So, picked up my hyper today 3 1/2 ride back from Ashford in Kent. Put it in the garage, had some tea and thought "may as well make a Start..." on my zed the lad had a datatool fitted - I despise alarms for loads of reasons, unreliable, get in the way, installers have to cut into the loom etc etc... I had the one out of the zed in 30mins with minimal fuss and thought the same would apply to the hyper.... Not... 4 hours later... Had to virtually split the whole loom to get it out... There was a rear view camera in there with a PSU which came out as well... Front indicators tomorrow night along with aftermarket handguards to come out as well... Even the lad who I bought it off said "I'm not sure it was a good idea to fit that alarm... Its been a pain in the arse..."
had a factory fitted one on BMW never had an issue and i personally believe it acts as a further deterrent, if someone tries to sneak it away will draw some attention. Considering getting the Ducati one, no cutting into cables hopefully just plug and go.
Historically when we go to the tt either getting on or off the ferry there's either an alarm going off one one solitary bike or someone fiddling with a bike trying to turn it off....
The Ducati alarm I had on my 1098 failed (filled with water) after the bike was outside on the side stand during a cloud burst. It had been dealer-fitted using the mounting points specified by Ducati. I was in the south of France at the time... it played up like f**k for the next two days, culminating in the sounder going off just as I was riding past a group of carabinieri (Italian Traffic Police) standing on the side of the road. Very embarrassing. It took about two hours to un-install it and consign it to a wheelie-bin. So I would rather not have one, even an OEM.
Don't get me started on firkin alarms. I've just had a think. I can't recall a single positive story regarding a motorcycle alarm systems. Useless bastard things, rip the lot out and throw them in the sea! There...
Having said that ive not had a factory fitted unit though....ive always taken them off no matter what....ill be fitting a tracker to mine and a Roadlok.
Dogs and crunchy gravel drive. Doesn't get you any insurance discounts but far more effective. Had a fully alarmed bike complete with pager system, both wheels locked and cover over it nicked in the early hours outside our old house. 4 pikeys with scaff poles hoiked it into the back of a van and drove off with the alarm still going. By the time I was in the street, in my boxers, all I could do is wave my fist at them as they rounded the corner at the end of the road. Just as well as had I confronted them I have little doubt that the scaff poles would have been used on me... Obviously if you park up in public places, especially the same place on a regular basis, then a good alarm system makes more sense as does a decent lock and chain. Still not going to stop the determined professional thief though.
Luckily my bikes are locked away in a garage and were on a cul-de-sac/dead end so were not on a road that see a high volume of traffic/scallywags...plus I'm a really light sleeper and the garage doors as the crow flies are about 4 meteres away from my head so id hear a pin drop..
My 1098SF had an alarm on it and that ended up in Lithuania. The Datatool one that came as standard on the 999 was nothing but a pain in the arse; constantly draining the battery and it had some fancy feature where it would arm itself after 30 seconds, and the so called 'service mode' never worked, so i had it removed. My 1198 doesn't have an alarm, and won't be getting one.
Were alarms fitted as standard on the 999? Mine (MY03) didn't, just a factory immobiliser. Hate after-market alarms, horrible useless things. Apparently.
I had one went off and let me catch the woman who had just knocked my vfr750 over. The same alarm alerted me when it's stand sunk into the Tarmac and I was able to stop it falling over. Would I have another. NO
I think I may have kept mine on if there was a way of removing the auto arm function but I don't think there was....even then if there was, as I said ive got always recent memories that are always refreshed of seeing people either messing with alarms trying to switch them off and also alarms that have flattened batteries etc etc - so I would say they are more hassle than theyre worth....
