Car preps (or lack of)

[jansman]

Thebsold secure ratings are about as much use as a chocolate fire guard.

Cycle locks they don't even attack them with a standard hacksaw at gold level was an article in a cycle mag a few years back :/

My cousin was a cycle courier in London back in the 90’s. The go- to lock was Kryptonite then. Until the scum used plumber’s nitrogen spray and a hammer! He had a top- end fixie,and he sprayed it to look crap with masking tape all over,and just lean- locked it with a cable at drop- offs.

Then in the early 2000's the humble bic biro would open many of the kryptonite locks to the point they replaced 1000's free of charge

I forgot about that!

[Yorkshire Andy]

No matter what you do if someone wants something they will take it.. been a few cars locally stolen by a flatbed drop tail recovery truck .. not just high end stuff last thing that was taken was a 2003 ISH mg saloon car ...

You can only do so much ... I've taken to parking with my car on full lock and in gear just to make life a tad bit harder (hard to drag a car with the parking brake on and front axle locked by the drag of the gear box.. plus it won't pull up the ramp very well with the wheel turned

[jansman]

No matter what you do if someone wants something they will take it.. been a few cars locally stolen by a flatbed drop tail recovery truck .. not just high end stuff last thing that was taken was a 2003 ISH mg saloon car ...

You can only do so much ... I've taken to parking with my car on full lock and in gear just to make life a tad bit harder (hard to drag a car with the parking brake on and front axle locked by the drag of the gear box.. plus it won't pull up the ramp very well with the wheel turned

That is excellent advice Andy. We are on a hill,and I always leave mine in gear. Turned wheel makes sense.

[deckard]

Same with anything, be it your bike, car house whatever, if someone wants to take it or get into it they will.

You secure things and add deterrents the best you can, but making things look less desirable or more effort than others that helps a lot. With my bike and car I don't have to try very hard

[Frnc]

Hence why I won't leave this bike anywhere unless it's an emergency. I have a second hand bike that looks knackered that I can use if I need to leave it somewhere. But I live near the shops and public transport so I rarely need to use a bike to actually go somewhere. My main bike is purely for riding. And it's kept indoors.

[GillyBee]

My bike survived 2 garage breakins where other bikes were taken. Nothing wrong with it but it looks very scruffy. Shiny is not a good look for bikes.

[ForgeCorvus]

Bike people know what a good bike is, scumbags after something easy to shift just want something that looks good.

A good lock on a crappy looking bike says "this is better then you think", so if you've made your ride look like a beater make sure the lock is in keeping.

[deckard]

The advantage of heavily used bikes and equipment is the look is always in keeping.

[Evergog]

Normally I have a camping stove,food,water, blanket in the car. Today however, I took it all out to transport rubbish to the local tip (about 10 miles away). Guess what day I broke down?
Still, during our two hour wait for recovery service (could've walked home in that time) we wandered the verges with Richard maybe's "food for free" in hand so at least it was a learning experience for my teenage daughter.

Been caught once in snow for 4 hours and once when engine blew for 3 hours in rain. Not pleasant so not doing that again!
I now stay one or two nights away a week, about 150 miles from home. Have a half decent tool kit, one bag under seat with small kit so me and fam can stand waiting for recovery warm and dry, and a backpack that can do for longer waits and even leaving the car (for a hotel for instance). Always have food, water, pump, jump starter etc stowed in boot. Not top end stuff so if it gets nicked so be it. Recovery comes with insurance so hopefully just waiting for that.

[Evergog]

Normally I have a camping stove,food,water, blanket in the car. Today however, I took it all out to transport rubbish to the local tip (about 10 miles away). Guess what day I broke down?
Still, during our two hour wait for recovery service (could've walked home in that time) we wandered the verges with Richard maybe's "food for free" in hand so at least it was a learning experience for my teenage daughter.

On another note though, amazing how many people no longer even have the faintest idea of basic car maintenance - changing a tyre or even the wiper fluid. Even a basic knowledge can mean you sorting a bodge rather than waiting for hours. One reason I always have older cars rather than newer ones - simpler and put up with more than newer cars generally