Protecting a scooter from theft

[Brian US]

I had the pleasant surprise this morning when my scooter was gone. I was sober when I parked it, so I assume it was stolen. I had fastened it up nice and tight with one of those half inch steel cable locks connecting the frame to the building. There was also a U-lock connecting the battery to the frame in addition of the regular bolt lock. I find it strange they took my 6 month old beat-up scooter when literally right next to it was my friend's brand new 2 week old scooter. She happen to have had her last one stolen at the beginning of the month.

Anyone have tips or tricks that have kept their scooter/bike in safe possession? How effective are alarms?

I plan to buy another scooter, but step up the security on it. When I was back home for a month I actually hauled it up to the third story and parked it in my room. My neighborhood has parking below most building that normally close between midnight and 6/7am. I figured I would go there and haul up my battery every night. I thought my scooter would be safe with more locks on it than any bike in Wudaokou. I know there is no perfect lock, but at least make it less tempting than those parked around it.

How do people steal bikes/scooters?

I've heard of people using lots of different keys, especially on the popular brands. I thought my lock would be too thick for bolt cutters, but my friend said they use a tool that separates the head of the lock easily. I also have heard of the infamous flatbed/van they use to drive up and immediately haul away the stolen goods. That seems more likely on the main street, whereas someone driving past the gate of my neighborhood might raise suspicion with a truck full of bikes/scooters.

Everyone I know living in Beijing has had their bike or scooter stolen at some point. I feel it's more of a right of passage. Maybe a pink scooter would be less tempting...

[BrandeX]

I have an alarm. When it goes off on accident or w/e it is usually ignored, same as any other alarm. They are too ubiquitous for anyone to care.

[Brian US]

I just bought a new scooter earlier today. I also found the parking attendant very interesting as they tend to reside downstairs with the bikes. He was overly friendly, which is a good thing as I assume he keeps track of who comes and goes. An alarm would be a bad idea underground and a great way to wake up those responsible for looking after my scooter.

I park next to my friend so we can tie our bikes together. I feel the parking has adequate security, so I don't plan on hauling my battery up.

[zerolife]

maybe GPS tracking so you know where to send the police to?

I really don't know how they pick their goods. I had a brand new bike when I was in BJ and it never got stolen. People around me with beaten up bike get theirs stolen every other week (ok i'm exaggerating here)

[Brian US]

So I came back late one night and missed the midnight closing of our parking lot (actually 11:50pm, so it closed early). I figured one night outside wouldn't be too risky, so I started locking up my scooter with a friend along our building. As we are doing this, the typical Chinese gray van with tinted windows turns down our street. The guy is driving very slow with a flashlight looking along the rows of bikes and scooters parked outside. It sure did not look like he was delivering a package at midnight or looking for a lost pet.

My friend and I started to freak out figuring our bikes were sure to be stolen if left outside. Luckily some other people were in our same situation and got the parking attendee to open up the gate at the last minute. I was about to ride my scooter all the way to school and park, instead of leaving it out that night. I'm not totally certain, but I assume thieves do in fact just throw the scooters in the back of those vans.

On another note, I had a friend get his bike stolen outside his school over the weekend. He had locked it to a metal gate along a busy roadway in broad daylight for two hours while in class. He came out to find the bike gone and the lock still around the gate without a scratch. It was strange they didn't damage the lock as it was tied around the frame and not just a wheel.

They would have to cut the frame or pick the lock to steal the bike. I'm assuming they wouldn't take the time to cut through the frame on a busy road during the day. They probably picked the lock fast or with those generic locks, just tried a bunch of keys. It seems the best locks are the full sized keys and not just the circle push pins.

[Lu]

I'm not totally certain, but I assume thieves do in fact just throw the scooters in the back of those vans.

I know bikes in Holland sometimes get stolen in bulk like this, so it probably also happens in China.

I remember that bike locks were very generic in China, one key opened many, so unless you have a big expensive lock, it's not safe to leave it like your friend did.

