Read posts from several months ago that many were having trouble with E-scooters being stolen. I am interested in hearing if still huge problem and how to keep one safe. I know helps a lot buying a couple of heavy U shaped locks and locking to post if possible. Also the licensing situation right now seems very unclear. Scooter shops say you just need to carry registration card and police will not hassle you. Would buy used but not sure how to find dependable used scooter. Friends of mine have been burned so badly with used. Any new advice would really be appreciated.

Buy 2x over 100rmb u-locks. Make sure they use the spear shaped keys. Try to park it underground in a guard secured whenever possible. Lock your battery also. Don't leave it anywhere overnight that's not underground secured parking.

No idea on the registration. Others will chime in.

I have seen people take the small ebikes in the elevator and take them up to their floor and park it in the lobby, or in the apartment. A lot will depend on what the building management will allow, and what others are doing.

But as Alex said, secure indoor parking with a guard is the only alternative for safer parking.

When I bought my ebike I got a good U-lock to go with it. I also purchased a disk brake lock for over 100 RMB and it works like a charm. But that is only an option if you have an ebike with a front disk brake system. As an aside: I would suggest you get a better ebike with a disk brake system...stopping power is tremendous and you need it in Kunming traffic.

In terms of safety I always park it in ebike parking spaces with an attendant present. Yeah, it costs money, better to pay an RMB or two, but be safe. At home, in my apartment complex, I have a dedicated ebike underground parking area with power where I can charge the ebike overnight. I pay by the month and it costs me 60 RMB for unlimited charging. Excellent deal I think.

Recently got stopped going home late at night by the police. They asked me for a copy of my passport and the purchase receipt / registration card for the ebike. Since I don't have plates, they didn't ask me for the official government ebike registration. They looked at the copies of the paperwork and decided that everything was in order. No problems. Asked them about proper registration and they cops said that the government still is not processing new registrations. So they said only need to carry a passport, purchase receipt and the registration card you get when you purchase the ebike.

I got my scooter stolen last week in the parking space of Walmart in the middle of the day, with people around. The security guards showed me the (blurry) video and it showed that it only took the thieves 3 minutes to break the lock. I went to th police and was given a form to fill, but I doubt the chances of finding it will be high.

I didn't know there was a dedicated parking space for bikes and scooters on the side of the Walmart building. Now I'll make sure to look well for a place like that before leaving my scooter.
This time I bought a cheaper scooter with three locks (the cheap one given for free, and bought two large ones).

ASlso, about a month ago, I noticed that there was a small sticker that was half removed on the lock. It's just under the side where the lock goes in and there were two small buttons underneath the sticker. I'm not sure, but those probably help the thieves open the locks?

@yankee00, sorry to hear you got your scooter stolen. I am curious to hear if you had an alarm. I do not feel real secure in those dedicated parking spaces either. When i go the north Walmart on Bejing Lu the attendant gives me a card, but i do not see how he can keep track if everyone is leaving with the bike they brought in. I wonder if westerners are being targeted for the thefts. I have been watching lately and seen new scooters unsecured everywhere and they are not bothered.

@tallamerican, thank you. Yes, I had the alarm on, but I don't think that it really matters. They just force open the seat and turn the power switch off. Nobody seems to care when any kind of alarm goes off; or it's more like they don't want to get involved. Just like when a car goes through a red light and a nearby policeman looks at it in a nonchalant way.
When I noticed that my scooter was gone, it was only a fourth security guard who i asked for help who showed me where the monitoring room was. The first two told me that if it didn't happen inside the building, then it's not their responsibility. The third said that even if it's mine or his scooter that was stolen, that was part of things that happen in life. I found the fourth guard near the car wash behind the building.

In the video room, a security guard helped me scan through the video, and when we arrived at the part where I was waiting to see my scooter getting taken, he stopped the video and told me to come back with a Chinese friend to help with communication. When I came back with a Chinese friend, the same guy first took time and made sure to show us a live footage of the location and pointed at a white paper stuck on a pole (opposite the KTV) saying that scooters shouldn't be parked there and explained to us how this relieved them of any responsibility. I didn't think of checking if the paper was there when they replayed the video of the theft. When I asked him if he could show the footage of another camera located on the same way the theft went, he told us that that camera actually wasn't working. It felt like he was more worried about not getting any complaints, although all I cared about was finding my scooter.

I get the feeling that security is only there to give people an impression of feeling secured. I guess that since there's no better place to put a scooter, parking space with attendants is the next best option. In communities -even if you live in a villa- some people not living there can come and go without having the guards stop them. And if you are a pretty girl, the security guard will even unlock a gate that has card access for you.

Also, I don't think they particularly target Westerners for the theft of scooters. Koreans, overseas Chinese, and even Chinese get their vehicles stolen. After I told her about my experience, a Kunmingese friend told me that she had three scooters stolen here in the past year, and a mobile phone last month.

In an post this summer i think tigertiger said the best thing is to paint your scooter so ugly that no one will steal it because they would have no market to resell it. Maybe that is the answer along with 2-3 U locks. Hopefully things will not change and we would not need to sell the bike ourselves.

They will steal an ugly old scooter as well. Just they will steal the shiny new one first though.

I think to be clear, the key is underground parking with an attendant. Thefts there happen rarely. Being underground and out of sight is a big benefit. Add in an attendant in an enclosed space and a couple of good ulocks or disk lock as filipd recommends, thieves don't make it a priority to steal stuff there.

I agree security guards are worthless. Just there for show and even worse, a false sense of security.

In my old uni, there was a family that lived in the basement, at the entrance to the bike park. They managed it all.