Cheap as Chinese alarm - A review

[Suntoucher]

Morning,

Thought I'd do a write up for all those cheapskates out there contemplating an alarm, but seeing whether it's worth getting something off Trademe for $35, or to go the whole hog and get something proper. Having arrived today, will do an opening now and installation tomorrow.

Note: I'm coming from a trial and error background, having played with car wiring, knowing physics and general electronics and how it works, but having never touched a motorcycles electrics, so this can be considered a review for anyone as long as you have a basic understanding.

Price: $35 + ship

What's in the box,

The box is in basic retail packaging with a wiring diagram on the back in Chinese.
213469
213471

Package includes:
2 adhesive strips one for siren, one for box.
One key dongle
The control box
The siren
Handwritten English Instructions
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And this is the bike in question, a 2007 Hyosung GV250.
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Installation begins tomorrow, will also do a write-up for a Cameleon oiler as soon as it arrives.

[JimO]

i cant wait for episode 2

[varminter]

I have a captive Chinese student if you need a decent translation.

[Suntoucher]

Translation would be fantastic, the English instructions have literally been typed out on Wordpad and confirmation would be great.

Scan of box below.
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Right click and select "View Image" to see it big enough to read. Else download it to the desktop.

[Suntoucher]

Attempt One:

Abject Failure

The alarm works and is extremely loud, just trying to get it functioning bypassing the ignition into the starter relay, as well as attaching to the lights in order to set them off if there's any power movement or touching of controls.

Will try again this weekend once I've purchased some more fuses, heh.

For construction I used 10A Automotive Cable, and wire joiners so that in the event of the alarm not working, I can quickly remove it without having to solder or have any exposed wires. Will also simplify my second attempt. Bike still runs(Hyosung conveniently provides a spare 15A fuse) but I don't want to blow it and be stranded.

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Indecent Exposure

[Warr]

Attempt One:

Abject Failure
.....
I have no personal experience on this alarm, but Dargor has one on his FZR 400. Have borrowed it a couple of times and it blows fuses ... something to do with the Ignition bypass/ isolate circuit ??
If the alarm goes off... its time to replace the fuse. I havent investigated the wiring but you could be having the same issues. There could be an error in the wiring circuit wiring description...

Just a thought :)

Just had a look at the circuit diagram you supplied off the box .... Man tis a little er unhelpful. So I will modify my statement
"There is likely an error in the wiring circuit wiring description... "

[p.dath]

I have a question for you - really one to be considered before you buy the alarm, but still you can consider it now.

The first thing you need to do is decide how you think your bike is most likely to be stolen. Once you know that, then you can consider things that mitigate that risk, like an alarm.

From my limited knowledge, most bikes stolen are broken down for parts within 24 hours. They tend to be stolen by people with utes or trucks, so they can lift and take the whole bike away quickly.

There has been a recent spate of thefts involving two people visiting people advertising bikes for sales, one of them takes the bike for a test ride, and never comes back. The second person leaves shortly after the first one has taken the bike, and they vehicle they come in is stolen.

Bike alarms also have a habbit of flattening batteries, leaving bikes un-startable. So consider this also.

You can get disc locks. But peope have a habbit of trying to ride away with them and doing a lot of damage to the bike. Better to get insurance - the excess is likely to be cheaper than the damage.

When the bike is at "home" you can get a wire restraint and restrain it to a solid ground restraint, but evertything needs to be solid. Bolt cutters and a hack saw are readily available.

For my money, if I was going to get anything it would be one fo the cheap Chinese GPS/cell transmitters you can get from www.dealextreme.com. As long as you notice you bike has been stolen quite quickly you stand a chance of TXTing the unit to get the GPS co-ordindates.

[rustyrobot]

For my money, if I was going to get anything it would be one fo the cheap Chinese GPS/cell transmitters you can get from www.dealextreme.com. As long as you notice you bike has been stolen quite quickly you stand a chance of TXTing the unit to get the GPS co-ordindates.

