After market alarm

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by Angus2001, Feb 28, 2020.

  1. Angus2001

    Angus2001 New Member

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    My local riding shop owner looked over my 2001 VFR800Fi As they were replacing the front tire. (Bridgestone Batlax T30, and for the most part gave it a good clean bill of health. Although he did mention that I should have the aftermarket alarm removed, he sited he has seen more bad than good come from these. Said many a bike has malfunctioned electrically because of them and they don't help with insurance or keep theaves away either. Does anyone want to weigh in on this...?
     
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  2. Sc4recr0w

    Sc4recr0w New Member

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    I'd imagine the bike making noise when someone is trying to steal it is a good thing, only time the alarm should badly affect the bikes electricals is if it's a cheapo alarm, or its improperly installed. Or someone's regularly trying to steal your bike.

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  3. fink

    fink Member

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    Kind of hard to comment because you didn’t mention the manufacturer of the alarm. Most of the problems I have come across with alarms are failed fobs ( inc flat batteries) and duff connections, faults with alarms themselves few and far between.

    Most folk can’t be arsed forking out for replacement fobs.

    Cheap alarms ( Chinese) tend to cause most problems.
     
  4. Angus2001

    Angus2001 New Member

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    The alarm manufacture is SPY...For the record, I disagree with the owner. Spy seems to be a good brand from my research...Now if i could only get the auto-start to work properly.
     
  5. Sc4recr0w

    Sc4recr0w New Member

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    I wouldnt trust the auto start function my friend.. all it takes is for the wrong radio signal to reach your bike and it will start up, after all the auto start is done on a radio frequency, I'd suggest the auto cut off if you have it but I wouldn't do the remote start, that's just my own opinion though.. entirely up to you

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  6. Angus2001

    Angus2001 New Member

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  7. Norse

    Norse New Member

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    If it's a quality alarm and it's fitted correctly, it's shouldn't cause any problems.
    but I do agree that it is basically useless.

    There are 2 kinds of motorcycle thiefs:
    1: The opportunistic kind, who will basically just steal it if it's easy and relatively risk free.
    A halfway decent disc lock is more than enough to make them move on to something easier.

    2: The pros, who will steal it no matter what. They don't give a rats arse about alarms, locks or attention. They will most often roll up in a van, throw the bike in the back and drive off. Even on the street in the middle of the day.
    They know that 99.99% of all people will not react to alarms and the few that will even turn around if they hear one, won't do anything about it. And unless a cop is literally standing right there, a report of a motorcycle theft in progress is not the kind of thing that will get a lightning fast response.

    Bottom line: Alarms are worthless. At best, they give people who don't know any better, a sense of false security.
     
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  8. Sc4recr0w

    Sc4recr0w New Member

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    I fully agree with you however I think you looked over one point, the alarm would alert you yourself provided you where in earshot, sure there are thieves that are considered pros,and would just throw your bike in the back of a van and be gone, I know that too well, in that case it's futile even trying, but to deter the more common oppertunistic types an alarm and probably more impotantly an immobiliser is one of the best things,
    I have broken half decent disc locks, just by rolling back and forgetting it's there, all of a sudden you hear a clunk, and keep rolling backwards..

    Best possible bet is immobiliser alarm, and a GPS tracker, hidden away as best it can be, and loomtaped back onto the loom so that you have no obvious wires that can just be snipped.. lever locks too, or just take the clutch lever with you?

    For a home security type idea you could in theory get a length of nice thick boating chain (thicker than the mouth of a pair of bolt cutters ;) ) and cement a portion into the ground, the other end threads through your wheel (very.. very gently maybe a cover of some sort) and is secured via an Oxford boss alarm lock or something fairly beefy that takes a while to get through,... I guess my point is to dissapoint them as much as possible.... Boating chain takes a while to cut no matter what you use... More noise the better too...

    Other than that, a tazer with some kinda whitelist system in the seat wouldn't go amiss...

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  9. Norse

    Norse New Member

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    If you can brake a disc lock by rolling back, it's nowhere near half decent. It is, in fact, absolute trash from the lowest-end Chinese bargain bin.
    The bolt on my old Abus lock (that I never use) is 14mm at it's thinnest point. If you could roll the bike with enough force to keep going, that thing would rip apart every part of your disc, caliper and wheel and barely be scratched in the process.
    And that lock is quite old and only cost about $100-$120'ish when it was new. So pretty far from top tier.

    As for huge chains and such. 3 words: No Freaking Way.
    1: I'm not messing up my brand new rims.
    2: I'm not going to live by some pathetic thiefs rules in my own house.

