How to choose a motorcycle disc lock

What to check before you buy a disc lock

1. Its rating. Sold Secure grades motorcycle locks Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond. In the Powered Cycle category, Diamond products are tested against angle grinder attack and Gold products are not (soldsecure.com/ratings, read 18 Sep 2026).
2. What happens if you forget it. A carried disc lock left on when you ride off turns with the disc until it hits the caliper or fork, and the wheel stops with you on the bike. An integrated disc lock is bolted to the caliper. If you start to ride off with the BrakeBolt still in, the front wheel stays locked and the bike just stalls.
3. What you carry. A carried disc lock rides in a jacket pocket or a tank bag. With an integrated disc lock you carry only the locking pin; ROADLOK's BrakeBolt weighs 72 g.
4. Whether it fits. ROADLOK fits radial-mounted front calipers with 80, 100 or 108 mm between the two mounting bolts. Bikes with axial calipers need a carried disc lock. Check fitment for my bike

A disc lock is one layer. The rest of this page sets it beside a chain and a tracker.

Four layers, one job each

Motorcycle security is not one purchase. Each layer stops one kind of theft and misses the others. 44,564 motorcycles were reported stolen in the US in 2025 and 41 percent were recovered (NICB, 3 Aug 2026). The NICB's advice for the rest is to use multiple layers of anti-theft protection.

Sources and dates for every figure are at the end of the page.

The carried disc lock

A disc lock clamps through a hole in the brake disc so the wheel cannot turn. It is the cheapest layer and the one most riders own. It stops a push-away, which Bennetts BikeSocial, the UK insurer's test site, calls "a typical technique" in a busy city (security guide, updated 24 Dec 2025). What limits it is the rider.

The lock lives off the bike, in a jacket pocket or a tank bag, and taking it off is a separate step from riding. Skip the step once and the lock turns with the disc until it hits the caliper or fork, and the wheel stops with you on the bike. Riders describe it the same way every time: "CLUNK", "came to a sudden stop", "rear wheel instantly locks up". The market's answer is a reminder cable, a bright coiled cord from the lock to the grip, sold for about $9 to $14 at US retailers. It reminds you. It does not change what happens if you forget anyway.

What a ride-off costs, from dated rider reports and current retail prices:

The integrated disc lock

ROADLOK is an integrated disc lock. The lock body bolts to the front brake caliper and stays on the bike. When you park, you insert the BrakeBolt™ locking pin through the brake disc and turn the key. When you ride, the BrakeBolt is in your pocket, not in the lock.

Nothing to carry but a small locking pin. Nothing to forget at home.

It does the same job as a carried disc lock, stopping the bike from being rolled or ridden away. The differences show up when you forget it and when someone attacks it.

If you start to ride off with the BrakeBolt still in, the front wheel stays locked and the bike just stalls. The lock can't turn with the disc the way a loose disc lock does. That keeps rider and bike clear of the damage a forgotten disc lock can do.

Because the body is bolted to the caliper, there is nothing to cut free of the disc and nothing to lever against. Bennetts tested it with bolt croppers (GOOD), a lump hammer (GOOD) and an angle grinder (OUTSTANDING), and wrote: "As a disc lock, I can honestly say that I've not tested anything that's more effective; cutting the disc itself doesn't work, removing the bolts from the caliper doesn't defeat it, and nor does cutting the body (which is extremely time-consuming)." (John Milbank, 15 Feb 2023.) In the same site's security guide it ranks first of twelve disc locks: "it's the best disc lock we've tested, given that it's always to hand and it's far less likely to cause damage to your bike if you forget to disengage it before riding off."

What if a thief unbolts it? Unbolting the lock body from the caliper removes the mounting, not the lock. The BrakeBolt stays through the disc and the lock stays locked with the key. What is left is a locked disc lock, which turns with the wheel until it hits the caliper or fork and stops. Beating it still takes the same attack on the cylinder or the BrakeBolt as any disc lock.

What it adds to the bike: about 400 g. The lock sits on the caliper, held by longer caliper mounting bolts, not on the wheel or the disc, so it adds nothing that spins. The BrakeBolt weighs 72 g and is the only part that rides with you.

