It does not take more than a few seconds for thieves to remove a bike, even when fitted with a disc lock or chain, unless it is chained to something. People usually ignore an alarm when it sounds. Chaining your bike to something solid and secure such as the Torc ground anchor makes it much less likely it will be stolen. The Torc ground anchor is not just suitable for motorcycles - it can be used for bicycles, cars, caravans, quad bikes, ATVs, ride-on lawnmowers and horse trailers. Virtually anything you don't want stolen!

Torc ground anchor Series II - why is it special?

We developed the Torc ground anchor, Series I, because we couldn't find what we wanted after an attempt was made to steal our bikes. The Series I design gained many accolades, including Security Product of the Year in 2006, but we have now replaced it with the Series II, which is tougher, easier to install, and cheaper! Despite the cheaper price, we have not compromised either the security level or our goal of supporting British engineering and we continue to manufacture in the U.K. The Torc Series II anchor offers the following features:

• It is very secure - unlike some other bolt-in ground anchors the Torc Ground Anchor uses four of the highest quality fixings, rather than relying on poor quality fixings or a single bolt. It uses a full 20mm diameter hardened steel shackle - compare with many other products that use just 12mm or even less!
• The shackle is case hardened and resists freezing, cutting and grinding attacks. It cannot be bolt-cropped.
• The shackle is a complete 'D', so a thief would have to cut it twice in order to defeat it! (This is the improved Series II design - now available and even better than the original Series II!)
• The shackle folds flat to make it harder for the thief to attack, whilst being more convenient for you to use.
• It can be fitted with DIY tools. Some ground anchors need to be concreted-in. Others require special tools to drill large holes, which you may have to hire. The Torc Ground Anchor can be fitted with a normal DIY drill.
• It has two-stage corrosion protection with a zinc phosphate pretreatment and tough powder coating finish.
• It is extremely versatile. There is no other ground anchor that comes with three different fitting kits optimised for fitting to concrete floors, brick walls or vans. The concrete floor kit is recommended for maximum strength, largely because concrete is stronger than brick but also because it allows us to use advanced Liebig chemical resin capsules in place of expanding bolts. The resin achieves a much stronger bond with the concrete.
• It is the only ground anchor with a fitting kit for use inside a van - if you want to secure your valuables inside your van, the Torc Ground Anchor is the ideal solution. This is excellent for race and off-road motorcycles & quads as well as for tools and equipment in transit.
• It is Sold Secure Gold approved for all categories (Concrete floor fitting kit only; the other fitting kits have the Motorcycle Gold accreditation). This means it has been tested and approved for use with motorcycles, bicycles, ATVs, caravans and trailers, cars and for commercial & agricultural equipment and plant.
• It is large enough to take high quality large-link security chains that cannot be bolt-cropped. Many ground anchors cannot cope with these chains. Smaller chains can be bolt-cropped in seconds using tools favoured by thieves. There is sufficient space for the shackle to take two 16mm Protector (or similar) chains, or a 19mm and a 16mm chain.
• It is Made in Britain.

Easy to fit

The Torc Ground Anchor has been designed for easy DIY fit. It is not always easy or even possible to concrete-in a ground anchor, and a lot of households don't have access to heavy-duty drills that are required to fit the large bolts supplied with other ground anchors. The Torc Ground Anchor has been designed so that you can fit it in a pre-existing concrete floor, brick wall or inside your van using only DIY tools.

The instructions are written in a detailed, step-by-step way to guide you through the process of achieving a high-security fitting without needing exotic tools or advanced skills. There are numerous pictures and we are happy to give advice by e-mail or phone. You should be able to fit the Torc Ground Anchor in less than an hour.

Fitting kits for concrete, brick wall and van floor

The Torc Ground Anchor is available with a choice of three fitting kits to suit your application. Each fitting kit is designed to give maximum security combined with ease of installation. If you find you have bought the wrong fitting kit we will swap it for another free of charge, e.g. you can swap concrete for brick if you find the floor is no good!

