LOCKED DOWN: Perils of the Disc Lock

WHEEL CHATTER

Don’t forget to remove that disc lock!

By Wahid Ooi Abdullah

 

There was a customer who came into our shop a few days ago. He had ridden up on his handsome new white and black-lined Kawasaki ZRX1200, wearing a tri-colored Momo-type helmet. I didn’t make fun of him since he’s a customer, but he looked a dude who’s trying to entertain his grandson or something.

He came in, locked his vision on the Arai RX-7X HRC and was ready to make the purchase when he suddenly saw the RX-7X Isle of Man TT. Maybe he didn’t trust us at the shop, so he started asking around if the Arai IOM TT  was a more meaningful model. He even snaps chatted the pictures to his friends. A customer stepped in and assured him that the IOM TT was the way to go, that it had a bigger significance, hence collectability over the other.

He got very excited when his friends came back to him, telling him that he was damn lucky. One even said that it was like scoring with a supermodel.

He paid for the helmet and was out of the door in a hurry, even before I could properly thank him, so I turned around and headed for the counter.

But just as I turned around to face the outside, his bike was already on its right side, providing a great view of its exhaust system and suspension linkage, with an Arai IOM TT poking up like a turtle on the other side.

We ran outside to help.

“What happened?” asked my colleague.

“I forgot to remove the disc lock on the rear,” said the helpless man.

We looked at the swingarm and there was this smashed piece of metal and plastic and wires wedged tight between the brake disc and the swingarm. Good thing the Arai calliper was at the bottom and the swingarm had actually saved it. It took plenty of pushing the bike forward and backwards as our colleague trailed with a mallet and screwdriver (we didn’t have a punch), trying to tap it out. It must’ve been comical scene because a crowd started to gather.

 

We finally got the lock’s carcass out after 20 minutes. It turned out to be one which has an alarm if you left it locked in place. But why didn’t he hear it?

 

“I didn’t notice the alarm. Was damn excited to show off this helmet to my friends,” he said.

He’s honest, I give him that.

Truth is, he wasn’t the first victim of the disc lock.

It was back in 1996, when I had my Ducati M900.

You see, it was the time of Ducati’s resurgence. The Ducati 916 was the wet dream of almost any biker since it was kicking patooties all over the world in World Superbike. All my riding buddies and I started to grow a liking for anything Italian. But I couldn’t afford a 916 at the time so I bought the M900.

So since I had an Italian bike, the best thing was to wear Italian gear, of course. I rode downtown and bought a Dainese leather jacket.

Everyone looked my way (or so I imagined) as I swaggered out wearing it all zippered up, under the 38-degree sun. It was like someone had announced my arrival. The ground underneath felt like it was covered by a red carpet.

I could confirm that the group of bikers there turned green from envy as I got on my blood-red M900. I thumbed the starter button and the bike came to life with a gigantic boom out of the dual Termignonis. Now, whoever didn’t look did look my way.

I clicked the bike into first, gave the throttle a couple of large blips. Not because I had to but it was for effect. I dumped the clutch and the bike lurched forward less than a metre, then it instantly felt like someone had chained it to a pole. I was thrown forward into the tank and the bike dumped itself onto its right side.

The engine went BRRROOOOARRR!!! before cutting out. My right leg was trapped underneath the bike. Now those bikers stared in disbelief for a second, before bursting out in laughter. They came over to help anyway.

It was then that I realized I had forgotten to remove the disc lock on the front right brake disc. It had smashed into the calliper and ripped it off, then hammered the fork leg. The disc was bent. I had also scratched the Dainese jacket, but at least I got to crash test it.

More guys came over to help, including the employees of the shop. One guy removed the calliper altogether and zip-tied it to the fork.

I kept my helmet’s face shield down the entire time.

So… while we should always employ extra locks on our motorcycle whenever it’s parked up, we should take utmost care if we used a disc lock. The disc lock (or a padlock on the disc) is a good solution, as it stops the motorcycle from being moved. However, since it’s placed out of sight, we tend to forget. Out of sight, out of mind.

Disc locks didn’t have alarms those days as they do now, but there are still cases of leaving it in place. Why? Excitement is definitely one cause. Especially when you’re riding in a group and you’re itching to get on the move again. Besides that, the collective exhaust notes may drown out the alarm. Or when you’ve just purchased some badass riding gear.

The best solution is to buy yourself a reminder cable that attaches the disc lock to your handlebar. That way, you will never forget and end up the ground with your exciting new gear.