Best Motorcycle Lock UK: How to Choose the Right One

The best motorcycle lock is the one that suits where you park. A quick stop outside a café needs something different from a bike left on the street overnight or kept in a garage. This guide covers the main types of lock, what the Sold Secure ratings mean, how to deal with angle grinders and how to check a lock fits your bike, so you can choose with confidence.

Which type of motorcycle lock do you need?

There are four main types of motorcycle lock. Most riders end up using two of them together.

Disc lock

A small lock that clips through the brake disc and stops the wheel turning. Disc locks are quick to fit and easy to carry, and Bennetts says a disc lock can make your bike three times less likely to be stolen. They don’t attach the bike to anything, though, so a thief with a van can still lift it. Use one as a first layer, not your only lock.

D-lock (U-lock)

A rigid shackle that locks through the wheel, disc or swingarm. A D-lock can also lock the bike to a post or ground anchor. D-locks are harder to attack than most chains of a similar size, and the best ones are armoured against angle grinders.

Chain and padlock

A chain lets you lock the bike to something fixed, like a lamp post, railing or ground anchor. The thicker the chain, the more protection it gives, but thick chains are heavy to carry and do not possess a high resistance to angle grinder attacks. Chains suit home and overnight use more than short stops.

Ground anchor

A steel anchor bolted or set into the ground at home, which you lock the bike to. For a bike kept outside or in a garage, it’s the best way to stop it being lifted into a van.

Whatever you choose, check its Sold Secure rating on soldsecure.com.

Why one lock is rarely enough

Thieves look for the easiest bike to steal. Two different locks mean two different tools and twice the time, which is often enough to make them move on. A good setup is a grinder-resistant D-lock through the rear wheel and swingarm, and a disc lock or chain on the front. At home, add a ground anchor.

Angle grinders: why ordinary locks aren’t enough any more

Cordless angle grinders are now the tool of choice for organised bike thieves. They can cut most standard steel locks in under a minute (sometimes even less than that). No lock is grinder-proof, but locks armoured with specialist materials take much longer to cut and use up the thief’s cutting discs. LITELOK’s X range uses Barronium®, which makes the X1 Moto at least 5× and the X3 Moto at least 20× more grinder-resistant than a leading standard D-lock.

"In all practical senses, this is going to stop a thief cutting through it in any kind of reasonable time."

Bennetts BikeSocial, LITELOK X1 review

"By having the Litelok X3 as part of that set-up, you've made your bike one of the hardest to steal on the street."

Bennetts BikeSocial, LITELOK X3 review