fitting an alaram - in town bike security

[LeMarsu]

Hi,

I need to get an alarm fitted on my M620sie...

I was what make you think is the best?
And which one I could fit myself?

LeMarsu

[fatbloke]

Any you fit your self will not be recognised by your insurance co.
Also it was shown that in london last year that of all the thousands
of motorcycles stolen only 1 bike that was securly chained was stolen but 100's of alarmed bikes where taken.
Makes you think maybe a chain and ground anchor maybe a cheaper and more secure option.

[LeMarsu]

Fatbloke..... Thanks for the reality shock! Maybe I should sell my bike :( and not get worried when I am sleeping !

I will need to park it in London on the streets where there is no ground anchor!

[fatbloke]

no ground anchors but loads of lamp posts, telegraph poles, trees, railings and all manner of solid stuff dont sell your monster!!!!!!

[spacemonkey]

...which will earn you a prking ticket from the wonkers employed to raise money for Ken the Kunt.

Alarms... As I have mentioned before, the alarm is only a deterrent to some, and definitely only for you to hear, so I wouldn't bother with a £300 job, when a sub £100 jobby will do exactly the same. Neither will stop crims picking it up and shoving it in a van, and bike mags have done experiments that show that Joe Public doesn't give a toss when they see it going on..

So, I personally recommend the Acumen 911 alarm-it has a basic immobiliser, remote, shock sensor, and an LED. I have the LED fitted in the plastic shroud that houses the ignition barrel on mine so it is at the ideal location to be noticed. The alarm unit is in the box under the seat and wired direct to the fusebox. Remote range is impressive, and the current drain isn't too bad either. The alarm is sensitive enough, yet doesn't seem to give false alarms which is good. And now for the crunch-it only costs about £70-80! And if that isn't a bargain wait for this: Acumen do a paging device with a 1km range that plugs in directly to the unit (and is also retro fittable to other alarms too) that sells for about £99!!

So there-no contest! I have been using mine successfully in London for a coupla years now, along with the usual bloody big chains. As far as chains are concerned, I recommend the Oxford Monster range. I got a gold'un which will give a miniscule insurance discount as it is Thatcham approved, but the clause is that you ALWAYS have to use it, and at 2 meters long it is bloody heavy...

[snakey]

you could always join MAG and get the local group to campaign for secure motorcycle parking - after all the increase of bikes in london has reduced the conjestion. In Bristol the campaign was successful and in the center there are now a number of m/c bays that have heavy posts to anchor bikes to ( though not enough, it is a start) and we can ride in bus lanes in the city - a lot safer than dueling with the majority in tin boxes! and MAG is desperately in need of new members to keep up pressure against anti-bike legislation - do you know that there is talk again of 'leg protecter' legislation by morons who have never ridden a bike ( or fallen off one for that matter ,and don't realise that it is safer by far to be ably to get away from the bike in those circumstances) and this is only one of the proposals! others include VAT on crash helmets - that we are forced to wear & they are working on a system that would take control of the throttle away from you and give it to an electronic device at the side of the road or on a satalite.
MAG are fighting against these and other measures, but they need members and any one serious about motorcycles should consider joining

www.mag-uk.org

It's only £20 a year to join (£30 for joint membership)


Pete.

[Zimbo]

Someone on another forum dreamed up a scheme for city bike parking that would really work, nothing came of it but i thought it was a really good idea.
Basically, you display a small sticker on your bike that tells other bikes that you are a scheme "member".
You pass your chain through your wheel, as you do when there's nothing to actually chain it to.
Now here's the clever bit. Other bikes that park alongside you pass their chain through their wheel, and also through your chain, thereby linking your bikes together. This makes both bikes almost impossible to steal, and the other bike knows you're not going to object to them touching your bike chain because you're displaying the sticker. Still more bikes might chain themselves into the loop as well, so your bike may be linked to several others at any time.
When you get back you simply undo and remove your chain, and bike, from the other linked chains, and head off.
Simple and costs nothing, just needs a little organisation!

[LeMarsu]

That is an ingenious idea... and it is free....
I would definitely join such a scheme...

I can see 2 minor drawbacks...
Most people now use the break disk lock... you can really link your chain to that..
The second problem it the length of the chain... you need a long enough chain to reach an other bike (lets say to the left...) and then lf a bike on your right needs to link up to you it needs to reach them as well.... but these are minor problem because if you have a chain I think you would be just fine linking to one other person....

[dukiwi]

http://www.lockit2me.co.uk/