Options for Locking Bikes in Garage

Take the rear wheel off if it's getting that bad. 

Thieves love rural areas, takes law enforcement a while to get there.  Alarm system or not can get what they want and be gone before anybody shows up.

The cameras you have is a good idea.  I have them for the driveway but not the garage.  A cable or chain and a good lock is worth a little.  Yeah nothing a bolt cutter can’t overcome but not all thieves are carrying bolt cutters.  Most bikes stolen from garages are rolled quietly down the driveway when a garage door is left open or other easy access to garage.

An air tag is worth a little too.  One guy I talked to uses two air tags, one with the sound disabled in a hard place to find, the other placed easy to find.  I need to change batteries in the air tags on my bikes.

I hate thieves.  

I have a metal bar bolted to the side of my garage wall. I then I run a cable lock through the frame and around the bar. If they want it bad enough they'll get it, but it won't be as easy. 

Yeah if they’re riding the bikes away then taking one of the wheels off and storing it inside seems like a good solution. Front wheel is easy to take off and you won’t have a dirty sprocket to deal with indoors. 

I have removed all the front wheels off my bikes in storage, chains & a lock through all the frames. 

Like Srfndrt said, take the wheels off and lock them up somewhere else if it’s getting that bad. A big, smart dog can help (German shepherd or similar). And a reputation as a crazy MFer who’s going to protect his stuff can help in a small town. 

The phrase “I own rifles, a backhoe, and know my way around the hills” can make a thief think twice.. 

Disable your garage door openers at night and/or when you leave (often a little two way switch on the opener button on the wall). They may still be able to defeat the mechanical assembly but at least they can’t use a code reader to make it easy and quick. Also, most doors have a slide latch that locks the door into a slot in the track. I use that when I’m gone as well. 

Chain the bikes, cameras, take a wheel off. 

Also, keep situational awareness of what vehicles belong in your area and which don’t, if you are being followed, etc.

One of the easiest is don’t leave your garage doors open if they don’t need to be. Can’t count how many times I’ve seen neighbors’ garages wide open when they’re in the house for hours. Crazy.

Get some motion detectors installed inside your bike storage area that can wake you up without alerting the thieves.

A must is a 8 round pump action shotgun loaded with birdshot. No need to kill the bastard thieves...you need to wing them properly,.,..your last round must be delivered from a couple of feet away so that the birdshot penetrates deep....then call the cops

Posting "Protected by Smith & Wesson" stickers on all doors to your garage. 😉

A local friend owns a large sales lot of portable buildings. He has multiple cameras wirelessly connected to the office + motion detectors there. Once a motion dector is tripped it plays a recorded message "Warning you have been caught and smile for the camera" over loudspeakers. It also records that video on his office PC and sends him alerts to his phone. A scaled down system like that might help.

My neighbor across the street has many cameras covering all angles of his house and yard that record on DVR when triggered. Also, BRIGHT flood lights on motion detectors. He has access to all of it through his cell phone when he travels.

This. I have a retractable extension cable that the garage is plugged into. Whenever I'm not out there with the door open, I unplug it. 

Pepper him up nicely! Chappelle's bit on shotgun home defense is a classic! 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u5zcNaD52wg

One thing I did cause I’m forgetful and scatter brained.  I have switches on my garage doors tied to my alarm system so I won’t set my alarm and leave my garage doors open at nite.  Actually have wireless switches cause I didn’t have hardwire for switches.  My garage doors have to be down before I can arm my security system.  I’ve done this on the last two or three houses we’ve loved in.

Heads up on the garage doors- the roll up type. I've seen where they slip a hook type of tool through the top panel and un-latch the pin thing. Then they can lift the door right up...

Hang a KTM banner out front, that'll discourage any thieves 🤣

Each of my vehicles is fitted with a GPS tracker designed to prevent theft. I get an alert on my phone as soon as the gps tracker notices some movement. Like sitting on the bike already triggers it. There are some more nice features with that but just as a thought u might want to add that to your already pretty good garage setup. This is of course also helpful if you park the bikes somewhere else other than your garage

Ok, I ride a KTM and still LMAO😂😂😂

Yep. I always cut the rope where it's just long enough for me to reach, and don't put a loop on the end.

