View Full Version : Daft question: How do you use a chain? :)
OK, so it does sound stupid, but I've never had a bike before, so heres the question:
I'm going to get an SV (after hopefully my second and final test) and after chatting to the nice northerners at Almax (don't knock it, the north's got less traffic and they're further away from the French....) I think I'll be getting a 1.5m Almax Series III, a ground anchor, and a shiny CISA lock. Tell me if that sounds wrong, but I want to put the chain through the bike overnight, when its garaged using the anchor.
The only thing Alex at the shop told me (I liked Alex, he was very helpful), was that it might not fit through the body of the bike, because the gap on the older SVs (curvys?) are quite small.
So, which first - buy bike, or buy chain? Ideally I want a good chain the first night I buy the bike....so I can go to sleep easily :)
Anyone using a Series 3? if so - does it fit through? - or are you forced to use Almax chains on just the wheels? how do you use yours?
Ta v much
Kev - (a little bit northern still)
Pedro68
29-09-07, 06:38 PM
I have an Oxford Revolver cable/chain and it gets passed through the rear wheel from just above the chain-guard, then it is passed under the bike and back over the chain guard & swingarm, down through the chain (so that it is now wrapped round the rear-wheel, and the chain & swingarm in a sort of "doubled over figure-of-eight"). Sounds complex but it's not really ... and it's the only way I can think to secure the chain/bike/rear-wheel without the chain or its lock laying on the ground (and therefore making it susceptible to brute-force from a lump hammer or the like).
HTH,
Pete
Have a look at www.torc-anchors.com (http://www.torc-anchors.com) they do a
special pin (anti-pinch pin) that will go through the frame
and secure the chain with the top of the range Squire padlock.
Thankyou both - especially for he good explanation on the chain, but - does this mean I cant fit the chain through?
Id like to hear from anyone who has an Almax III??
:smt100
I use an Almax 1.5 mtr series 111 chain through an Oxford wall anchor
and the back wheel in a well locked garage and feel happy with that.
I don't think it's possible to get a 16mm chain through my SV650-K5 naked
frame that's why I considered the 'anti pinch pin'. also i'm sure you would need a longer chain to go through the frame.
northwind
30-09-07, 01:07 AM
Not really any better chain than the Almaxes out there, but they're anchor hains, which is why I don't have one- if the bike lived outside I would though, a good long one for easier fitment. Not sure where'd be best to fit it, if it'll fit through the swingarm loop that'd be ideal but I'm not convinced it will. Just going round the swingarm and wheel is the next best if you can't get it through a frame loop, makes it a fair bit of effort to remove enough bits to get to it. And that's basically the order of the day, you can't make it nick-proof so instead you make it harder to nick than the next bike.
Enter Almax in the search box. loads of stuff in threads.
Alpinestarhero
30-09-07, 09:55 AM
If you can, get it wrapped round the rear wheel and swingarm, then through the anchor. I can't quite do this, so I have a chain round the front downpipe connected to the wheel, then through the iddle of this and round the front wheel my almax, which goes through a ground anchor
Matt
If you could get one long enough, you could put it over the seat and into an anchor that is directly below the bike?
tigersaw
30-09-07, 10:46 AM
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n273/tigersaw/almax2bikes.jpg
See here for a picture of my bikes (of old) secured by almax chains in two different ways - one through the wheel, one wrapped around the centre, linked together to a hardie wall anchor
I just lock mine on the key and whatever alarms they have in the very secure garage and if they get nicked they get nicked - they're all very well insured. Whoever can get my bikes past the gates, house/garage alarms, cars, dogs and other obstructions in the way deserves them.
ASM-Forever
30-09-07, 12:18 PM
Whoever can get my bikes past the gates, house/garage alarms, cars, dogs and other obstructions in the way deserves them.
Challenge accepted. ;)
I just lock mine on the key and whatever alarms they have in the very secure garage and if they get nicked they get nicked - they're all very well insured. Whoever can get my bikes past the gates, house/garage alarms, cars, dogs and other obstructions in the way deserves them.
I hope your not insured with Bennetts. NO CHANCE !
