Want to keep your pride and joy safe from motorcycle thieves? Here are the basics of how a layered approach to bike security will give you an edge over thieving toerags.
Motorcycle theft is unfortunately common in the UK, with Motor Cycle Industry Association reporting 21,658 bikes stolen in the rolling year to September 2025. While there are definite hotspots for this kind of crime – there were 6,266 bikes separated from their owners in London alone in the same period – the sad fact is that this is a UK-wide problem.
Motorcycles are by their nature fairly easy to steal. However, it gets trickier for the thieves if you use a layered approach where you don’t just rely on one method of security, but essentially wrap the bike in protective layers – make the motorcycle less visible, more difficult to move and easier to track if it does get pinched, and you are much more likely to keep it safe.
Enjoy everything More Bikes by reading the MoreBikes monthly newspaper. Click here to subscribe, or Read FREE Online.
We talked to the motorcycle security expert and CEO of Trackting, Claudio Carnevali, about making our bikes more difficult to steal. Claudio’s company Trackting is a leading designer and manufacturer of high-tech motorcycle trackers, so he’s got his finger firmly on the pulse of bike security. Here are his top tips…
Don’t forget the basics
It might sound obvious, but make sure you don’t leave your keys on the bike even if you just step away from it for a few minutes as opportunistic thieves only need a short moment to nab your bike. Grabbing your keys is sometimes more difficult to remember with keyless bikes, especially if you keep your key fob in a bag on the bike rather than in your pocket.
You should also use the steering lock every time you step away from your bike, even if it’s just for a few seconds. It won’t stop all thieves as it can be broken, but it will put off some thieves or make the process more cumbersome, time consuming, and obvious to bystanders if they need to try and break the steering lock.
Keep it out of sight
Thieves sometimes go ‘shopping’ for bikes and try to find suitable bikes to steal. If you put a cover on your bike it is less likely to attract their attention or at least slow them down as they have to remove the cover to see if the bike under it is worth stealing.
If you have a garage at home, it’s best to keep your bike there. Garages have the benefit of the bike not being visible and also offering another layer of security as the thieves will need to break in first before they can even start to work on stealing the bike.
Lock it up
Locks and chains are ideal to make bikes more difficult to steal as they stop the thieves moving them easily.
When you are on a ride, keeping a disc lock or a light chain and lock with you is a good way to secure your bike during stops. If you have a chain that you can loop through a wheel and something unmovable such as a lamp post, you are well on your way to keep the bike safe, but even just a simple disc lock will be a useful deterrent.
At home, heavy-duty lock and chain are a good choice (the thicker, heavier and stronger the chain the better as you don’t have to carry it around with you). It’s also a good idea to use a ground anchor to secure the chain, so the thieves can’t move it with the bike.
Track it
Even with the best security measures, the sad truth is that bikes still get stolen. This is why it’s important to have a tracker, such as Trackting ONE, on your bike. With a tracker you are in a much better position to get the bike recovered.
Not all trackers are equal, and it’s worth doing your research before you buy one. Some are wired into the bike and can drain the bike’s battery, while some simple little tracking tags offer no alerts and only work when other phones are in reach.
The smart choice is a tracker like Trackting ONE (https://www.trackting.com/enuk/one/) which is a smart GPS tracker for motorcycles, scooters, cars, vans and motorhomes. The wireless, easy-to-use device can be fitted at home in minutes, has a battery life of several months between charges, and it protects your vehicle world-wide. It automatically self-arms itself when you walk away from it with the wireless key fob, and disarms when you return. No buttons to press, no codes to insert, it’s all automated. If an unauthorised movement occurs, Trackting ONE sends a notification and calls you directly. The device instantly activates live GPS tracking, showing direction and speed on the free Trackting App so you can alert the police and share the location.
It’s all about layers
No one method of securing your motorcycle is enough on its own, you should always aim to have as many layers of protection as possible. In an ideal world you should try to apply all the above approaches, but if that’s not possible, try to go for as many of them as possible. Every step you take to make your bike safe will help.
Our Expert
Claudio Carnevali is the CEO of Trackting, an Italy-based company that has over 15 years of experience in delivering leading GPS and IoT solutions for mobility.
When Claudio had his own motorcycle stolen, he wanted to find a robust solution to help others in the same situation. What followed was a simple, smart, stylish and robust tracker to help protect not just motorcycles, but scooters, cars, vans and motorhomes, too. That device is Trackting ONE, which has over 60,000 users.
For further information head to the Trackting website: https://www.trackting.com/enuk/one/
And if you like what you see, make sure to take advantage of 15% off the Trackting ONE Smart GPS Tracker (£109.65 instead of £129) on Amazon from 10th to 18th March.
