Bike lock warning

[Old Codger]

Being a bit of an idiot and lazy I set my lock in the app to automatic as I couldn't be bothered to get my phone out every time to start the motor.
Ive Just realised that the Bluetooth range is about 50mts, so with the bike in a shed and phone in house it can still be switched on. Same when in a cafe, although I do use another lock.
Once the bike is started it I’ll still work out of Bluetooth range. It still has the 10 minute cut off if not used but a thief could be miles away.
Some kind of electronic crank lock would be nice but could be dodgy if it went faulty.
Sorry if this is obvious to everyone.

 

[Renton_Yorkshire]

Im also lazy and have it set to automatic, however my battery is removable, and lives in the house when I'm not riding the bike

Interestingly, I'm fairly sure mine shuts off as soon as it's out of bluetooth range. I know this as if I leave my phone in the garage and get to the other end of the drive on a little short travel test, it shuts off.

 

[RustyIron]

No Pho King Way I'll run a software lock on my bike. When I first got a bike with that capability, all I could think of was being 20 miles from the truck, smashing my phone, and being totally screwed. I've been quite vocal in sharing my perspective. Then a month ago a friend called me up from the trailhead. There was some kind of problem with the phone pairing and the bike wouldn't run. I had no solution, so the friend had to cancel the ride and drive all the way home. Once home and within wifi range, it was a five minute fix. Needless to say, the security feature is now turned off.

 

[Stihldog]

No Pho King Way I'll run a software lock on my bike. When I first got a bike with that capability, all I could think of was being 20 miles from the truck, smashing my phone, and being totally screwed. I've been quite vocal in sharing my perspective. Then a month ago a friend called me up from the trailhead. There was some kind of problem with the phone pairing and the bike wouldn't run. I had no solution, so the friend had to cancel the ride and drive all the way home. Once home and within wifi range, it was a five minute fix. Needless to say, the security feature is now turned off.

That is Sofa King bad. I turned mine off after it lock me out. Haven’t used it since.

 

[Jackware]

I just turn mine off before I start riding and turn it back on when it's locked up back at home

 

[Xman]

I've set mine to lock when I remove the kiox display, no problems that I know of with near field issues

 

[Andy.M]

Being a bit of an idiot and lazy I set my lock in the app to automatic as I couldn't be bothered to get my phone out every time to start the motor.
Ive Just realised that the Bluetooth range is about 50mts, so with the bike in a shed and phone in house it can still be switched on. Same when in a cafe, although I do use another lock.
Once the bike is started it I’ll still work out of Bluetooth range. It still has the 10 minute cut off if not used but a thief could be miles away.
Some kind of electronic crank lock would be nice but could be dodgy if it went faulty.
Sorry if this is obvious to everyone.

But if you exit the app on your phone the connection is lost and the motor wont unlock. You can still pedal it away though!

 

[Old Codger]

But if you exit the app on your phone the connection is lost and the motor wont unlock. You can still pedal it away though!

It would be handy it the motor locked so that the cranks didn’t turn, much like Park in an automatic car.

 

[Joecrow]

Just a reminder to everyone, if your bike has a Kiox display you also have the option of using it to unlock the bike either as well as a mobile phone or alone.

 

[DieBoy]

The software motor lock is an additional security measure to make the bike less attractive to thieves(*), it is not intended to be an alternative to a good physical lock.

If you're in a cafe close to the bike, you could switch Bluetooth off on your phone to be on the safe side.

Note you can have more than one phone as an unlock device - I've installed the Flow app on my S.O.'s phone and installed the digital key just in case.

My presumption is thar a crash that destroys my phone and turns the bike off will mean that either I or the bike or both aren't ride-capable afterwards, so it would be a moot point.



* Though it's apparently possible to sell a locked ebike to the dubious Cashconverters in the UK where some poor unsuspecting soul will buy it via eBay - see thread on this phenomenon recently