Hi,

Wasn't sure which section to post this in!

I'm off on my first longish trip this weekend - London - Scotland - London next week, taking it slowly over a week on my 660Z. I have OEM luggage and will be staying in B&B's so can easily pack everything, and it'll be locked away.

So this trip no problem - but what advice is given to those with lots of gear, tents, camping stuff, strapped to their bikes, and of course those with soft luggage that can be lifted away with just a sharp knife or undoing the straps?

Over night I guess it can all be pulled into tents or B&B's but what about during the day, you know you stop in a car park and walk off to see some nice view or place of interest - or just go and eat / shop?

Or perhaps I've been in London too long, do you just keep your fingers crossed and leave it?

Do you add much security to your bike when away?

All comments appreciated.

Jon

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'10 660 XTZ T�n�r�
London, UK
Geek

Personally I have never had a problem. Maybe i am lucky but mostly I just park it and leave it when shopping or sightseeing.

But, I do take sensible precautions about where you leave your bike and what you leave on it. For example if I left my bike overnight unlocked on the street in the centre of a major city with soft luggage I would be pleasantly surprised if it was all intact in the morning, in fact if the bike was still there. But in a pub or hotel car park in a village or small town I would be very surprised if anything was touched.


Sent from my iPhone with a smile

Or this kind of idea?...better looking at it than for it,kind of thing?

http://www.rei.com/product/709207/pa...rity-web-small



.

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The Suit:What would you consider to be your greatest weakness?
Me: Honesty.
The Suit: Honesty? I don't think honesty could be construed as a weakness.
Me: I don't give a f**k what you think.

.[IMG] [/IMG]

There's degrees of 'importance' to personal belongings.

At the top... passport, phone, wallet, vehicle documents, camera - all important and all on my person (rucksack or waistpack) so they come with me if I get off the bike.

At the bottom... camping kit and clothes, which always go in the soft luggage. If someone wants to pinch my dirty underwear, good luck to them. It's an annoyance to me but not a trip-ending disaster.

Although I haven't really used my hard panniers for ages, I do tend to travel with a lockable top-box. That gets some of the stuff in the middle of the scale - netbook, chargers for electronic stuff, camera lenses, etc.

I've left bikes with soft luggage on in all sorts of places, and never lost anything. I'm more worried about having the bikes themselves nicked out of the garage at home.

At the end of the day, it's just stuff.

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I spent a lot of money on travel and racing motorcycles - the rest I just squandered.

XT660Z - Commuter, Adventurer...Racer?

www.dashmoto.net

Other bikes >> MT-03 / CG125BR-J / ER-6F
Departed >> ZXR400L3 / EC300 / DR-Z400E / DR800S / GPZ500S / GS400

I tend to be a little like Uber, important stuff (credit cards, passport, cash etc) is usually on my person (I have a small bag that goes inside my cloths for such stuff). Other 'important' (i.e - important to me) stuff in a bag that's easily removed and keep it with me (the Kriega 5/10US are good for this).

Everything else is on the bike, sometimes in soft luggage sometimes hard. The only things I have ever had stolen was overnight and it was a bag containing some scottoil and another containing water, another rider had his tent & camping gear taken (he was rightly p!$$ed off about it too).

Generally, take some sensible precautions and don't flash what you have about. Theft is usually one of two things, you've shown what you have and someone wants it more than you do, or it's just opportunity theft (you've left something easy to take or on show).

I've used a pac-safe bag at times - I just tend to look around and asses the place, it's difficult to put it into words, but experience gives you an intuition as to the risks.

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>-------<

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

I once left my bike parked in the center of Istanbul, fully loaded, with the keys in the ignition. I came back to find a load of kids sitting like an urban installation � it hadn't even been started. Oops.

Although I wouldn't recommend repeating act of stoopidness I must admit that been lucky enough to get away with it all thus far. Nowadays I usually have locking Gobi panniers and a Pacsafe chain thingy around my drysack/tent. Like the guys say, the important stuff would normally be on your person anyway.

I think in most cases chancers steer clear of nicking from bikes. Well, I hope so at least.