Do alarms work?

[Vash]

I plan to get a new 636 in a few months, but without full coverage insurance.
Do bikes with alarms get stolen?

I hear that unless its a duke/BMW, thieves won't goto great trouble to get it.. and who wants kawasakis anyway!?

[red_dave]

and who wants kawasakis anyway!?

Me

[Flakey]

An alarm won't stop your bike being stolen.

It will make a shit load of noise and hopefully alert you (or others).

Be aware that most alarms these days are cursed/ignored by ppl as they're always going off.

Tis a good idea to talk to ya neighbours etc and ask them to check over the fence if they do hear it...

Get a cable lock and tie it to something big and imovable, other wise tie it to a starved rotty...

[Felix]

I always think visible deterents are better (big cables and locks etc) as if there is a similar bike sitting next to it, they'll go for the one that looks like it'll be less effort. Gotta love the Aussie work ethic

[ttc]

If you can afford the bike, make sure you can afford the insurance. Having it stolen isn't your biggest worry, it's crashing it and not being covered financially..

[MickLC]

If you're getting a new bike and need a secured load to get it, they'll make you get full comprehensive anyway to cover their arses. If you can afford to buy it outright then it's your loss if you drop it or lose it.

[Vash]

I'm not worried about dropping it, just about it being stolen.

A dropped bike can easily be repaired at a cost less than what insurance will cost.. 4 grand a year with a 1~ grand excess? no thanks.

[Ment]

4 grand a year?

who quoted you that?

and are you still in your teens?

[Vash]

NRMA. I'm nearly 21.

But i'm not even gonna bother paying over 2 grand a year insurance.

[JamesLaugesen]

Yep; under 25 insurance for a "large" bike sucks arse.
In India you can insure most anything for about the cost of a good meal... then again, you can't exactly get a 636 there.

I even had an alarm in my crappy little 250 Across; just to stop little morons from messing with it at the shopping centre or beach or whatever (I used to live in a very popular touristy place; lots of morons getting drunk and being morons every night).

I think for something like a 636, you'd want an alarm with some way of paging yourself or a security person or nothing at all (mobile phone, UHF pager, etc). I don't think it'd be worth just having a sirien coz you still wont know where your bike is when you come out of the resturaunt.

The BEST overall security I think is attaching your bike to something solid like already said. It's the professional theives you should be worried about, and they'll usually just rock up in a ute or truck with 2 people - 2 people to lift/winch the bike and 1 person to stand near it with a helmet and gear so onlookers assume he/her is the owner.

[photomike666]

Look around the site, you'll find plenty of posts regarding insurance and which company is best/cheapest. Also, look at what the alarm will cost and what insurance cover you want. It's not a case of how good is the alarm, but if having it fitted makes you insurable

On saying that, get big chain and disc lock anyway. I had sports bikes in London (Kwak, Yam & Honda) and always chained them. Never had one stolen and Uk sports market is huge compared with Aus - thiefs used padded van to quieten alarms.

[booze]

i know what yr talkin bout man
ive got an 05 and insurance was going to 4k a year...

[Vash]

Did you go with it, booze? or just go with 3rd party.