The Concrete Floor fitting kit is Sold Secure approved in the following categories:

• Caravan Gold (this is the highest standard there is, signifying a much tougher attack than for any of the others)
• Motorcycle Gold
• ATV Gold (e.g. quad bikes)
• Car Gold
• Commercial Gold (including plant, agricultural equipment, etc)
• Bicycle Gold

The Brick Wall and Van fitting kits both have Sold Secure Motorcycle Gold accreditation (and implicitly Bicycle Gold as well).

In each package you will get a full fitting kit and fitting instructions, together with all the relevant bolts. The concrete floor kit includes a 12mm masonry drill bit; the brick wall kit includes a 16mm masonry bit. Both of those kits also include a length of plastic pipe to help you clean dust from the holes!

The detailed contents of each of the fitting kits supplied can be seen here.

Customer comment: "The idea of bolts being held in by resin seemed strange to me - so I contacted a mate at Rolls Royce - he said they hold their jet engines to the floor using the same method - so fair enough, my doubts were sorted." (The Concrete Floor fitting kit uses four Liebig chemical resin capsules for maximum strength and for ease of fitting.)

Dimensions, Design and Technical Details

The Torc Ground Anchor Series II is compact and unobtrusive when not in use, but large enough to take the largest chains known, including 16mm and 19mm. Most manufacturers would not share information such as follows here. We are happy to share this because we are confident in our design and manufacturing processes and are happy to be compared in fine detail with any other anchor on the market.

Shackle: 20mm Diameter Hardened Steel (the improved Series II design has the shackle formed as a complete 'D' so two cuts would be required to defeat it)
Maximum Vertical Clearance Below Shackle: 68mm
Maximum Horizontal Clearance Within Shackle: 100mm (extended semi-circular section with 100m diameter)
Base Plate: 140mm x 94mm overall (shaped by laser within these overall dimensions)
Base Plate Thickness: 12mm
Base Plate Bridge (i.e. the curved section holding the shackle in position): Cold Drawn Seamless steel, continuously welded on both sides to the base plate
Height to top of bridge (highest point, when folded) = 30mm
Fixings: Quantity 4, grade 10.9 high tensile M10 socket countersunk bolts, zinc plated, supplied with hardened chrome-steel ball bearings to defeat drilling attempts
Fixing Hole Centres: At the corners of a rectangle measuring 100mm x 60mm
Finish: Zinc phosphate followed by powder coating: Red on the shackle, and Black on the base plate.

The shackle is a critical component on any ground anchor. We are proud to entrust the manufacture of the Torc ground anchor shackles to Armstrongs Blacksmiths & Engineers. Les Armstrong himself was the winner of the first international blacksmiths' competition and previously president of NAFBAE. This is an example of the calibre of several of the ISO 9002-registered subcontractors that we use for our manufacture.

Many other anchors have poor quality finishes that will chip and rust prematurely. We have designed the shackle and the base plate on the Torc Series II anchor such that they are unlikely to chip each other in normal use. To provide protection after inevitable chips from the heavy chains expected to be used with this anchor, we have employed a zinc phosphate pretreatment in addition to high grade polyester powder coating - if the powder coating does get chipped, there is still a rust-resistant layer beneath. This is an example of the attention to detail that we give to our flagship product.

Fitting kits for concrete floor and brick wall both include a length of plastic tubing to help you blow dust from the holes. This is very important to achieving a good fixing, whether with chemical resin or with expanding bolts. We also include the correct size of masonry drill bit in those kits, to help you drill the right size hole! Many security products use ball bearings to hammer into the bolt heads. We include an aid in the kit to help you actually do this as it is not easy otherwise, especially if you are fitting the anchor to a vertical wall! We don't want you to hit your fingers with the hammer! How many other anchors are supplied with such comprehensive contents?