What it needs from you: every 2 to 3 months, rinse the lock cylinder with fresh water, dry it with compressed air and puff a dry lubricant such as graphite into the keyhole. Do it more often in harsher climates or riding conditions, such as salted roads or a bike kept outdoors. No oil, spray lubricants or white lithium grease for routine care. If the BrakeBolt is held when you unlock, keep the key fully clockwise, press up on the handlebar on the lock side and pull the BrakeBolt with the other hand. Park on level ground where you can, and on a slope leave the bike in gear. Fitment data assumes the original brake disc, so fitment with an aftermarket disc cannot be guaranteed. With an aftermarket disc, find the spacer by testing. The owner FAQ covers the rest: ROADLOK owner FAQ

Which bikes: radial-mounted front calipers with 80, 100 or 108 mm between the two mounting bolts, center to center. Most Brembo and BMW-branded radial calipers are 100 mm, most Nissin and Tokico are 108 mm, most Bybre are 80 mm. Select Honda Nissin calipers with a tall bleed valve in the center of the caliper body take the XRA-C100R. Axial calipers do not fit. Check fitment for my bike

Certifications: Sold Secure Powered Cycle Diamond and ART 4-star. On Sold Secure's own definitions, Diamond is the "top level of resistance against the most determined thief", and in the Powered Cycle category Diamond products are tested against angle grinder attack where Gold products are not (soldsecure.com/ratings, read 18 Sep 2026).

Price: from $239.99, with all the mounting hardware for your bike in the box. Limited lifetime warranty for the original owner, with the full terms at roadlok.com/warranty. Shop the XRA-100R Shop the XRA-108R Shop the XRA-80L Shop the XRA-100L Shop the XRA-80R Shop the XRA-C100R

The chain

A chain earns its weight when it runs through the frame and around something fixed. Looped through a wheel alone it stops nothing a disc lock does not already stop, so the anchor is the point: at home, a ground anchor set in concrete; away from home, a lamp post or railing that cannot be cut or slipped over.

Chains are graded. Sold Secure tests them at Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond; for motorcycle products, Diamond is the grade that includes the angle grinder in the attack, Gold does not. Against a grinder, thickness buys less than the price ladder suggests: in Bennetts' chain destruction tests the difference in cutting time "between the best and worst is a mere 30 seconds" (test method published 26 Aug 2020). A 16 mm chain in a 1.5 m length weighed 7.30 kg, about 16 lb, in one of those tests (12 Oct 2017). Bennetts' rule for carrying one: "a chain with links of 14mm thick is about the limit of what can practically be carried on a bike." A 14 mm chain and disc lock set from a major US brand weighs 15.25 lb and sells for $266.95 (Cycle Gear and RevZilla, September 2026). Chains at US retailers run from $49.99 to $449.99.

The practical split most riders land on: the heavy chain and the ground anchor stay at home and cover the night; something lighter covers the day.

The tracker

A tracker does not stop a theft. It reports where the bike is after one, so that you and the police can recover it. The 2025 US recovery rate for stolen motorcycles was 41 percent (NICB, 3 Aug 2026); a tracker is how a bike gets into that number rather than the other 59.

Two things to know before buying one. Most units need a cellular subscription; at US retailers the devices run $109.99 to $179, and where a subscription is charged it runs from about $4.50 to $18 a month across the units in a January 2026 roundup, with some sold subscription-free. And thieves know trackers exist: Bennetts reports stolen bikes "hidden as little as 60m away from the point of theft, while the thieves wait to see if a tracker is installed."

A tracker and a lock are not alternatives. One stops the bike leaving; the other tells you where it went.

How the layers fit together

Short answers

Is an integrated disc lock better than a chain? They do different jobs. The integrated lock stops the bike being rolled or ridden away and is on the bike every time you park, with nothing heavy to carry. An anchored chain is the heavy layer for where the bike sleeps. Use the lock every time you park and the chain at home.

Do I still need a disc lock if I have a tracker? Yes. A tracker does nothing at the moment of theft. It helps afterward.

Can a thief cut the brake disc to get an integrated lock off? Bennetts' tester found that cutting the disc "doesn't work" and that cutting the lock body is "extremely time-consuming" (15 Feb 2023). Unbolting the body leaves a locked disc lock on the disc.

Is the BrakeBolt in the lock while I ride? No. The BrakeBolt goes in only when the bike is parked. While you ride, it is on its lanyard or in your pocket. The dust plug fills the BrakeBolt chamber, and the rubber lock cylinder cap loops over the head of the dust plug and covers the keyhole.

The lock body and the BrakeBolt™ locking pin are CNC machined in the USA. Other parts and accessories come from a combination of US and foreign sources.

Sources

NICB, "Recreational Vehicle Thefts Declined in 2025, but Most Remain Unrecovered", 3 Aug 2026. Bennetts BikeSocial, "The best motorcycle chains, locks, disc-locks and security reviewed", updated 24 Dec 2025; "Roadlok review", John Milbank, 15 Feb 2023; "How we tested motorcycle chains and locks", 26 Aug 2020; 16 mm chain test, 12 Oct 2017. Sold Secure, ratings page, read 18 Sep 2026. Cycle Gear and RevZilla category and product pages, 5 and 18 Sep 2026. Heritage Cycle Works, "15 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers for 2026", 7 Jan 2026. Rider reports: ducatimonsterforum.org, 15 Jul 2011; r/motorcycles, 23 May 2021, 25 Aug 2023, 13 Nov 2022.