Thx Mordeth. Yeah, it’s a great looking scoot – but I’m scared o’ death of it getting ripped off… 
…any tips?
Don’t use a U-lock, you can cut through those easy enough. Get a disc lock…they’re better in every way. It’s small and locks onto the brake disc…making it very difficult to saw through.
You can also get an alarm on your scooter for cheap…only about 1,500. My Cygnus has one.
Thx again… I’m going to the shop now to get that disc lock taken care of. I’ve gotta do a bit of research on the alarm though… I have a feeling there’s all sorts of bunk stuff on the market… although I’m guess something that kills the ignition and is loud as hell might be good enough… 
Get the one that also works as a remote starter for the bike. You never really use it…but I’m sure it cuts out the ignition as you say.
Got the disc lock, $400, easy to use, and works great… While I was there, the guy showed me what he said was an uncuttable U-lock --he wanted $2,700 for that sucker! I’ll look into the remote starter type alarm… sounds like it could come in handy.
I asked a mechanic how a theif would go about taking off a disc lock. He said they would beat it off with a hammer…but this might bend the disk. Making the bike unable to ride. With a U-lock…they can just cut it.
your mechanic is either naive enough to not know how thieves would remove a disc lock or else smart enough to know but not tell you… all you have to do is remove the mounting bolts for the disc and let the disc with disc lock still attached just hang off the axle, if you want to do a pro job anbd make sure it doesn’t get caught in anything during the get away, just duct tape it to the fork for the ride home… I’ve seen it done on a big bike when idiot customer X left his bike at the shop for servicing with the disc lock on, 6 bolts later it was easily wheeled around the shop…
U locks are useless too… anyone with a car jack (everyone) can pop one in seconds, again I’ve seen this done on a BBC documentary about bike thefts in London… a good quality Chub U lock off literally in seconds, no need to cut anything…
The best solution is something that draws attention to the bike if anyone messes with anything… loud piercing 100dB+ sirens are what you want… luckily there’s a best of both worlds alternative… the XENA… It’s a disc lock with a built in 110dB motion sensor alarm… rock solid lock and unpickable (technically) lock, that will protest loudly if anyone moves your bike so much as a cm, and that also means you’ll never forget it and ride off with your disc lock on… I’ve had one for about 3 years and it still hasn’t even required a change of batteries, it lives under my GS’s seat 24/7…
http://www.xenasecurity.com/home/current/lock/
Comes in loads of sizes, so finding one to fit a scoot should be easy, I got mine in Hong Kong, but I’ve seen them at TW big bike stores…
The Kawasaki/scooter shop in Chung-Li sells them. I found they weren’t loud enough for my taste. I used a woman’s purse alarm in conjunction with a disc lock for my old “big bike”. The purse alarm costs about 5 bucks Canadian…and if the bike is moved it will scream comparable to a car alarm.
Any idea how much it costs?
I’m going home next week, and I’m planning on buying a decent bike, but I live in a less-than-safe neighborhood. Actually, it’s a less-than-safe country, so I need the best security system I can get. Two of them.
BTW, has anybody seen GSM alarms here? You know, the kind with an integrated GSM phone that, instead of screaming at 110dB, will call you on your phone or send you an SMS?
I paid 700NT for my alarm system. It kills the ignition and it has a motion sensor as well. If I leave my bike idling and someone drives away, I can push the button and the bike will stop and will not start again. If I leave my key in the ignition, the alarm goes on automatically within 10 seconds. It’s great, I can leave my key on the bike when in and out of a shop. If someone turns the key, the alarm goes off and the bike will not start. Worth 700NT I think. I also installed a kill switch which is hidden and I use a disk-brake lock. All things that good thieves can find ways around but I think(hope) a lot of them will be discouraged with the lock and the alarm.
bobepine
The alarm system can be annoying at first though until you remember to disable it before turning the key which is just about everytime you start your bike for the first week. After a while it’s reflex to push the button before turning the key. It’s loud and it hurts the ears when it goes off indoors.
bobepine
This is what I was talking about (Two-way GSM alarms):
allproducts.com/sup1/kuanchu … 14033.html
allproducts.com/sup1/kuanchun/showroom1.html
This is a Taiwanese company, but it looks like they’re not taking small orders.
Has anybody seen these in stores?
Even better, GSM and GPS:
cellworld.en.alibaba.com/product … e_Kit.html
If your bike gets stolen, you just call it and ask where on earth it is… 
I’m not sure if this fits on a bike, though.
