Bits And Pieces

Yesterday, while out at Bunnings, I was killing some time by walking all the isles. I only really needed a couple of things, but with the crappy weather, I had no-where else to be so I figured I'd have a look around and see what was what.

I ended up in the padlock section and found 2 locks that look like they might come in handy.

Apparently it's summer here (though you wouldn't know it from the weather). The problem with riding motorbikes in summer is the safety gear. While on a bike, it's generally fine, even if a little hot. However, when I get to a destination, I don't really want to be stuck carrying my jacket everywhere, and I'm definitely not going to wear it. So I've wanted a way to secure my jacket somewhere. That's where the first lock comes in. As you can see from the image below it's a small combination lock that works like a small carabina, but has a steel cable attached. Fortunately it's small enough to be kept under my seat (with my disc lock and puncture repair kit), but the cable stretches out far enough to go through both sleeves of my textile jacket, enabling me to lock it directly to my bike.

Small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

Opens like a carabina to release one end of the steel cord.

Admittedly I haven't field tested it yet, but have tried it on my jacket and, though it's a tight fit, it's not impossibly so. Hooking it to the grab rail at the back of my CB400 should keep it on my seat and should quickly tell anyone that tries to lift it off that it's locked in place. Of course, if someone is determined enough, they'll only need a pair of cutters to get through it. But it's there to stop any potential impulse theft where someone walking past might decide to help themselves to my jacket.  One handy feature of this lock is that you can set your own 3 digit combination (the 1 2 3 was for demonstration purposes).

The second lock I didn't buy, but will do a bit more research on as its function is to secure much more valuable items and I'd want to be sure it does its job well.

Also from Master Lock, this combination lock is designed to hold keys and money when you're not in any position to do so yourself. Imagine going for a swim at the beach. If there are no lockers around, where do you put the keys for your bike? Something like this might help by providing a portable safe that can be attached to a solid/secure location (like a fence) where you can leave it relatively secure. Of course, this isn't something that I'd like to leave completely out of site – like locked to the bike (if the keys are inside), if the bike is secluded and out of sight. Again, this would stop any impulse theft, but if someone was determined enough, they could get it and get into it.

I also got myself a magnetic whiteboard to keep track of things. It'll be a place to store any reminders. Hopefully it'll keep me organized.