I hope your not insured with Bennetts. NO CHANCE !
I won't insure with Bennetts ever again. Not only were they more costly, but they told me I was insured to ride other bikes when I phoned to check beofre borrowing a bike. So I rode a friends ER-5 all over the south of France when my eldest and I went there for christmas one year. It was only when my eldest daughter stupidly hit a car on her hired CB500 in Nice (doing a burn-out at traffic lights and the front wheelied/lurched forward)** that I thought I'd better be absolutely sure I was insured to ride, and another phone call revealed that I wasn't. I'd asked for other bike cover when I took the policy out, and it was on their records but they'd neglected to add it to my policy.
They told me that if I had been involved in an accident then I would not have been covered and would be liable for prosecution by the French police. I cancelled the policy as soon as I got home and reinsured with Auntie Carole, who has never let me down or got a thing wrong.
** My eldest daughter has a long history of doing stupid and very out of character things that go awfully wrong for her.
northwind
30-09-07, 01:23 PM
I just lock mine on the key and whatever alarms they have in the very secure garage and if they get nicked they get nicked - they're all very well insured. Whoever can get my bikes past the gates, house/garage alarms, cars, dogs and other obstructions in the way deserves them.
I'm the exact same... And my garage isn't even very secure, the front door's cable tied on :D But then again, if anyone tried to get through it without knowing htat, it'd probably fall on them and squash them. I reckon, and this is rough, but I reckon it takes about 5 minutes to secure and unsecure a bike using a proper chain and a ground anchor. 5 minutes a day, 340 days a year, for the last 5 years, that's 145 hours, I could do that much overtime and buy another SV :cool: And of course, £150 for any chain worth bothering with, another £50 or so for the anchor plus labour.
When I'm away, I use my terrible £10 Oxford, it's no worse than most £150 chains and gives me the minimum deterrant which makes the difference between an invitation to steal and merely being easy to steal. A 16mm chain's massive, so I can live without carrying one around.
Thanks everyone once again - I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going for now. Time to get the old DIY skills out and get drillin....
In terms of taking a bike if a thief wants it, yes, you can spend more money than the bike is worth trying to keep your hands on it, but at the end of the day, it depends on what your priorities are - as has already been said - I for one don't enjoy dealing with insurance companies (regardless of whether your trying to give or get money) so I'll be investing in something Almax-y to do the job with a bit of reassurance.
Ultimately, I suppose a change in bike is inevitable in years to come for everyone, but you're seldom going to replace a fully working chain / lock are you? For that reason I guess "the best you can afford" still applies.
In other news - I got myself one of those full licenses now! (as of last week - 2nd test etc...) and I'm off to buy something blue....
Watch this space :thumleft:
Ceri JC
07-10-07, 08:33 AM
I'm the exact same... And my garage isn't even very secure, the front door's cable tied on :D But then again, if anyone tried to get through it without knowing htat, it'd probably fall on them and squash them. I reckon, and this is rough, but I reckon it takes about 5 minutes to secure and unsecure a bike using a proper chain and a ground anchor. 5 minutes a day, 340 days a year, for the last 5 years, that's 145 hours, I could do that much overtime and buy another SV :cool: And of course, £150 for any chain worth bothering with, another £50 or so for the anchor plus labour.
When I'm away, I use my terrible £10 Oxford, it's no worse than most £150 chains and gives me the minimum deterrant which makes the difference between an invitation to steal and merely being easy to steal. A 16mm chain's massive, so I can live without carrying one around.
This is my POV entirely. I will fit a ground anchor in the not too distant future, but I imagine it will only get used when I am away overnight/on holiday. If I get a weekend toy I will chain that up as it'd be more nickable than my tatty SV and also as it's used less, it won't be such a drain on my time to chain and unchain it all the time. Currently, if I'm away, the SV is away with me and if it's not, it gets chained up with 2 chains, to a very long and cumbersome ladder. Not ideal, but it prevents just chucking it into the back of a van parked in the lane/riding it away and cutting through the ladder would be loud enough to get the attention of the neighbour's dogs.
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