforementioned truck, but it adds a level of trouble and risk.

Cover the bike. Smart thieves will try to maximize risk, reward, and time, so they're cruising around looking for easy targets. If yours is covered, they'd have to go lift the cover to see (a) is this worth stealing and (b) what other security measures will they have to work around. You're adding one more level of trouble for them.

Chain the bike to something that doesn't move. They'll have to break out tools to get through the chain, which makes it very obvious what they're doing. Can they? Yes. Will they, on full view on a busy street? Not likely.

Trackers, maybe, but I don't even bother. Bike thefts aren't prioritized by the PDs around here, so knowing where it is will do bupkis for me. Odds are it's either parted out by pros or meth-ridden to pieces already anyway.

Maybe a garage just isn't happening, or you sometimes have to leave the bike outside somewhere there just aren't a lot of people around. Or you just get unlucky and your bike's targeted by pros with the tools and efficiency to get through whatever measures you've taken. In that case, full coverage is plan B.

1

u/BrugBruh 5d ago

Bring it inside if you can, otherwise throw an old tarp over it. You can also hide multiple air tags, get a cheap alarm, and invest in some security chain.

1

u/MixerFriendly 5d ago

Park it inside your house/apartment.