How To: Ground Anchor Install
 

Ground Anchor Install

Decided I liked the idea of a flush in ground floor anchor (similar to Y anchor - the Ultimate Motorcycle Security Ground Anchor) but didn't want to deal with that price tag. After a few suggestions from others here on the forum I decided to make my own in my garage floor (note, I did this 2 years ago, so I may list some stuff wrong).

Started by going to a muffler shop around the corner from my house with my OnGuard chain I wanted to fit through it, and tested it through some pipes and landed on the 2.5" diameter since I thought it would still fit through even after slightly crimped by the bending.

Decided on how deep I felt like digging and chopped off the ends to make it flush with the ground
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Not the straightest line ever, but I was able to level it out when suspending it in the quikrete.
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Ground down the edges (safety first!).
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Marked off where I wanted it and started drilling an outline. I was cheap and bought crappy Harbor Freight drill bits, but they worked.
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Circular saw helped speed it up a bit, but this was a long slow process every evening after work.
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Cut down some, then drilling hammer & cold chisel. Repeat.
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Broke through finally! I think it was about 4"-6" thick before the gravel. Had to cut through the metal lattice structural mesh.
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Good fit.
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16"
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by 3.5"
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by 12".
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Rig for suspending while quikrete set.
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Stuffed a bit of newspaper in the ends and filled with some extra GreatStuff foam I had to keep the quikrete out.
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Decided to use bonding cement on all the concrete surfaces. May not have been necessary but it's not like it increased the cost much at all.
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Put rebar through the base at some point for extra paranoid strength (hopefully), but for some reason I don't have pictures of it. I did drill a hole straight through the pipe so that any collected water/moisture coudl drain straight through. Covered the top hole with duct tape.
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Filled it up.
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Kept it covered.
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Finished product. Chain took a little bit of coaxing to get through, but wasn't an issue.
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General cost breakdown.
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Final thoughts. Honestly, this wasn't necessary at all. I traveled a lot for work at the time (gone for 1+ month at a time) and I wanted to convince myself my bike was safe the entire time even though it was in a good neighborhood inside my locked garage. If someone wanted the bike, they could still steal it (spend time cutting chain, remove rear tire, etc). I also know that since the chain rests on the ground, it just gives the thief more leverage to cut it against.
I had initally wanted to come up with some clever caps I could put on each hole when my bike wasn't there, but it never happened, and since I locked it there 90% of the time I never needed it. Plus, being flush with the ground, I never had an issue driving a vehicle over it since I set the tip a hair under the level of the concrete.

If you're paranoid, try it. It could deter someone, otherwise I think you can spend your time better.

Link to full album with lots of pointless pictures: Ground Anchor Photos by sluijs01 | Photobucket