Which will be great as long as they haven't bought one of the $28 GPS jammers (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8758) from the same website :) I second the insurance and cable lock option.

[p.dath]

Which will be great as long as they haven't bought one of the $28 GPS jammers (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8758) from the same website :) I second the insurance and cable lock option.

Haha. I have not heard of any instances of GPS jammers being used in NZ yet. I suspect it would tend to be used by people stealing expensive cars with the expectation that the cars would have GPS trackers. Especially those cars with the sticker advertising the fact they have a GPS based tracking system (Doh!).

I'd be surprised to see bike thiefs using GPS jammers this early on in the game.

[Warr]

...... Chinese GPS/cell transmitters you can get from www.dealextreme.com. As long as you notice you bike has been stolen quite quickly you stand a chance of TXTing the unit to get the GPS co-ordindates.
So is it this gizmo ? http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39993
So to get this up and running you also need a sim card on a plan from your favorite Cell provider ?

And the relay shown can perhaps do the immobilising biso on command from authorised cell phone ??

[p.dath]

So is it this gizmo ? http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39993
So to get this up and running you also need a sim card on a plan from your favorite Cell provider ?

And the relay shown can perhaps do the immobilising biso on command from authorised cell phone ??

That one looks good. I was actually lookng at another one last month that has a built in battery as well, and was about the size of a cigarette packet.

Remember, most bikes that are stolen are stripped down for parts within 24 hours. I think an immobiliser is not worth it because of this.

Now consider the tiny little unit with a built in battery that can keep running for a couple of days after the bike has been taken apart ...

[p.dath]

Something more like:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11314
or:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.34844

Basically you use the bike's battery to charge up it's internal battery.

[ExpertoCrede]

For my money, if I was going to get anything it would be one fo the cheap Chinese GPS/cell transmitters you can get from www.dealextreme.com.

I assume then that this company is safe to deal with (you appear to have dealt with them before) - don't like spreading my credit card details all over the world too much. This company seems to be Hong Kong based.

[bogan]

So is it this gizmo ? http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39993
So to get this up and running you also need a sim card on a plan from your favorite Cell provider ?

And the relay shown can perhaps do the immobilising biso on command from authorised cell phone ??

i reviewed one i got from them a while ago thread is here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/101268-Cheap-GPS-GSM-tracker-160)

[imdying]

Maybe I'm just smarter than the average theif, but I wouldn't be nicking bikes or cars without a GPS jammer.


Now consider the tiny little unit with a built in battery that can keep running for a couple of days after the bike has been taken apart ...It's not that tiny, and I tell you what, if I were stripping your bike down, and I found something with a couple of aerials sticking out, or something obviously not OEM, it's be getting the bucket of water treatment straight away.

[imdying]

I assume then that this company is safe to deal with (you appear to have dealt with them before) - don't like spreading my credit card details all over the world too much. This company seems to be Hong Kong based.Yeah, DealExtreme have been around since ages ago, can't go far wrong there.

[p.dath]

I assume then that this company is safe to deal with (you appear to have dealt with them before) - don't like spreading my credit card details all over the world too much. This company seems to be Hong Kong based.

I have never dealt with them, but I know several people who have bought things from them and reported good experiences. DealExtreme is like a distributor for lots and lots of Chinese companies. The quality of the products varies considerable.

So adopt the attitude you might have to buy three different units to get one good one and you'll probably be ok.


Maybe I'm just smarter than the average theif, but I wouldn't be nicking bikes or cars without a GPS jammer.

It's not that tiny, and I tell you what, if I were stripping your bike down, and I found something with a couple of aerials sticking out, or something obviously not OEM, it's be getting the bucket of water treatment straight away.

Don't forget most GPS jammers have a small range, often only effective for less than 5m. So if you walk away from what your stealing for a short time ...

And yeah, as I said, you really need to ask the unit for its co-ordinates shortly after it is stolen - because as you say, once it starts getting stripped down your screwed. Either that or you take the more expensive option and have the unit regularly report in its co-ordinates.

