Video: The Dangers of Disc Locks!

When is your bike too secure for its own good?

This video above is a lot of things: embarrassing, tragic, and a little funny. It was a simple mistake, just forgetting that his disc lock was in place and trying to roll away from his parking spot. The lock did its job, stopped the wheel from moving, and dude came within inches of an insurance claim with the car next to him. The fact that this guy had the humility to post it to the internet is awesome, and it’s an excellent lesson in motorcycle security.

If you’re laughing and thinking this guy is an idiot, please don’t. Maybe we on staff have come to close ourselves, but this seems to me the perfect example of, “it could happen to anybody.” There are a bunch of things that come to mind watching this video, not least of which is a leash that runs to the handgrip from the lock to remind you that it’s there (we’ve all seen those). Or maybe a more conspicuous security system would have helped him remember?

Still, a little user error with no massive harm done can be okay in motorcycling. And, hopefully, we can all learn a lesson from this. What is the best way to keep your bike secure? Which systems will work best for the area where the bike is parked? At what point is convenience more important than actual security? And, of course, what is the best way to remember how and where your bike is locked? All good questions, and the more we ask ourselves stuff like this the more likely we are to come up with solutions and systems that work for us, and keep grubby, thievin’ fingers away from our stuff.