Locking your stuff up at the track

Someone new to the racing paddock was asking on Facebook what they should do if they were not staying at the track.
I recommended they lock their stuff up in the trailer because stuff has been stolen or even dirty racers changing settings on bikes.
I’m sure there are those out there that think all racetrack paddocks are all rainbows and unicorns. What are thous thoughts?

 

Lock everything up when you leave the track for the night just as you would lock it up when you leave your house. Too many weekends have been ruined by not following this plan.

 

Its not common for theft or sabotage at most tracks, but it does happen. Lock everything up though.

 

Hell, I'd keep everything locked up as much as possible all the time. If you're in your leathers, keep your wallet and other stuff locked in your car. And so on. Set up a good buddy system with your neighbor. 15 years ago somebody walked out with a bike in broad daylight. National events, double your efforts. I remember Ferracci getting a set of bodywork lifted when the AMA was still at Loudon.

 

I'd advise said racer to look at the weekend as a time management event. How prepared are they for the weekend?
Commuting to/from a hotel sucks but also wastes precious time they may or may not have.
How many times do they want to "setup pit" for the weekend?
That's not even getting into their race schedule or any machine issues like tires. Do you lock up your entire pit when heading out to grid? what about tech?
Are you carrying around a huge key ring in your leathers?
Does the new paddock member have an assistant that can load up their items if they were injured?

I was told 20 years ago... don't bring anything to the track you could not put in a dumpster. If I wasn't comfortable with those items being scrap then I put some insurance coverage on it.

 

We left our stuff at the track for the last two Tally events with nary an issue. Now there were people staying there near us that were keeping an eye on things, but I wasn't worried.

 

I left my bike and generator outside at track days many times over my 13 years of track days. Never had an issue, although I was usually sleeping in my trailer.
At a place like NCBike, most of the paddock leaves their bikes set up under a lowered canopy overnight just because of the way the pits are set up.

 

up to a point where thieves cut through the trailer sheet metal vs. breaking into doors (parking lot hotel a half mile away from barber)

 

Most places I don't worry as much about people stealing things so I drop the canopy on the bike and tool boxes and sleep at the track. I have been more worried about people messing with the bikes especially after some comments and threats I heard so now I put a motion camera facing the bikes

 

I always stayed at the track, only way to do it, otherwise you miss all the evening / nighttime activities.

 

And take your scooter keys. Someone "borrowed" my scooter at Barber this past weekend. It is unique enough that it could not have been accidental. Fortunately, I found it parked out in the paddock but not in anyone's pit. I was denied my release.

 

All you can really do is keep the honest people honest. Lock it up. Bad people will steal it either way.

 

Yup...all you can do is inhibit the shit-bums.

 

As someone who has had a radiator filled with South Carolina yard sand on the single night he didn't lock his shit in the trailer my advice is don't give anyone the opportunity to dick with your stuff.

Some people suck.

 

I don't even understand how people who can do that stuff live with themselves. I mean, even if no one ever finds out, wouldn't someone still feel shame from having done that? What sort of things must have happened in their lives to get them to that point?

 

As already mentioned, theft isn't super common, but it's a possibility. I've heard of it happening more at track days than at race weekends.

 

In this case I may or may not have made a girl feel bad about himself by calling his Hummer H3 a chick car.

That was the very expensive Formula 2 560 project that went up in smoke and could have killed me if it had exploded 200 ft earlier than it did. I was going through 10 at CMP when it gave up and holed itself.

 

I agree. The racing crowd is slightly more like a family than the track day crowd. Quite a few folks will do one track day and decide it's not for them, but racers have spent more days at the track....a repetitive crowd.

@Venom51 .....sand in the radiator? That's insane that someone would go that far.

 

Huh. I’d have figured it was some spandex warrior that you knocked into the ditch for pedaling down the middle of your lane