I keep my two quads locked up in my garage.Never have worried about them being stolen even though there has been 45 in the past few months,stolen in and around my area. My garage is protected with a very loud alarm with motion detctors and sensors on all the windows and doors. This can be very costly, but for around a $100 you can buy an atv alarm that attaches to your bike whitch has motion sensors as well. My dealer keeps trying to get me to buy one. Maybe you might want to consider this. I also know someone who wired a few 12V car batteries to his shed door. anyone touches the door and you will look like Don King. I also recommend to any of you who leave your quad on your on your truck, to back it up against somthing. Much harder to lift it off than roll it off. PS. If you accidently shoot someone trying to steel your quad, drag them in the house and tell the police that they are an intruder.

 

Some good security and theft prevention ideas appear on this topic.

While perhaps intended in jest, comments about shooting someone as an anti-theft measure have little basis in reality.

Deadly force is justified only to prevent death or serious injury to the innocent. Even then, some states require the defender to "retreat," to try to run away or otherwise use all means escaping the threat before even self defense is justified.

A creep ripping off your quad does not threaten your safety. Call 911, get the best description of the perpetrator, his vehicle (license number if possible), etc. Hope for property recovery, arrest and conviction of the crook, not "The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral," because: even if you must kill someone in a "righteous" shooting, you'll pay your attorneys $ 50,000, maybe be sued for more, and carry a label for the rest of your life. Most would accept these consequences if the alternative is being wasted by an intruder, but deadly force is the last option to use, not the first.

If you shoot and kill someone stealing your quad who doesn't otherwise threaten you, it's murder. Dragging the body inside may not be enough to get away with it. The investigating homicide officers may have heard that one too.

Tree Farmer

[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 09-16-1999).]

 

Crash 23 99,help me with something if you can.You mentioned hooking up a few 12 volt batteries to your metal shed for theft prevention.Last I knew,12 volts was harmless to any human,much less making you look like Don King.12 volts wont harm a mosquitoe,much less a human.Am I missing something here?BILL

 

I may be wrong, but I think if you hook them up in series it would do the trick.

For example:

12v x 2 = 24v

or

12v x 10 = 120v

sort of like when you put 2 AA batteries in a tv remote, it is working on 3v, not 1.5.

Crash, please confirm. How many batteries do you use? I would like to hear more about your set-up.

 

The batteries will run dry in 30 minutes, you need to use the a.c. house current (done it accidently).

We sunk 5 50 lb. bags of cement in our dirt floor shed and looped 1" thick crane cable through it 3 times. Then we used kryptonite locks to the quad frame.

 

You know, all this talk about theft and protecting oneself and property illustrates exactly one of many things that is wrong with our country right now. The criminal has more rights than the person being victimized. You try to protect yourself or your property and you are the one who is prosecuted. The criminal has no fear, what's the worst that could happen to him with our current laws?? Maybe he spends 6 months in a tax paid country club, he definately has no fear of being injured, if he is, you will get prosecuted and sent to jail longer than he would for putting himself in that position to begin with, then he can sue you in civil court and cash in.

I know how the laws work and I am not saying that shooting someone for stealing something is OK, but, you know, I didn't ask him to come seal my stuff or endanger my family, he puts himself in that position. My personal opinion is that if someone wants to take the chance and place themselves in that position, they should have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Once they step across the line, they have lost their rights. Our Liberal attitude anymore is, everyone's got an excuse "his dad beat him when he was little", "he has a mental illness", "he has been discriminated against", "movies and TV did it", "those evil guns did it", "she was asking for it".

I guarantee there would be less crime if criminals feared that they might have a run-in with an armed and angery property owner and didn't have the law on their side.

Why do we work so hard to protect the bad guy????????

Just one of the many ways our legal system has been broken down. Sorry for the long post.

Gabe
'86ATC250R
'86ATC350X
'00TRX400EX

[This message has been edited by 86atc250r (edited 09-17-1999).]

[This message has been edited by 86atc250r (edited 09-17-1999).]

 

I personaly have not wired any batteries to my garage. I said that i know someone, who is actually my friends uncle that has done this. I'm not sure exactly how he did this but from what I've heard it works. As for shooting somone try to steel your quad I would not really recommend this to anyone. The price of spending the rest of your life in prison is much greater than any quad, That's my way of thinking anyway.

 

Phonix,sorry my friend,but 12volts is only 12 volts no matter if you have 1 or 100- 12 volt batteries hooked together in series.The only advantage of hooking up more than 1 battery at a time is the amount of time that the battery/batteries will last.Hooking them together does not increase voltage at all,they will just make whatever they are installed in,work longer.Example,you have identicle AM/FM radios,both use 1.5 volt AA batteries,one radio operates on just one battery while the other radio operates on four 1.5 volt AA batteries.One battery =1.5 volts,and guess what?Four 1.5 volt batteries still only give you 1.5 volts, not 1.5 x 4 batteries =6 volts.The radio with the 4 batteries will ONLY out run the radio having the one battery.Well,enough for my Science Tip of the day.Later------BILL

 

Bill, I think battery voltages add in a circuit when connected in series (+ to -).

When connected in parallel (+ to + and - to -), however, the circuit voltage remains the same.

In a typical 12 volt ATV or automobile battery, you will notice six cells. Each cell is a mini-battery, producing about 2 volts. The battery construction connects these cells in series, resulting in a 12 volt output.

I don't know how much DC voltage is required to "shock" someone; most battery-powered control systems (e.g., stock prods and Tasers) convert DC battery voltage into AC or into interrupted DC and transform it to high voltage (e.g., thousands of volts) for painful but harmless shocks. In my misspent youth, a Ford Model T spark coil was the instrument of choice for this purpose.

Wiring up a storage shed or garage to house current so someone attempting entry may be electrocuted (as mentioned elsewhere on the topic) might not be a good idea in today's litigious society.

Tree Farmer

 

I was in SuperK tonight, and saw an alarm system that consisted of several feet of aircraft cable with a current that runs through it. It is joined at a programmable junction. If cut, it emits about a zillion decibles. Maybe this might be a feasible deterrent. Cost was around $29 bucks.