[Suntoucher]

Could just carry one around on you at all times, and once you find a bike you like, double-side tape it to the bike.

But this is besides the point, the alarm is more for the "if it moves it screams piercingly loud".

The immobiliser/remote start was just a bonus, thinking I may just leave it out, as it still reads for fluctuations in the battery and lights etc, so if they start unscrewing the battery from the unit it immediately goes off, as the reduced contact slightly reduces the current as it's being unscrewed. Takes a good 40 seconds of unscrewing before the contact from the battery is removed entirely. And if the bike is moved it goes off due to the shock sensor.

Nothing more suspicious than an alarm going off and a person with a screwdriver attempting to adjust it in the middle of a public street.

No fears about the test riding thieves as I plan to keep this until I have my full, which is quite a while away.

[ExpertoCrede]

Thanks 'imdying' & 'p.dath'.

Had a quick nosey around the site - interesting toys.

Insurance and the this transmitter might be the way to go. My experience with bike alarms have not been that great either.

[bogan]

Thanks 'imdying' & 'p.dath'.

Had a quick nosey around the site - interesting toys.

Insurance and the this transmitter might be the way to go. My experience with bike alarms have not been that great either.

One of the things I noticed with my gps, is the accuracy is not very good, if its outside on a clear day it'll be down to a few m, cloudy day in a shed and you're looking at 20-30m so it would be difficult to reliably nail down the location to a single property, so I doubt the cops would get anywhere if you provided them with the location.

[davereid]

so I doubt the cops would get anywhere if you provided them with the location.

Don't tell the cops you have spotted a stolen bike, tell the meter maid you have found an unregistered bike...

[bogan]

Don't tell the cops you have spotted a stolen bike, tell the meter maid you have found an unregistered bike...

I was thinking it'd be in a garage so don't think they could help either... though if you hooked the immobiliser up to the horn somehow it could provide the insight to narrow it down to a single property/shed :yes:

[Reckless]

I was thinking it'd be in a garage so don't think they could help either... though if you hooked the immobiliser up to the horn somehow it could provide the insight to narrow it down to a single property/shed :yes:

Jeepers Bogan I reckon if the cops couldn't knock on the two or three houses doors in 20m radius of a definite GPS fix there'd be something wrong??

Liked your review thanks mate, we are never quite sure if this cheap stuff works until someone takes the time to do us a favor and review it!! My SV1000 is a bit of a do up but I reckon a screamer disc lock and one of these is $150 bucks well spent, Its not even 1/2 a years insurance! Cheers mate!!

[bogan]

Jeepers Bogan I reckon if the cops couldn't knock on the two or three houses doors in 20m radius of a definite GPS fix there'd be something wrong??

Liked your review thanks mate, we are never quite sure if this cheap stuff works until someone takes the time to do us a favor and review it!! My SV1000 is a bit of a do up but I reckon a screamer disc lock and one of these is $150 bucks well spent, Its not even 1/2 a years insurance! Cheers mate!!

yeh, they can knock, but if its in a locked garage they don't have the power to check out suspicious ones iirc? and where I used to live the margin of error would narrow it down to bout 6 houses. Haven't got round to installing mine in my bike again, sim card has expired now too. I never got round to sorting out the power saving features so took it out as the battery is a bit old, with luck I'll have a lifepo4 battery in it soon so heaps of juice!

[imdying]

I saw a guy with a gun going into a garage on that street :innocent:

[p.dath]

Takes a good 40 seconds of unscrewing before the contact from the battery is removed entirely.

Your thinking like someone who wants to service a bike so that it works afterwards - not like a criminal who wants to break it into parts quickly for re-sale.

I'll give you a race, but I'm going to use a large pair of wire cutters. I expect to have the battery lead severed within 2s.


One of the things I noticed with my gps, is the accuracy is not very good, if its outside on a clear day it'll be down to a few m, cloudy day in a shed and you're looking at 20-30m so it would be difficult to reliably nail down the location to a single property, so I doubt the cops would get anywhere if you provided them with the location.