All great ideas… thx for the input. We should prolly start a new thread for “scooter / motorcycle security strategy” so more people can add their .02 in the disccussion… I’d definitely like to hear what others are doing for security…
For me… the bottom line is if they want your bike… they’ll find a way around all the obstacles and take it from ya eventually. I guess one way would be to set up as many obstacles possible to make it tuffer or more time consuming to rip your bike off… but I’d hate taking 1/2 hour of my day everyday unarming, unbolting, etc… every security gadget on my bike just to get it going 
I’m trying to keep security down to the simple (but effective) side for now… I like the motion detecting, iginition kill, & ridiculously loud alarm approach… that with a nice disc brake lock like the one plasmatron mentioned…
Hmmm… THEN add some type of electrocution gadget, flame spitting war torch, or remote contolled IED under the seat and your good to go. :upyours: 
[quote=“plasmatron”]he best solution is something that draws attention to the bike if anyone messes with anything… loud piercing 100dB+ sirens are what you want… luckily there’s a best of both worlds alternative… the XENA… It’s a disc lock with a built in 110dB motion sensor alarm… rock solid lock and unpickable (technically) lock, that will protest loudly if anyone moves your bike so much as a cm, and that also means you’ll never forget it and ride off with your disc lock on… I’ve had one for about 3 years and it still hasn’t even required a change of batteries, it lives under my GS’s seat 24/7…
http://www.xenasecurity.com/home/current/lock/
Comes in loads of sizes, so finding one to fit a scoot should be easy, I got mine in Hong Kong, but I’ve seen them at TW big bike stores…[/quote]
yes, i’ll second that… i have a xena for my hornet too… though my key got jammed in the lock… it got sent to taipei and after a bit of pushing and telling them we were in a hurry, they just sent a new one down… no idea what happened to the old one… so i can’t comment why the key got jammed… luckily i had gotten it off the disc before it jammed up (couldn’t turn the key either)…
but still… good alarm and lock in one… while it won’t stop a determined thief, it will act as a deterrent and it will usually let me know that someone’s touching my bike… (not always though - can’t be home 24/7)
i bought mine for NT$3000… Huang Shin @ Da Ya Rd. Taichung…
Just picked up a Xena XH-15… got it direct from the distributor for $2,900… Actually he was nice enough to drop it off at work for me, on his way to the bike shops nearby… He doesn’t speak much English but he’s a Super cool guy. David Soon 02-2233-1941.
This lock is heavy duty… and the bolt in the XH-15 is thicker than the other Xena series locks (with the exceptions of the XH-18 Nightmare – their top of the line)… Overall, pretty cool but I do wish it were a bit louder. According to David, the batteries should be replaced every month and a half or so (assuming the lock is being used on a daily basis).
For the good of noise pollution, don’t get an alarm. They go off so often that nobody gives a rat’s ass anymore.
Just get your mechanic to pop your seat, take out the insert that exposes the engine and then you will see the coil (ignition system). Just run a small switch to interrupt the power to it and BLAM! You’ve got yourself an ignition kill. Just pop your seat and switch 'er off when you’re getting that, not so safe, feeling.
If they try to scoff your bike and it doesn’t start… they’ll fix it (and change the oil) and drive it away. No actually they’ll just leave it and grab another easy target.
Just paint it like a Mormon’s 10speed with orange and brown stripes… that’ll keep them away.
[quote=“zerosum”]Just picked up a Xena XH-15… got it direct from the distributor for $2,900… Actually he was nice enough to drop it off at work for me, on his way to the bike shops nearby… He doesn’t speak much English but he’s a Super cool guy. David Soon 02-2233-1941.
This lock is heavy duty… and the bolt in the XH-15 is thicker than the other Xena series locks (with the exceptions of the XH-18 Nightmare – their top of the line)… Overall, pretty cool but I do wish it were a bit louder. According to David, the batteries should be replaced every month and a half or so (assuming the lock is being used on a daily basis).[/quote]
i’m not sure what model mine is… but i used my xena for 10 months or so and the battery was still fine…
The XH-15 came packaged with a bunch of spare batteries included… but by the way it looks so far, I doubt I’ll be swapping fresh ones as often as what the distibutor recommended.
I don’t put mine on evey day… my GS lives in the bat cave, behind about 4 feet of concrete and 3 steel doors, literally… but I always put it on if I park anywhere else… so far haven’t had to change batteries in over 3 years… I’ve got a XH-15 as well, but the old model…