Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories WTF???

Just had a Top of the range Datatool alarm imobilliser and tracker system professionally fitted to my Sprint ST. Ready for renewal of insurance. Literally the best one you can buy. Award wining well reviewed and most importantly thatcham approved to the highest standard.

So I phone up my insurer and proudly tell them what I've had done and they ask for my certificates and proof of professional fitting etc which I popped in the post. I then got a call to say they've accepted the proof and my premium could be amended. It's gone UP by £35.00.....

Apparently the system is a 10% saving. But there's a 20% premium for modified electrics and a further 2% increase for modified chassis (all fairing is on switches) unless its factory fitted!

Mad right? Well no actually. Go to a price comparison site and put a bike in with and without an alarm imobilliser and see what happens. It's not that unusual for it to increase the premium by 5-10%
Obviously other factors involved but I've tried it with about 20 bikes now and 4 went up by a good amount.

Thought I'd share

A little O.T., but this reminds me of when I was ready to put a fire sprinkler system in my house. I thought the savings would off set the installation costs.


WRONG!


My rates were going to TRIPLE!


Although they understood the importance of saving human life, statistics proved they paid out way more money for water damage by the sprinklers going off without a fire.

Go figure.

I never installed the system.

Not to mention the cost of a new battery when the alarm knackers it up.
My America had a couple of batteries and replacement alarms when the battery went west.
Currently the America sits with no alarm and stuffed battery despite being on a trickle charger.
Sprint ST, eh? Loved mine
The one and only time I've done 150+ on two wheels

Heard of a lot of people having that Datatool alarm cause electrical problems with the bikes they are installed on.

If someone steals my bike I pray they total it.

Yep, with insurance companies, there's always a catch and a lot of very fine print on the contract.

No wonder they are putting up office buildings that are bigger than government buildings around here....

There's even a company that will offer to play on the stock market with the money you give them... and here's the catch: If they make some money from it, they give you 20% and keep the rest. If they lose it, you don't get anything back, it's gone...you have to start paying the insurance company again from scratch. Talk about crooks!

Datatool alarm is crap all my electrics problems finished since alarm was taken off the bike!!!!!!!!!

i put a cheap alarm on just for the kids, any real theif that wanted it could take it i am sure, but iy has the tilt sensor and the vibration sensor etc, no worries and a nice little red flashing light, don't use it much but i like the beep! it makes LOL

I fitted a Cyclone v2 which cost me a whopping £30 or thereabouts. Piece o piss to fit. Bloody loud and adjustable sensitivity with a tidy wee keyfob. It's NEVER gone off on it's own by mistake, never drained the battery and has deterred thieves with a 2 stage warning. Very bright blue led to warn folks off. It's not thatcham approved but it's miles better than both spyball and crappy datatool alarms I had which went off if there was a programme on telly about thievery or if you dared to leave it alone in a garage (maybe it was scared?). It's not as tidy a package but it fits up under the tank quite nicely.
http://www.motorbikealarm.co.uk/
The aftersales service is excellent as well.

I won the alarm package 600odd notes worth so I figured silly not to use it lol just annoying that instead of dropping it increases my premium

you should sell it

Is motorcycle theft a big problem in the UK? Is insurance expensive?
I pay $100 a year in the US for full coverage on my Speedmaster. A 10% savings wouldn't come close to compensating me for the cost of the alarm or the hassles an alarm can cause for the owner.
I have to assume that theft is relatively rare in the US since the insurance company charges so little in premiums.

Insurance companies are out to screw you. That's how they make money.

This is true!!