Best alarm for <£100

[J.M.]

Hi,

I'm in the hunt for my next bike at the moment and I've got about £100 budgeted for an alarm - if the bike I buy doesn't come with one already fitted. So at the moment I'm looking for opinions on the best alarm I can get, for an affordable price of up to about £100. Will be living mainly in the city next year, so I want to add an alarm for peace of mind.

I have a chain at the moment, but getting a disk lock too is a consideration - so any reviews on cheap+good ones of them is appreciated.

I thought I was after a naked bike, but I sat on a faired bike in the show room and loved it to bits, so that changed my mind Bike in question will be the Suzuki GS500F. I know a lot of people prefer the CB500 over the GS500, but aesthetics caught my heart again I've got plenty of time at the moment to research though, even if I buy a bike now I can't ride it until April thanks to insurance

One of the alarms that I have found is this one: Meta DefCom T.
Can't seem to find any reviews however.

I don't want an alarm that is overly sensitive or one that is so easily disabled I may as well not have it. The slowest rate of battery drain will be good too - I still want to be able to ride the bike if it's sat for a month or two (not that I can see why it would be).

Any replies appreciated - good experiences, bad experiences, recommendations, etc.

Thanks
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Teflon-Mike]

Lets see how many times the £25 Cyclone C11 is applauded.
It does just about everythig you can want a 'budget' alarm to do; dont see much point spending more. Fitted three so far. Not the 'best' by a long shot, but certainly best VFM.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[neil.]

Cyclone V2 still going strong on my CBF125, after 7'000 miles or so of all weather commuting. Can't fault it so far apart from the fact you can't disable it's 'warning' chirps when you arm/disarm it, which is annoying first thing in the morning.

[Darth]

Had a cyclone fitted to all my bikes- 25 quid, makes a loud noise if someone moves my bike, sensitivity can be adjusted so it is not a nuisance. Job done
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Harold_Shand wrote: I suppose it's like anything, you get your fingers burned when you start out, you learn from it and eventually become a complete arsehole about the whole thing.

[Taught2BCauti...]

+1 for the Cyclone 2

Very easy to fit, and good support from the supplier.

Had mine for 3 years, no problems.

[Dean-J]

Id go Cyclone 2 as well.

I fitted one on my last bike, never had an issue with it.

and with the £75 you save you can buy yourself an alarmed disc lock and still have some change for fuel

[Alpha-9]

How do you fit alarms? Is it easy or is there a lot of fucking around that could be hazardous if you don't know wtf you're doing?

Might look into that cyclone thingy
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Fzr-600 1999

[Taught2BCauti...]

[J.M.]

Looks like Cyclone is the way to go then - thanks guys. Think I'll definitely be going for the non-talking version though when I get mine; a friend had one of these Cyclone alarms on his bike which enjoyed shouting "Armed!" at the top of its voice, which I really didn't like.

Although, at the moment there appears to be a Peter Kay version for sale: "Get back ye Ba***rd! I'll break yer legs!"

So on a scale of Bob the Builder to Rocket Scientist, how easy/hard will these alarms be to fit? I've got a fairly basic understanding of electronics and barely any knowledge relating to actual mechanics. I'm that kid that takes something apart and when I put it back together there's a screw left over.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[P.]

Non talking Cyclone V2 alarm

Stupidly loud and so effing simple to install.
Also so simple to bypass...hide the wiring. With a GS500 that wont be too hard, the side panels pop off..this with disturb the alarm very quickly and it will go mental.

Keep the siren dry otherwise point=0

You'll install it easy, I just install the siren and power. I don't bother with the engine cut out or the indicators flashing. No need to tamper with electrics.

It is easy to alter the immob in there, so grab one...at the price, you could grab 2 use both!

Battery > red wire.
Earth > black wire.

That simple, setting up the keys is simple, most people do it for you already.

Yellow wires to indicators.

Pink/brown/grey wires are immob. Follow manual for these.

When you install it...dont attach the siren till the end. Otherwise you get an earful of ARRGHHHHGTFOTROLOLOLO!!!!!

Bob the builder

[J.M.]

Thanks Paddy, very helpful

I'll probably use both the immobiliser and flashing indicators, but the remote start isn't getting connected. At the price of the alarm if I ever get round to selling the bike I'll just buy another one, so cutting any wires isn't a big worry.

£30 is much better than the £100 alarm I liked too - I'll be able to get a disk lock too
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Teflon-Mike]

[Alpha-9]

How much to get someone to install it for me
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Fzr-600 1999

[J.M.]

Thanks Mike, especially for Step 2; make to kill/break to kill completely skipped my mind. Just assumed all bikes would use the same.

Bringing it over will be a PITA until April, because any bike I buy will not be insured until then; bloody 125 only policy

What under the seat like to store the siren, like near the battery? As for the LED, I'm tempted to take the RPM gauge apart and fit the LED inside of that (so it's like the flashing light you get on a car's dash board), but we'll have to see about that.

Alpha, check this page: https://www.motorbikealarm.co.uk/node/21
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[P.]

[J.M.]

Not bothering to put an alarm on the CBR, I've only got another month and a week or two riding it. Exciting times

The GS has the "deep" clocks like this:
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY0WDEwMjQ=/$(KGrHqYOKkYE6kKgi9stBO)c99QRr!~~60_3.JPG
So I was thinking that opening it up would be an option if I did get that bike?

Though saying that, I just dug up a picture of the dash and there seems to be a great place for the LED above the ignition - so that solves that problem.

https://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a43/alison_75/Dash.jpg

Fitting a new fairing bracket and clock cowls to the CBR tomorrow, hopefully checking out a bike too
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Teflon-Mike]

[J.M.]

[Llama-Farmer]

Think I might go for one then if everyone seems to rate them

[Im-STiG]

[Teflon-Mike]