I you can tell the cops where the ibke is within 2 or 3 houses then you don't have a problem. I'm certain they would be happy to invest the time to do a brief search.

Hell, I think you might find an external examination of the properties concerned might be enough. If they are career criminals doing this regularly then they'll have a workshop, perhaps some bikes of their own parked around, and probably a ute/truck.

[imdying]

If they are career criminals doing this regularly then they'll have a workshop, perhaps some bikes of their own parked around, and probably a ute/truck.And there's a good chance they'll be known to them :yes:

[oracle]

Out of curiosity, wondering if this ever came to fruition? Cause you never really said if the alarm was any good or anything. Finally getting a bike that isn't a piece of shit so looking at getting one of the $25 alarms there is on trademe as my bf lives in the city now so can't lock it in a garage like I can at home

[Old Steve]

I've got a Hyosung GV250, and they are actually fitted with a factory anti-theft device.

The word HYOSUNG is printed very noticeably right across the back of the pillion seat.

I wouldn't worry about it being stolen for parts, Hyosung's parts seem pretty reasonable and they carry a comprehensive range - able to supply overnight.

[oracle]

Yeah I used to say that about my fxr, no one would steal it cause it was a piece of crap. However, I've just brought a relatively new VTR250 which is worth a signifcant deal more than the fixxer and as I will now be parking it in the city overnight I am a bit worried about it

[ddchris]

Hi,Suntoucher .Maybe you happen to meet one unofficial website from China.Not all the website from China are bad.
Many friends around me are buying goods from the internet,and they often give it a good review.such as
http://www.dinodirect.com/~p.2c0/
http://www.dealextreme.com

They are the largest website in China.

[almoto]

bought a $6 alarm from dealextreme a while ago...has its own 9volt battery, remote control/on/off, attaches with inbuild magnet or double sided tape, is the size of a cigarette packet, loud as, etc...awesome esp for that price...i have too many alu bits on the bike so i glued a magnet under the mudguard...
when i get off the bike i take the alarm out of jacket pocket, switch it on and put it under mudguard, use the remote (clipped onto belt) to activate it...done.

they make a more expensive one ($14) where the alarm goes off for only 40 seconds then reactivates (...but i thought i check the cheaper version out first and see if its any good) while the cheaper version has the alarm going until the battery is flat (not funny...)
there are good and bad ones on dealextreme...read the reviews and check how many stars each item has...
here is the sku: 33474 for the basic one, sku 33475 or 23633 for the one that turns off after 40 seconds.
as with most stuff on dealextreme this is not a high quality product and its not idiot safe...eg. the lid for the battery compartment is not secure (put a bit of tape on one side) the battery is hard to take out, doesn't sit as good as it should in there etc...and the alarm needs to be checked occasionally to make sure it still works...
but if you don't mind tinkering a bit you can get some good deals...(all knifes i bought from them needed the srews locktided...they fell out after 2 days, torches needed the pill and switches tightened etc.etc.)

the consensus is that if you buy 6 of the same items one will be faulty... i had a faulty torch and after dealextreme asked me to check their forum for a fix i send them a photo of the torch pulled to pieces...they then send me a new one... no sending the old one back...I like dealextreme...its not for everybody (i bought such things as bluetooth headphones, bikelights, rifle mounts, li-ion batteries (not charger), torches, knifes, mirrors, gloves, balaclavas, facemasks, mp3 player with speakers etc.etc.
beware: postage time (free postage) can be from 3 weeks to 2 month, if you pay for popstage you'l get it faster

[almoto]

well...ok...lets say its better than this for security...

<a href="http://s1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/motoxbike/?action=view&amp;current=BETTERTHANTHISFORSECURITY.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n571/motoxbike/BETTERTHANTHISFORSECURITY.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[NordieBoy]

well...ok...lets say its better than this for security...

Security?
Anyone can just walk off with the sign.

:blink:

[haydes55]

torches, knifes, mirrors, gloves, balaclavas, facemasks,

In a forum about bike theft that sounds great haha