If they can't get the rope through the slot above the door, it's very difficult to unlatch.

I unplug the garage door opener often if I’m leaving for somewhere without bikes. Also my ped door is hung so it’s almost impossible it kick in. 

After that, insurance and air tags

Front wheel is easier to take off and harder to move with one person.

Here in Houston they just take a cheap Sawsall from harbor freight, cut a big ass hole and get what they want while a guy with 4-5 felony convictions stands in the driveway with an AR watching out.  

Insurance, cameras, and a good lock on the sprocket. If they want it they will get it. 

I try to keep my truck parked in front of the garage when it’s open and when I clean my bikes. 

Guy I know used a simple contact switch connected to an extremely loud horn. He actually woke up to it one night,  thieves were running away when he came out. Pretty simple and effective, when you're home. 

When heading out of town, besides unplugging the garage door opener I also attach a tie down to the garage door for security.  I hook one end to a roller and the other to a slot in the roller track.  Locks the door down tightly so it can't be rolled up unless removed.  As said before make it tougher to get what they want.

Back while I had Harley’s I made a lock set up using two 12” round 1/4” thick metal circles and four pieces of 1/2” tubing 

Welded the tubing vertical to bottom circle , top circle had three 3” holes , welded top piece to tubing 

A hole must be made in garage floor to drop the lock assembly into , mine was flush with floor , then concrete put thru holes to fill it up 

A 3” pipe was welded to top plate laying landscape fashion 

A chain goes thru pipe and thru frames a large hardened lock secured everything 

Yes it’s work how much do you value your bikes ? 
Oh yea paint the pipe bright yellow so you’ll see it 

If you’re going to unplug your garage opener,  take a wheel or two off,  cable lock it ……. maybe you should just wheel it into the living room.  Take 20 seconds. 

That might help further prevent thieves but you run the risk of kids putting matchbox cars down the exhaust or starting it in the middle of the night.

In the channels for your garage door rollers, there should be holes/cut outs. I put masterlocks in those holes, it lets the door open a couple inches before it engages the roller and stops the door. The couple inches that the door moves trips the sensor for the alarm, lights off the loudest siren i could get. I highly doubt any thieve is sticking around for that kind of noise in the middle of the night, but im hopeful. i have something that will leave a lasting impression when i get the opportunity some day

I live out in the French countryside, in a really remote spot with hardly any neighbours — so it feels pretty safe.

My bike is locked to the ground and the wall with two anchors cast in concrete. The rear wheel’s always removed. I’ve got a top-notch GPS tracker for live positioning and alerts at the slightest movement. On top of that I use two traditional cable locks and my trailer blocks the access. Whenever I’m away for more than a week I take the bike apart — wheels, forks, gas tank, swingarm...

People sometimes laugh at me — yeah, it’s time-consuming. But I worked too hard for some burglar to just show up and take my bike.

My father-in-law had two CRF-450s in his garage (a 2023 and a brand-new 2024). He listed the older one on the local version of Craigslist and set up a meeting in a parking lot with a dude. Father in law turned up, nobody showed — and the next morning both bikes were gone. They robbed him while he was asleep. We think they waited for him at the rendez-vous point, then followed him home to see where the bike was, then ended up taking both ... 

He had a couple of locks on them. Chains, cables ... but it wasn’t enough. He was devastated. Police managed to find one bike and return it, but it was in bad shape. Since then he bought a 2025 CRF-450 — it sleeps in his bedroom, chained to walls and furniture, with cameras and he also subscribed to private security services. He still only sleeps with one eye closed.

I am not taking a fucking chance. I'd rather loose 10 minutes than have regrets.

The Ring alarm setup is on sale for $150 sometimes and comes with four sensors. You can choose to have it alarm the cops or just send an alert to your phone in addition to the siren going off. You can also have it trigger your outside flood light camera sire in front of your garage that the whole neighborhood can hear.

For your garage door you can bolt a door hinge to the garage door with the sensor mounted to it and when the garage door opens the hinge flaps open breaking the sensor. 

Can you provide some more information on how you rigged your setup? I too am forgetful and scatter brained lol. Woke up in the morning a few times with the back door wide open where I let the dog out and didn't close it..