Hi Lads.
I have been wondering how I can safely secure my Smiths Speedo. As you know these instruments are getting frightfully expensive and are all too easily removed. Just two nuts and speedo cable and it's off and in someone's pocket! I found that I parked up and covered the bike the other day and this is not good.
So.... has anyone invented some useful idea in how to secure them to bike?
The studs are not really strong enough to secure against a determined thief. You could drill and pin the nuts but a hefty twist with a spanner would sheer a drilled stud.
I'm sorry to say that fear of theft does affect how I use my motorcycles. I try very hard never to park them where I can't see them and if I can't be sure then I don't take the bike.
You might use red thread lock (Locktite) on all the mounting bolts or nuts that secure the speedo to the bike. Permanent fixing, and no mods needed like drilling, but you will play h**l getting them off yourself.....
Why not take it off for general use and only fit it for your show days. I don't have a speedo yet and use a modern bicycle speedo to make it street legal.
If you take it to it's logical conclusion, you might as well leave the bike at home or never walk away from it. So many other parts can be removed in minutes. A sturdy cable cutter and a screwdriver can see your levers or twist grip away in minutes, Likewise a cable cutter and one spanner can have you headlamp off in no time. I'm always twitchy when I can't see my bike and one or two of our group will usually stand guard whilst the rest are buying an ice cream. Ron
More seriously, I tend to leave my bike in a very public location (parked outside shops on a main street) if I'm forced to leave it or, if I'm going into a café I'll go for one I can see the bike from...
I avoid all together leaving it parked in one location for long periods...When I went touring in Brittany and stayed in hotels I found ones with secure off road parking...
Those sort of strategies are ultimately all you can do and have worked for me...I had one bike stolen years back when it was parked overnight outside a flat I was renting(not surprising)....and some a*****e tried to steel my webbing grips outside the German cemetery in Normandy...That was a fail as the grips were glued on and they only succeeded in dislodging the brass fittings off the ends...
Sadly, these things can happen and you can't use the bike and completely protect against it...Ian
I didn't worry too much at the time as it was an expendable and replaceable Suzuki...If it was one of the bikes I've owned for 40 years or so I'm not sure I could deal with it...:disappointed: ...Ian
