Best Alarm System

[comfortableshoes]

I decided to try one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4853792dc4&vxp=mtr

We'll see how it works. I can lock my bike up in the garage at home, but when I'm out this will be useful, along with my cables and chains.

 

[bigbutterbean]

I think its kinda funny that you want a cheap, easy way to protect a $1500 custom bike.

 

[comfortableshoes]

If I had a $1500 custom bike I'd invest in one of those motorcycle alarms as well as a cell phone tracking system. That's just me. My bike has a $150 motor mounted on a $100 1990 Trek 800. A $10 alarm and a bunch of chains is all it needs.

 

[bigbutterbean]

My bike cost $800. I have a heavy steel chain and padlock. I chain it to a traffic sign in front of my house and a tree at work.

 

[comfortableshoes]

I ordered the alarm for giggles. Living here for 7 years I've read of one stolen bike in the police log. I see decent bikes chained up all over the city, many of them left for weeks in the same location not being touched. Right now there is a group of guys going around asking to see bikes on craigslist, not buying them, and then coming back and stealing them in the middle of the night. The annoying bike dealers on craigslist are getting hit hard. One guy had 6 bikes stolen out of his yard. I'm thinking of putting a deadbolt on my garage door because of that. But then I've also left my garage door open all night and not had a thing stolen... Lucky I guess.

One guy parks his high end bike unlocked at stop and shop where the cameras can record it. That's kind of a jerk move but it made me laugh when I saw it.

When I lived in the country I used to park my bike, unlocked between the barn and the chicken coop, out of sight. If it were going to rain it went into the barn. Bike storage, in my mind, mostly has to do with where you live and how paranoid you are.

 

[bigbutterbean]

I was a bit paranoid when I moved here, coming from an apartment with my own garage to a house with on street parking and no place behind locked doors to put my bike, hence the heavy steel chain and padlock. About a year ago, I got frustrated with my bike and forgot to lock it up. It sat on the sidewalk all night long and no one touched it. Of course, that was my old bike, a wallyworld cruiser with an ebay engine kit. I've never once forgotten to lock up my $800 custom bike.

 

[Master-shake]

I'd go with something like this personally. I'd consider it cheaper than insurance with double the bang. You can set speed thresholds so if someone tries to put your bike in a truck and take it faster than say.. 55mph (you definitely shouldn't ever go this fast on a moto-bike) you'll get a call to your cell phone. Set up borders say, at the edges of your city and if it leaves, it will send you a text. Then you can just call the police or whatever and really shut down that thieving bastard.

In my opinion, I would have to have one of these things on a 1500$ bike on principle. It may seem expensive but piece of mind is priceless.

http://www.amberalertgps.com/produc...m_medium=ppc&utm_term=device&utm_campaign=cse

Edit: I think the thing is free right now with a 1 year contract.

 

[wellHelloThere]

I'd go with something like this personally. I'd consider it cheaper than insurance with double the bang. You can set speed thresholds so if someone tries to put your bike in a truck and take it faster than say.. 55mph (you definitely shouldn't ever go this fast on a moto-bike) you'll get a call to your cell phone. Set up borders say, at the edges of your city and if it leaves, it will send you a text. Then you can just call the police or whatever and really shut down that thieving bastard.

In my opinion, I would have to have one of these things on a 1500$ bike on principle. It may seem expensive but piece of mind is priceless.

http://www.amberalertgps.com/produc...m_medium=ppc&utm_term=device&utm_campaign=cse

Edit: I think the thing is free right now with a 1 year contract.

don't you have to buy a sim card for these and pay a monthly fee like a mobile phone bill?

 

[16v4nrbrgr]

What about carrying around a yappy dog, like a chihuahua or something? lol

 

[comfortableshoes]

I got my alarm in the mail today, fastest shipping from china ever. It lacks the double adhesive it claimed to have but it's loud. So long as the speaker isn't covered up that is.

If this is buried in a bag or something is put over that speaker hole it's not as loud. It's about the size of a pack of hard pack camels. (Not that I smoke anymore.) So you could easily hide it inside an empty box. It's about 3.5x2.25x1 inch in size. I am sure I can stuff it in a ziplock baggie and then stuff it under my seat.

When turned on it makes an audible beep plus the LED on it blinks to show you it's armed.

I sat it on my desk and lightly tapped the desk and it went off. It's VERY sensitive. Almost too sensitive. IF someone racks up another bike next to yours it will go off. This means there is no way in **** I'll be able to rack my bike for the day at the local train station, I'm pretty sure the trains going by will set it off.

All that being said, this thing is small and loud and hilarious to think of turning on the alarm after locking up.

Now if it lasts that's another part of the equation. All in all a decent $10 buy.

I take it back. It's sensitive but not taht sensitive. It seems that after it has been on for a minute or two it takes more to set it off than right after you turn it on. So after 30 seconds or so, it's at just about the right sensitivity for someone messing with your bike to get at the locks. I like it a lot more now.

As a joke I set it on my wife's desk with the mail and turned it on. Knowing she'd ask what is this as she picked it up. She was able to utter the words, and turn it around before it went off. It scared the crap out of her. And I laughed and laughed and laughed.

 

[bigbutterbean]

comfortable shoes, that's terrible (but hilarious, lol)! I just dont gamble with shipping from china. I ordered screen protectors from china for the blackberry I used to have back in 2009. They were like $2 for a 3 pack with free airmail. Never got em. And this was on ebay. I emailed the seller and they claimed to resend them. Still never got them. At the time I was new to ebay and did not know I could dispute a transaction. Ever since then, no more free shipping from china for me. When I go to ebay, I set my preferences as Buy It Now, Price plus shipping low to high, item location u.s. only, and 200 results per page. I typically tend also to look for free shipping also, but dont set that as a filter, because I've gotten too few results that way. Anyway, sounds like an interesting little alarm. Maybe zip-tie it to your seat rails, or under your luggage rack if you've got one.

 

[comfortableshoes]

Honestly, BBB, if I'd seen they were shipping from China before I hit buy it now, I wouldn't have. However, this was really fast and decently packaged and the item is pretty much as described. I've had good luck with items shipped from China on other occasions, it usually takes forever and a day to get here.

I connected it to the seat rails but it sticks out a little too much. I don't want to put it under the rack since it's not in the least weather proof. I did seal it up with some E6000 to make it a tad more water resistant. But the speaker hole needs to be open... A ziplock would have been a good idea, before I stuck it in the seat rails... oh well.

 

[comfortableshoes]

There is this: http://tech.woot.com/offers/ifi-smart-tag-t2-1-for-android-5

It uses a free app and they have it for iOS as well as android. The newer versions use less battery. It key chain fob sized and so could be way more easily concealed on the bike. even the old version with a battery life of 3 days is long enough to find your bike and tar and feather the thief.