... is a thing I learnt today. Excuse the story, if you've no appetite for reading.
Starting where all good stories start, at the beginning, yesterday while locking up my left pannier/saddle bag as I was leaving the office, the top box key got caught in the clasp as I closed the clasp. That bent the key a good 60 degrees or so. About 3 secs later, I figure "well, it won't work like that anyway, I might as well carefully try & straighten it."
Luckily, and to my shock, that worked. But now the key had a crack running almost all the way through it, and we all know it's only a matter of time until that snaps in the lock. Nothing I could do about it at that time, so I rode home. Carefully using the key to access the top box worked, but when inside, I looked up the nearest locksmiths to my office for the next day (today).
Today, at lunch time, I popped into the locksmiths with the key, he fumbled about and got something that looked about right. Fair price paid, and I get both keys handed to me. Right as he's handing me the keys he says "keep hold of the old one, if the new one doesn't work, come back and I'll sort you out." Right there, while still in his hand, the original key snapped. "You know, I trust you, I'll give it a whirl, and I've got some blu-tac to keep that together & come back if it doesn't work," was my reply.
Immediately, I go to the bike, key works like a charm. Happy days, so I throw away the old key. About 6 hours later, I'm leaving the office, I go to the bike, throw the work laptop in the topbox no problem, happy days, key works like a charm.
I get home, nope. The lock ain't moving. I jiggle things around, nope, no joy. Lets not forget my work laptop is now inside the locked topbox too, and I have work to do tomorrow. Oh oh.
Aha! A brainwave strikes me. Last Christmas, I bought the 16yr old (wants to be an engineer) a professional lock picking set, and some practice (see-through) locks. He's not home, but I know where the kit is... I wonder...
I won't name the tools, but I will say 2 pieces from that kit, and I can open the top box at least as quick (if not quicker) than if I were using the key! A casual passer-by would not know that the lock was being picked. An ST rider/member of this forum might think it's odd using both hands to undo the lock, but that's about all you'd see. I was genuinely shocked how easy it was to pick.
So, yeah, top box locks ain't particularly secure.
Starting where all good stories start, at the beginning, yesterday while locking up my left pannier/saddle bag as I was leaving the office, the top box key got caught in the clasp as I closed the clasp. That bent the key a good 60 degrees or so. About 3 secs later, I figure "well, it won't work like that anyway, I might as well carefully try & straighten it."
Luckily, and to my shock, that worked. But now the key had a crack running almost all the way through it, and we all know it's only a matter of time until that snaps in the lock. Nothing I could do about it at that time, so I rode home. Carefully using the key to access the top box worked, but when inside, I looked up the nearest locksmiths to my office for the next day (today).
Today, at lunch time, I popped into the locksmiths with the key, he fumbled about and got something that looked about right. Fair price paid, and I get both keys handed to me. Right as he's handing me the keys he says "keep hold of the old one, if the new one doesn't work, come back and I'll sort you out." Right there, while still in his hand, the original key snapped. "You know, I trust you, I'll give it a whirl, and I've got some blu-tac to keep that together & come back if it doesn't work," was my reply.
Immediately, I go to the bike, key works like a charm. Happy days, so I throw away the old key. About 6 hours later, I'm leaving the office, I go to the bike, throw the work laptop in the topbox no problem, happy days, key works like a charm.
I get home, nope. The lock ain't moving. I jiggle things around, nope, no joy. Lets not forget my work laptop is now inside the locked topbox too, and I have work to do tomorrow. Oh oh.
Aha! A brainwave strikes me. Last Christmas, I bought the 16yr old (wants to be an engineer) a professional lock picking set, and some practice (see-through) locks. He's not home, but I know where the kit is... I wonder...
I won't name the tools, but I will say 2 pieces from that kit, and I can open the top box at least as quick (if not quicker) than if I were using the key! A casual passer-by would not know that the lock was being picked. An ST rider/member of this forum might think it's odd using both hands to undo the lock, but that's about all you'd see. I was genuinely shocked how easy it was to pick.
So, yeah, top box locks ain't particularly secure.
