Reddit reviews Kryptonite 16mm Bicycle Stronghold Anchor Bike Lock

I've owned and ridden motorcycles and scooters in Baltimore City for over 15 years now, here's my quickie advice:

GLOVES! Always always always wear good motorcycle gloves no matter how hot it is outside... Imagine sprinting flat out as fast as you can possibly go and throwing yourself to the ground hands first... now picture that at 5-10 times the speed. Goodbye skin, ouch. It shocks me how often people neglect this. Wear good gloves!

With that out of the way, I also recommend getting a snell approved full face helmet as well. Its a lot more expensive and more of an inconvenience than wearing a half or open-face helmet and a lot of people don't bother if they're riding a moped or scooter, but the curb is no softer and cars and trucks are no slower just because you're on a smaller bike. Honestly an inexperienced rider on a smaller, less visible bike, with less power is more likely to get into an accident and should therefore have more protection.

Regarding security for the bike, get one of these and one of these. Borrow a hammer drill from the Tool Library
and mount the anchor in the parking pad behind your building with the bits and hardware that come with it. It can be done relatively quickly and as long as you don't put it somewhere terribly obnoxious its likely no one will even notice its there. Use the lock to chain the bike to the anchor every single time you're not riding it, take it with you wherever you ride, and use it to lock up wherever you go.

An unlocked moped or scooter will be stolen immediately and you'll never see it again. Trust me on that one, I've had 3 bikes stolen over the years and each time it was because I didn't lock it up when I was just making a quick stop somewhere or was just running into the house for a minute...

A good helmet, gloves, lock, and anchor are going to be expensive up front but in the end will be well worth it to keep yourself and your property safe.

As long as the engine size of the bike you get is 49cc or under you can ride it in MD anywhere that isn't a highway with just your normal driver's license and a moped permit sticker on the back.
(you can order the sticker on MVA's website, it'll come in a week).
Any bike 50cc and up is considered a motorcycle in the eyes of the state and requires a motorcycle license (or class M endorsement), insurance, tag, and registration just like a car.

You could see if you could install one of these behind your parking bumper and use a kryptonite chain and ulock.


https://smile.amazon.com/Kryptonite-330202-Ground-Stronghold-Anchor/dp/B000LF903M

> Speaking as an electrician

Thanks very much! That is good to hear coming from a professional. I was proud of my little workaround hack, but I have never read about it anywhere else so I wondered if I was missing something important... but it really does work (I've used it during a couple of outages now). One useful thing to do is to use a little label maker to label the relevant outlets inside the house with "GENERATOR", just to make clear that they aren't usually going to be working. It's also good to make sure that whatever extension cords you get for coming from the generator to the house inlets has a round end for where it's going into the inlet. Some extension cords have the additional tab sticking up which makes it hard or impossible to fit into the inlet socket. Kind of hard to describe, but you'd know exactly what I mean if you see the inlet. Unfortunately the ones I got don't seem to be available any more on Amazon, the product page has gone away, but they looked a lot like these:

https://www.amazon.com/ParkPower-Marinco-150BBI-RV-Charger-125-Volt/dp/B000NV0V8C/

And the extension cords for generator to inlet are these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009IAXSW/

Notice the female end of the extension cord is round, so it'll fit inside the inlet socket. I think I have the 100 foot and another 50 foot of the 10 ga, for getting from the generator on the rear deck to the two different inlets on the house. The garage one is a bit further away, toward the front of the house, so I need the 100' for that. Usually I'd try not to run so long, but when running the generator in an emergency I'd much prefer for it to be hidden in the rear of the house, not visible to the road. Being 10 ga gives me a bit more room to play with 100' length without losing too much power to the cord.

Other than those, it's a pretty standard job that anybody who's a little bit handy can do - you might also need a 1 7/8" hole saw for the inlet, assuming you have wood walls (we have cedar siding). I used something like 10 or 12 ga house wiring between the wall - I think it might be 10 ga since I remember hemming and hawing on which to use, I believe I went heavier just to be on the safe side. It's a bit intimidating for a non-professional to work with wiring stuff up, but since it's not connected to the actual house wiring, that takes some of the fear out. Just have to make sure you get all the right wires in the right places (not too difficult) and tighten everything up. Also a little bit stressful hacking holes in your exterior house wall, but once it's all sealed up again it's pretty cool knowing you can now get power inside without having to leave the window or door open.

I also have a Kryptonite Stronghold anchor in the back yard next to the deck, for chaining the generators up while they are running, so nobody can just pick them up and run off (a downside of having portable generators is that they are, well, portable):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LF903M/

I dug a hole and then filled it with high stress concrete, then left it to dry for a week or two, then drilled the holes for the bolts and installed the anchor. For chain, I used the strongest stuff I could find at Home Depot. The padlock likewise - just the most beefy, secure one I could find. On the generators themselves, I have installed the security addition to the handle:

https://www.amazon.com/Honda-63230-Z07-010AH-EU2000i-Generator-Deterrent/dp/B004DQY6B6/

This doesn't make it 100% secure, but it's better than just having the plastic handle which is easily broken. Security is a matter of layers - you don't depend on anything being 100%, but you hope that everything will serve to either deter or else slow the thieves down enough so that either they don't try, or else you will be alerted in time to stop them.

Finally, I have a couple of failed circuit alarms, which go off when power is lost:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077Q9NC6/

I figure these could be on the extension bar inside the house while the generator is in use, then if it goes off or is being stolen then I will get an alert when they unplug the extension cord. I am using one of these alarms in the garage now, for the chest freezer so I'll know if that circuit trips out for whatever reason (avoid thawed out freezer, never fun).

Anyway, hope that helps anyone else who might be thinking about a similar setup - the Honda EU2000i is a great little generator (I also have the Companion), and with a little forethought you can make it much easier to use in your house in emergencies. Oh, and one last thing - I also have a large folding plastic table, which can be used to put over the generator if it's raining outside when you need to use it. Obviously the generator can't be too near the house, because of risk of carbon monoxide, so being outside puts the generator at risk of exposure to the elements. One of those folding tables, you can get from any department store, is useful for putting the generator under something. If the rain is especially heavy, I can put an additional tarp over the table, which can also cover two sides, and a couple of cinder blocks makes it ok in the wind.

Incidentally, this is a good battery powered CO detector, great for emergencies if you need to run a Buddy heater inside the house, or make sure the generator exhaust isn't blowing inside:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y6V5CI/

Get yourself a Kryptonite Stronghold Anchor:
https://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-330202-Ground-Stronghold-Anchor/dp/B000LF903M

And a Kryptonite New York chain and lock:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073W8N26F

The anchor is held down by three lag bolts / concrete anchors. It's pretty damn secure if you install it correctly, and it folds down so you can drive a car over it if you want to. It comes with the concrete bits that you need to drill the installation holes - you just need a hammer drill, which you can rent fairly cheaply if you don't own (but who doesn't need a hammer drill?).

Kryptonite 330202 Black 16mm Above Ground Stronghold Anchor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LF903M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KlEzzbHC3FNTK
One of these and a solid chain and lock will be the best bet. A disc lock is good to

Somthing like this or this is what you're after.

Just make sure to check it's OK for you to start installing things in a communal area.

Rent a concrete drill and install one of these in your parking spot. Then chain your bike to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-330202-Ground-Stronghold-Anchor/dp/B000LF903M