I fixed a XENA lock today.

[Big Frank]

I finally finished drilling out my large Xena lock that the key broke off in a couple of years ago. The company I bought it from was supposed to send me a new "bullet" for it. I think I paid $9 to cover shipping. When I didn't get it and wrote them an email about it, they sent me a whole new lock, but smaller. It uses the same bullet as the big lock. You can put 2 stacks of button batteries in it, 6 altogether, IIRC, possibly 8. That's for the built-in alarm with a motion sensor inside the bullet. By manipulating the key when you lock it, you can have the alarm turned on or off while it's locked. After I drilled out the old bullet enough to get it out of the lock, I still had work to do. The hasp had a clear (at one time) plastic tube over it that ran from the top of the lock body, up and across, and back down to the lock body. It was cracked and split in several places so I cut it off. Then I spent an hour sanding the rust off with 80 grit sandpaper, and a fine grit sanding sponge to polish it up a bit. I squirted WD-40 in and on the lock and wiped t down with paper towel, then cleaned the bottom of the hasp holes with shotgun cleaning patches. Then I put the bullet from the small lock in it.

Now I need to buy another bullet if I can so I'll have 3 Xena locks in working order. I have my ATV chained up with a different kind. The hasp is about the same thickness, width, and opening as the big lock, and the body is about the same width and thickness, but it's not as tall since it doesn't have a removable bullet. It's more like the bottom half of the large lock body and that's all. The way the big lock is made, You can put the links of a chain up to 5/8" thick in the sides of the lock instead of using the big loop of the hasp. I used to do that because the main part of the hasp was too thick with the plastic cover on it to fit in the links of my chain. Using the side notches makes it just about impossible to get a pair of bolt cutters on the links, and they won't even cut a chain that thick. The lock is about 5 1/8" wide, 1 11/16" thick, and 7 1/2" tall. The hasp is about 11/16" thick. It was just over 3/4" with the plastic on it. The small lock is the same thickness, about 3 3/8" wide and 6 3/16" tall. And the hasp is about 5/8" thick. According to my digital luggage scale, the big lock weighs 4.2-4.4 pounds and the small one is 2.2-2.4 pounds. And when I weigh them both at the same time they're a total of 6.4-6.8 pounds. So, roughly 6.6 pounds, 3 kilos, for the pair.

I haven't had a single ATV stolen since I got the Xena lock and square-link ABUS chain. The first 2 that were stolen at the same time weren't locked up. Then I started chaining them up with a tow chain and what I considered to be a large padlock. They cut the locks twice and the chain once IIRC. I know they cut the chain and the lock but don't recall how many times each. But they stole 2 more ATVs. One was recovered by the police, then stolen again. So it was a total or 4 ATVs stolen but you may as well say 5, since they came back again to get that one after it was fixed. The thefts started right after a bunch of black people from the north end started going to the church across the street from me. I think someone burned their church down intentionally, so the church by me said come on over. The one ATV that was recovered was being ridden down the street on the other side of the city by a black teenager. There were many holiday weekends I couldn't go riding up north because my ATV was just stolen. After I started using the big lock and chain, one of my friends called before a trip up north and couldn't believe my ATV wasn't stolen yet. She asked if those black people were still going to the church across the street from me and I told her no. Draw your own conclusion. The best security may be a big lock and chain, or it may be not having a bunch of evil church people from another neighborhood come by, eyeballing your stuff every week.

[Diamondback]

Keeping your stuff out of sight helps immensely too. If not locked up in a garage/shed/container at least privacy fence.

[Big Frank]

Keeping your stuff out of sight helps immensely too. If not locked up in a garage/shed/container at least privacy fence.

Unfortunately I don't have a garage, and it won't fit in my 8'x8' shed unless I take everything else out. Getting a 48" wide vehicle through a 47.5" opening would also be a problem.   I've been thinking about building am 8'x12' shed, with a 5" wide doorway instead of 4' wide. But the price of lumber shot up to the stratosphere a few years ago and I put it on hold. I have a 6' high white cedar plank privacy fence on the north and west side of the yard up to the front corner of the house, but can't fence off the south side because it would be in the middle of me and my neighbor's driveway. 100+ years ago people weren't thinking about everyone needing driveways and garages, and the house is only 8' from the line. If I had a fence there, my ATV and trailer would fit between it and the house, but not my SUV. So a fence would make my driveway more or less useless. The church is directly across the street from me, and the sidewalk at the corner of the parking lot on the south side allows a direct view of my ATV parked in the driveway, behind my house. My trailer is right behind the Yukon, next to the shed. In the winter the trailer is where the ATV is, and the ATV is between the trailer and shed. That leaves the driveway wide open so I can plow snow right back to the fence. That makes it harder to steal because there's less room to maneuver. But when people are willing to cut a hole through a 6' tall chain link fence, go though yours and your neighbor's back yard, and down the next street, it's hard to discourage them. Someone on an ATV forum suggested I have a pit-bull with AIDS chained up next to. No one would go back there and risk getting bit by it. I'm really limited by space and money with what I can do.

[Big Frank]

Here's a pic of my other Xena lock. This U-Lock is about the same thickness, width, and opening as the large Bullet Lock, and the body is about the same width and thickness, but the lock body is only half as tall. I've been planning on taking them off for a side by side picture but haven't gotten around to it yet. I locked it to one of the tow chain loops on the 3-way ATV hitch as extra theft protection for it. I already have a locking hitch pin, but 2 locks are better than 1. The ABUS chain goes through an upper and lower A-arm and it's chained to a fence post. I normally have a pair of wheel locks on it instead, except in the winter when it's chained up.

[Big Frank]

I came across a picture of my U-Lock today. From 2-16-25. If the weather woodchuck said 2 more weeks of winter, we got it on that day. When I took the padlock off this month, I had to spray WD-40 in it and give it a few whacks with a big hammer. It filled with rusty water when the snow melted in winter. It was enough to keep the key from turning all the way, and the locking bolts from moving. You can't force the key in a disc detainer lock because they snap right off. Plain old pin tumbler locks are more forgiving. These don't have any springs in them and are harder to pick. The description of them starts at ~6:00 in the video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0-KWHSJLGE

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

Here's the XENA U-Lock compared to the original Bullet lock I recently fixed. Despite what the distortion in the pics may lead you to believe, the lock bodies and shackles are the same exact width, and they have the same length opening. When they're unlocked, I can swap shackles, but I can't lock them because of the difference in the lock-up. The U-lock has round holes that ball bearings move into, and the Bullet lock has square bolts that lock it into place. It also has square notches on the end and matching steps in the bottom of the lock. When I swapped shackles, instead of being the same effective length, one was shorter, and one was really long. I have my ATV locked up with the bullet lock and the plow locked up with the U-lock now.