Theft protection

Some background

I spent quite a long time—probably about eight years—analysing how well cars and motorcycles were protected against theft, developing anti-theft systems and even reverse-engineering security systems.

My personal view

1. For every STANDARD factory security system, there is a STANDARD, widely known way to bypass or defeat it. The proof is simple: if that were not the case, motorcycles would not get stolen.

2. The cost of stealing a bike—in effort and risk—has to be outweighed by the reward. If five identical motorcycles are parked together and yours is better protected—read: protected in a non-standard way—yours is NOT the one that gets stolen. Why bother with yours when there is another just like it nearby that is easier to take?

   If your motorcycle is unique and someone specifically wants it, they will try every possible way to steal it. And protecting a motorcycle against simply being loaded into a truck is not exactly easy.

3. The most effective protection is NON-STANDARD. There are countless options. The question is how much you are willing to spend on protection.

What that means for my GPX

Personally, I am not worried about theft at all. I live in a fairly quiet area, the bike is not particularly expensive, and the protection on my GPX lets me track it anywhere, at any time.