Im wondering whether to fit an alarm to my XT600E...

Not an imobiliser, just a siren alarm.

Worth it ???


All views welcome. ta

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Yeh! The kids will love it I prefer a good lock and chain, than flat battery , it depends on where you intend parking the bike. I personally hate the things, but are a must have in some parts of the UK

Trophymick

For south America.. just thinking for when the bikes on the street and I cant keep an eye on it.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I put an $80 gorilla alarm on my bike and am now a huge fan. In those places where bikes are a novelty and people don't understand the whole private property thing it works a treat. All over the middle east I've had people handle the bike to make space for a car - gets rid of them quick smart. Park in front of restaurants/cafes etc (esp in south Asia) and people will use the bike to sit/lean on while they drink their tea. I recently ran down to my shared garage (where someone else's bike was recently tampered with) when the siren went off to find no-one about (run off no doubt). The best thing is the piece of mind when you leave the bike fully-loaded to duck into a shop etc and you don't want to secure all your stuff.

The alarm is ear-splittingly loud and attracts heaps of attention. It (like many alarms) is set to run for only 60 seconds and so it won't run down your battery (but will re-activate if the bad guys return). I fitted it myself (took about 30 minutes).

The down side is it is quite sensitive and there is quite some fiddling to correctly set it up. I once returned to the bike to find shop owners complaining about the alarm which kept going off through the day - it was a particularly windy day and this kept setting it off. Another issue was the lithium battery that powered the remote was tough to come by when I was in northern Syria so I didn't have the alarm for a while.

When I travel I use a disk-lock, one of those stainless steel nets that fits over my panniers and holds my riding gear (can't remember what it's called), a full bike cover, and I flick a cut-off switch. Might seem like overkill but I hate worrying about the bike when I am supposed to be having fun while on a trip.

Hope that rant helps.
Brett

+1 on the gorilla. so cheap, and still so good. can't believed it lasted our last (very bumpy) trip. Still going....

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I go along with what Brett says above. You can't have enough security unless you're permanently away from 'civilisation'.

I'm currently using a strong chain and an Oxford Boss Alarm Disc Lock in the garage but I'd also like to install an alarm for the reasons Brett gives. The big chain and padlock are too big to carry permanently although the Disc Lock works either as a padlock on the chain or straight on the brake disc.

The Gorilla seems to be good for its price. Is there anyone out there who can help me decide by giving feedback on a Chatterbox which is a similar price?
Stephan

My alarm also cuts the ignition, which is ok when in Europe and near to a service centre, but I would be concerned about it failing in the middle of Africa, and totally imobilising my bike. The wiring look complicated and took an engineer several hours to fit.
That gorilla sounds a much better option, with just a motion detector, and self-fit as well. If it fails, it won't leave you stranded.
Why did I have the 'complicated' one fitted? - it cut my insurance costs enough to justify having fitted.
Bill