[mcgau]

I would like to know how they steal a bike or scooter too, but after hearing so many stories, i know that these axxholes are a bunch of magicians.

My friend put a bike right NEXT to him in Kunming, turned his face to his friends and chatted, when he looked back, the bike was gone. Another one locked a bike to a pole next to a police booth in Bangkok, it was stolen. And my bike had a pretty good lock and someone 'borrowed' it too.

Any locks seem to be pick-able in their hands (or cut-able). I would put a grenade somewhere into the motor and if someone drive it in an unauthorized way, it would explode....

[anonymoose]

The problem is that it's too easy to get away with if you're caught. I saw someone on the street once trying to steal a powered bike. In the process, the owner came back, and the thief just walked away as if nothing had happened, with the owner just watching bewildered. I mean, faced with that situation unexpectedly, what would you do? In hindsight, you might be tempted to kick the shit out of the thief, but when you're caught unaware, I guess most people would just be too dumbfounded to do anything really.

And while we're on the subject, one of my housemates at university bought a new bike and wanted to dispose of his old one somehow, so he had the bright idea of leaving it unlocked in the front garden hoping it would get nicked, and sure enough it did. But then three days later, it appeared there again. Obviously it was so worthless, even the thief didn't want it, and brought it back again.

[adrianlondon]

Maybe I was paranoid but as I had the only new bike parked outside my dorm at BNU ... I bought two locks (both relatively cheap, even though they were the most expensive Carrefour had at the time). One a u-lock which went through the back wheel/triangle and a solid object, and one a cable lock which went round the front wheel and frame.

I deliberately bought the locks from a different shop than I bought the bike and even though in total the locks came to only 80y, that was 10% of the cost of the bike, which is about right.

As far as I'm aware, no one tried to steal the bike in the 6 months I owned it, and I'd left it parked, never in a proper bike parking place (as I always wanted to lock it to something solid, not just in a row of other bikes), all over the city.

[Lu]

I would like to know how they steal a bike or scooter too

The easiest way: Pick up the bike. Take it to a bike repair shop. Explain to the good bike mechanics that you've lost the keys to your bike lock, and can they please cut it open for you. Ride off on your stolen bike.

The story of how I know this is probably still on the forums somewhere.

[anonymoose]

The easiest way: Pick up the bike. Take it to a bike repair shop. Explain to the good bike mechanics that you've lost the keys to your bike lock, and can they please cut it open for you.

I've done this before. No questions asked.

[Brian US]

I'm also surprised how often people leave the key in the lock! Last time my friend just took the key, figuring they had a spare, instead of leaving it to a less honest passerby.

[chrix]

ah, this reminds me of this time where a group of Japanese high school students came to Hamburg (and I was acting as an interpreter for the sports exchange), and one Japanese guy had lost his bike key, so he was carrying the bike through the pedestrian precinct with the lock still on. This is not the typical m.o. of a bicycle thief but nonetheless vigilant German neighbours/onlookers alerted the police, and this resulted in some communication mishap as he spoke neither German nor English.

Ah, these cultural differences make this world really a fascinating place...

[Brian US]

Last night someone stole the battery out of my scooter parked outside. Looks like they used a crowbar, because the seat was ripped off. I had a friend where they unscrewed the seat to take the battery, which would have saved me the cost of buying a new one. I'm not too upset because it was my old battery that could barely hold a charge and is worth about 100 kuai.

For a lack of anything better to do, I reported the left(*theft) to the community office of my neighborhood. There are cameras around, but I'm more curious how the process worked. One man in the office joked the thief probably just wanted to borrow the battery and will return it any day now

[roddy]

For a lack of anything better to do, I reported the left to the community office of my neighborhood.

Brave, but politically risky. It's always best to blame crime on the rightists.

One man in the office joked the thief probably just wanted to borrow the battery and will return it any day now

There's a history of people playing this kind of joke on CSC Gurus

[Brian US]

extrapages gets a hug and I simply get my poor spelling pointed out. I'd get more emotional support from an ant farm than these forums.