How Do You Overcome the Fear of Getting Your Motorcycle Stolen?

With upwards of 46,000 motorcycles stolen each year in the US, I know the odds are stacked against me.

Just read about a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R owner who got his bike stolen last night, stolen out of the hotel parking lot. He rode from Michigan to Austin, Texas to attend MotoGP, Grand Prix of the Americas.

One of my greatest fears is exactly what happened to the owner of the ZX-14R. I am afraid of getting my motorcycle stolen from the hotel parking lot when I travel. I doubt I would ever overcome this fear.

Sure, I’ve got insurance, but I would never be able to recover the time and energy, blood, sweat and tears that I have invested in my ride. Not to mention the hassle, and the feeling of violation that accompanies a theft. I just don’t need it.

Fear of theft causes me a lot of angst, I am sure I am not alone. This is the reason why I refuse to watch YouTube videos on motorcycle theft. It only takes a few seconds to lift your entire bike and throw it in the back of a van.

Several years ago I bought a disc lock; the lock gives me some peace of mind. But even with the best security, there’s still a chance that my bike might get stolen.

My first real trip after purchasing my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14, I attended the Summer Nationals motorcycle dragrace at Maryland International Raceway. Even though I parked my bike in clear view of the hotel front entry, and I asked the front desk clerk to keep an eye on my bike, I could not sleep. It was a long sleepless weekend.

I feel terrible for the owner of the ZX-14R, I don't know him but I can empathize with his plight. It is something I wouldn't wish to happen on my worst enemy.

The picture above was taken several years ago, while refueling at a gas station on my way home after the races were over at Maryland International Raceway.

Showcase : Printing Your Legacy

Now that I started to print big posters of my favorite images, I am all excited about the possibilities of decorating my man cave and also my office with them.

As I mentioned on a previous post, the image I recently found from my trip to the Dragon of the Cheoah Dam is my favorite. I like this picture so much that this week I decided to spend some time working on it to make it as big as possible without losing quality.

I had to crop the image a lot, to improve the way it looks. Cropping always involves cutting away part of the original image, results in some of the pixels being discarded and can change the width to height ratio.

Therefore, I was very careful making changes and editing the image. Learned recently that if I resize a photo for printing the photo may get soft and may need more sharpening. Also that is a good idea to save sharpening until the very last task, after I've applied other edits and resize the photo to its final size.

After the final edit, I sent online the 20" x 30" poster size to be printed. The original size image is 4928 x 3264 pixels, it is heavily cropped to remove unwanted areas to 3374 x 1847 pixels. This 20" x 30" poster will be used in my office as well as my man cave. The image was taken using my Nikon D7000 and a Nikon AF-S DX VR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED lens.

In anticipation of picking up the poster today, I stopped at A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts supply store to find a 20" x 30" poster frame. A.C. Moore has a large variety of various frame sizes at reasonable prices.

The poster looks fantastic, superbly printed. To say I was amazed at the poster quality is an understatement, it looks very professional. The time and hard work I spent editing the image paid off in the end.

As the old Epson printer ad used to say, "a print ensures your story will continue".

HERE is a link to my first ever 16" x 20" poster size image.