I have a datatool alarm fitted to my bike, and have so far found a number of pro’s and con’s. Naively, I had hoped for merely pro’s when buying the bike.
Pro’s:
- You can leave the bike anywhere without having to carry a lock of any sorts;
- There is no possibility of riding off like a spoon with a disc lock on and damaging the bike;
- In our tightly-squeezed garage to try and nick anything would probably set off the alarm from the one bike;
- The default sets the alarm itself when you leave the bike if you forget to do so.
Con’s:
- It has had to go back to the garage (big thanks to OnYerTriumph for sorting this for me) to be de-sensitised as it had an annoying habit of setting off randomly without any trigger;
- I have discovered there is not enough time to wheel it out the garage, down the drive, and onto the road in the time between turning the alarm off and it re-setting itself;
- The default sets the alarm itself when you leave the bike for too long which means you have to set the alarm on ferry every time you want to do something with the bike, whether that be a good old clean or merely filling up with petrol at the gas station;
- A bike not in regular use will have its battery drained quicker than one without (although apparently there is a ‘winter mode’ to assist with this).
I must confess that most of the cons are merely down to me not yet being used to adding in another stage to the process when setting off for or finishing a ride.
In all, I think I would recommend to people who are given the option when buying new or nearly new to have an alarm fitted, if only for the additional piece of mind when you leave the bike places, and the extra factor in your favour when the police and insurers question you should the worst happen and someone steal your pride and joy.
I have spotted that the datatool website talks of linking the alarm to your mobile phone. Has anyone tried this, and is it worth setting up?