thinking about fitting an alarm on me bike cant decide if its a good ideal or not probably like house alarms no one takes any notice does anyone use an alarm if you do can anyone recommend one
Personal experience when I my bike was lifted in broad daylight in the City of London into a van, was that a good Samaritan responded to the noise of the alarm and phoned Plod, who promptly did feck all for 3 hours, a nice buffer time to let them get clean away. Don't waste your money, the only chance your bike has is to be chained to something solid.
Never wanted one fitted to my bikes. never had one never missed it. Really depends on where you are parking/using it for if like me it's a toy and your only going to leave it while you at the cafe having a brekky when out for a blat. Touring europe and looking for a safe place to put the bike or trackdays you won't really need it
I took my bike into a place to have tyres fitted once and said, there is the alarm and the key, his reply was to give me a quote for how much it would cost to remove the alarm when it packed up and I couldn't start the bike. I asked why he thought that would happen, he said, because it always does at some point then people take them off and do without them. My current bike has one, but I wouldn't pay for one to be fitted.
Pain in the arse. Drains battery, no one gives a fook if the alarm goes off...wakes the neighbours at 3am if it's windy....and the key fobs break at the mere hint of a sugar cube or drop of H2O... Don't bother.
I had a datatool green or something along them lines when I brought my r6, paid to get that removed sharpo! Beep beep beep all the time drove me insane especially as I turned it into a track bike.
Forget about an alarm and get a decent chain, lock, and fit a strong anchor in your garage/shed or wherever you park your bike☺
I would personally put a tracker on it from bike trac best on market by far and picks up even if put in a container
Last Alarm I had on a Bike was a Gen 1 Blade back in 93! Bag-O-Shyte then, Bag-O-Shyte now! Almax Chain and Ground Anchor, best going. http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/
I've had a couple of bikes with datatool alarms and the best thing I did was remove the bastard annoying beeping bastard things lol
Where I live at the moment I haven't got a garage so the bike's parked in the front garden got two ground anchors one front one back been thinking about upgrading one of the chains going to get the almax 19mm chain and padlock serious bit of kit its about all I can do really
Re: The bike tracker.. Think I might just do that, by the looks of things £299 to fit and the £99 per year, don't seem too bad to me, I assume you would get an insurance discount as it has a tracker?
Haven't stuck a bike alarm on a bike in years. Last one I had was a fairly expensive Meta, kept going off to the point I didn't even bother looking before I pressed the button to switch it off. The bike was actually being nicked with it on, was picked up and being loaded into a van and only went off when the back wheel touched down. I wouldn't buy an alarm or tracker expecting to get a great insurance discount, it will probably take a few renewals before it pays for itself. I'd always buy physical security first and foremost if you can. At home I've got an Almax chain and ground anchor sunk into the garage floor. As my bike's new I'd rather buy gap insurance.
One of the dealers told me that he didnt fit any alarm on his bike as he couldnt hear it anyway. It is true so well worth having a browse on tracker devices.
Had alarms on my bikes for years... but then I park in Liverpool during the day. Only had one issue with an alarm in all that time which was due to a faulty control box and replaced under warranty. I think the majority of issues come from bikes being stored and batteries getting low / going flat ... they are generally very reliable.
From the alarms I have used (generally Meta) the battery will last between a week and 2 weeks before being too low to start the bike and within a couple of weeks of that you then shell out £60 - £70 for a new battery. My mate had one, no idea of make, that his battery would last a month before it wouldn't start. These days I lave the bike on permanent charge / conditioning as I have a bit of a duff battery and the bike came with a Meta alarm which as yet, I have not had removed. Alarms kill batteries that are not on permanent conditioning / chargers.
I agree with the Alarm thing, generally they are ineffective, and unreliable, causing problems. The golden rule for protection is 'Layers' ... Usually you are dealing with people from the low end of the gene pool. Make it challenging and they will go away. You have a problem that you have no garage. Negate this best you can, always put your cover on. But don't shelter the bike behind bins etc, just gives scum somewhere to hide. Chains are good, but they need to be anchored in concrete not bolted down. next get some light on the job, a flood with PIR (correctly angled so doesn't go off needlessly) then noise, my mate had a thin cable attached to his bike, park it near to the wall of the house. cable through the wall connected to a school bell. ... tug cable bell rings, no electronics. Good luck, Mike.