    If someone breaks into my garage to steal my bike, so be it. If I catch them doing it, I trust that some buckshot will fix the issue. If they get away unseen, the bike is insured, so I loose nothing.

    I honestly would not give a single shit if I find that my bike is gone tomorrow morning. One call to my insurance company and I'm shopping for a replacement before lunch.
     
  10. Sc4recr0w

    Sc4recr0w New Member

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    First off, Not trying to get into a flame war here bro, just trying to give some helpful suggestions, it's down to personal opinion as to whether it's followed up on or not.

    I can respect your views dude, I build all the bikes I ride, so they have a lot of sentimental value attached to them, and I would be devastated to lose any of them, I'm also across the pond from you so buckshot isn't quite an option here,

    those suggestions I posted are things that I have heard about and seen working pretty damn well as deterrents. As the main method over here for thefts is to either freeze your lock and bust it with a hammer or get some bolt crops and try cut the chain, then barrel it or hotwire it and go on a joyride, to then set fire to it in a field when it's ran out of fuel... Or try break it down and sell it.. or just straight up crash a few miles away cause.. well... Idiots..

    And insurance would cover the loss but like I said above sentimentality does play a big role in my views and suggestions, if the bike is your pride and joy you will do as much as possible to protect it, a small scratch on the rims will hardly equate to losing the beast that the rims are attached to and the rims..


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    Edit: besides.. we ride vfrs... Not ducatis... Nor gsxr srad thous, I love my project viffer but I wouldn't say its classed in the desired category for professional thieves, I'd say they look too old and bulky now, maybe after a bucketload of mods and a wrap or paintjob.
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
  11. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    With insurance companies, of all sorts and company names, if you make a claim against your insurance, you can bet that your premiums are going to go up a lot and stay that way for a few years. So your claim had better be worth a substantial amount of money, to make it worth the additional premiums you are going to pay. And to try to escape this forget that. Insurance companies do speak with each other. They are just as bad as the thieving bastards as far as I am concerned.
     
  12. Norse

    Norse New Member

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    Sounds like you have some shitty insurance companies over there.
    2 years ago I had a complete write-off on my insurance. Nothing has changed. My premiums are exactly what they were before.

    I have gotten the impression that American insurance companies are absolute garbage. Could be that the Canadian ones have learned some trick from them.

    Anyway.
    If you want a tip that actually works and WILL deter any opportunistic thief before they even try, here is what you do:
    Put the bike on the paddock stand and remove the rear wheel. It take literally 2 minutes and no one is riding anywhere on that. And it a lot less work than digging up your garage floor to cement 200lbs of chain to it.
    I'm not going to do either, but at least removing the wheel is fast and effective and doesn't require rebuilding the freaking house.
     
  13. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    You are right on the money. I think most of our insurance companies are headquartered in the USA and they are fucking bastards generally. If you are in a collision and are not at fault, then your rates are not likely to go up. But a victim of theft, they now consider you are risk and bump your rates.

    I do like your idea of removing the rear wheel. A good deterrent for many who are inclined to lighten your load of materialistic possessions. But for someone who wants your bike for parts or other, they will still get it if they really want it. Fortunately, I have a double attached garage where I park mine when at home. Out and about, I am at some degree of risk. Around here, if an alarm goes of in close proximity to someone, they will look but I don't know if anyone would bother calling the police.

    I know I had a valuable bicycle parked in a bike rack, locked with a high quality braided cable about 20 feet from the main entrance to the city gym and pool centre here, between 09:00 and 10:30. Probably 4or 5 people a minute would walk right past that bike. Some shit nibbled his way through that braided cable and was off with my bike. I know they nibbled through it because they left the cable behind so I could see it. I made the mistake of making a claim for that bike and regretted it when my household insurance came up for renewal. They go back more than they paid out over the four years of increased premiums. Bastards.

    But what pissed me off more was that I know all these people had walked past this thief who had to hover over this bike with a pair of wire cutters and nibbled away at that cable. That would have taken some time to do that, and it was in the wide open. The people who were walking past this and going into the centre could have asked the clerk there to call the police. That was the first of two expensive bicycles I have had stolen, The second was during a B&E of my home. I did not bother with the insurance claim on that one.
     
  14. Camp

    Camp New Member

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    Crowded parking lot+dead FOB+ screaming alarm= RIPPING IT OUT. Sadly it kept screaming on internal battery. A friend wrapped it in a towel with duct tape just as I was about to smash the life out of it. Alarmed disc lock for me now.
     
  15. Samuel

    Samuel Member

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    A land shark or two might be an option? :D

    [​IMG]
     
  16. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Where did you get that photo of an old girlfriend of mine and how did you even know?
     
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