We claimed for years that the Torc Ground Anchor (Series I) was the best anchor on the market and we had numerous awards and reviews that supported that claim. The Series II is better!

Please refer to the photos below to see views from various angles.

Convenient and easy to use

The fact that it folds out of your way means it does not take a lot of room in your garage or inside your van. You can drive a car right over it without damaging either the car or the ground anchor. If fitted in your van, it will not take up room that you could otherwise use for storage. As with any item fitted to or placed on your garage floor, you should take care not to trip over the Torc Ground Anchor - although extremely compact, it is not completely flat!

You should always be very careful to choose a good site for your Torc Ground Anchor. An ideal site will:

• Be accessible to you while locking up your valuables, but difficult to access for the thief. You could place the ground anchor on the floor near a wall, or on a wall, and then chain your motorcycle in front of it. This makes it difficult for a thief to attack the ground anchor/chain/lock.
• Allow you to fit the chain to your valuables without the chain or padlock dragging on the ground. This makes it much harder for the thief to attack the chain or padlock.
• Allow you to fit the chain through the frame of your bicycle, motorcycle or ATV - fitting it through the wheel has a risk of the vehicle being stolen minus its wheel! (See our Anti-Pinch Pin for a product that helps you to use a big chain on an item that doesn't have a large enough space to take the chain!)
• Still allow you to use other security measures, such as a motorcycle cover.

High quality - Independent Certification

There are lot of security devices on the market and it can be confusing to decide which ones are good and which ones aren't. One way of doing this is to ensure that any device you fit is tested by an independent organisation such as Sold Secure.

Sold Secure testing is carried out using methods in current use by thieves, and certification for products is updated on an annual basis to ensure that protection remains effective against ever-changing methods of attack.

There are three standards of award - Gold, Silver and Bronze, and six categories of award (bicycle, motorcycle, ATV, caravan and trailer, and car and commercial equipment). The methods of attack vary according to the category, so it is important to choose a ground anchor that is Sold Secure Gold for the category of equipment you wish to secure.

The Torc Ground Anchor is Sold Secure Gold in all categories for the recommended Concrete Floor fitting kit. This includes the caravan test, which is the most stringent test, as well as the popular Motorcycle Gold certification. The Brick Wall and Van fitting kits have the Sold Secure Motorcycle Gold status.

You can also read our testimonials to find out what customers think of our product.

Use in a van

The Torc anchor can cater for installation on the floor of a van, and even on suitable framing members on the van walls. It is the only ground anchor with a specific fitting kit designed for installation in a van.

Many motorbikes, bicycles and other valuable items are stolen from vans, especially near motocross and other race venues where there are often hundreds of bikes arriving in vans and on trailers. Using the Torc anchor when the bikes are not being ridden changes easy pickings for a thief into a much bigger challenge. Make life difficult for them!

Theft of commercial equipment from vans is also a major problem - lawn maintenance equipment, concrete mixers and other expensive tools are often stolen from vans left on the drive overnight, or by opportunist thieves during the daytime. Don't let them steal your valuable equipment!

The Torc anchor van fitting kit includes high tensile bolts and security shear nuts, load-spreading penny washers and threadlocking compound. It is designed for easy installation in a van or other thin-walled metal enclosure (including bike safes). We provide a long-arm Allen key to make it easier for a single person to fit it inside a van.

Can it be moved?

The Torc Ground Anchor is designed for permanent fitting, and so is really difficult to move once it has been fitted. So please, don't fit it in the wrong place!

If you have to remove it, e.g. when moving house and the new owner doesn't see the merits of having an anchor available, it can be removed by cutting it out of the concrete. This will not be a quick process but if it is done carefully, the body of the anchor can be recovered and installed at a new location. Contact us for a new fitting kit. The cleanest way to cut it out is generally with the aid of a large (9") angle grinder with a concrete-cutting disc. This is a dangerous tool and should only be used by an experienced operator.