Categories
Gear Reviews

Monimoto MM5 Motorcycle Tracker Review

Sadly these days, as a motorcycle owner you can’t afford to ignore the huge motorbike theft crime wave and thus the plethora of security devices that can help protect your pride and joy. If you’ve read my motorcycle security guide, you’ll know that using multiple security items in conjunction can offer the best overall protection. Physical locks can help prevent theft but are often easily beaten with a battery-powered angle grinder. This is where a tracker can come into play, by helping you recover your bike.

MoniMoto Tracker ReviewThieves will often hide a stolen bike in a quiet side alley for a day or two to see if it has a tracker and if someone comes to recover it. This is your window for recovery before it’s completely lost. Otherwise, a tracker can provide location info of a lockup you can relay to the Police to investigate. Whereupon they’ll often find many stolen bikes as well as yours and hopefully enough evidence to charge the culprits.

Monimoto manufactures a unique tracker that requires no wired connection to your motorbike, has a very attractive price and a low monthly subscription cost. So when I was sent a review sample of their Monimoto MM5 motorcycle tracker to test out, I was very intrigued to find out if it lives up to promises.

Watch my view review or read the detailed write-up below.

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Categories
Gear Reviews

Litelok Gold Moto 108 Lightweight Motorcycle Security Chain Review

Being London based bikers, we are through necessity always interested in the latest motorcycle security developments. Keen to stay one step ahead of bike thieves and keep our bikes secure. So, when Litelok approached us with their new Litelok Moto lightweight motorcycle security chain, we were of course, excited to check out this innovative British designed and built security chain.

Likelok Gold Moto 108 lightweight motorcycle security chain
Likelok Gold Moto 108 lightweight motorcycle security chain unwrapped

Litelok was founded by ex-Rolls Royce aero engineer Professor Neil Barron and his company has built up a reputation of producing strong, but lightweight bicycle locks. The Litelok Gold Moto 108 is their first heavy-duty product aimed at motorcycles, essentially taking their tried and tested design and beefing it up. We’ve been using the Litelok Moto over the last couple of months, read on to find out our verdict and if this really is the best lightweight motorcycle security chain currently on the market.

Categories
Gear Reviews

ABUS Granit Detecto XPlus 8077 Disc Lock Alarm Review

The ABUS Granit Detecto XPlus 8077 is a big chunky, yellow disc lock alarm with a chunky long name. But, as we already have big chunky security chains, why did we buy this disc lock which is surely not as effective? Yes, it’s true, chaining your bike to something does make it more secure, but lugging a 10kg of chain and padlock around where ever you go is less than ideal. Especially as a Givi Monokey top box is officially only rated for 10kg…

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

Thus, the choice to use a disc lock that is easier to transport and still reasonably effective as a theft deterrent is appealing. For example, when out for a quick blast to seaside chip chop and don’t want to take a huge top box or when touring and you’re already carrying tonnes of luggage, the last thing you want to pack is a huge chain as well. Far easier to just squeeze in this little disc lock amongst all the other luggage. That and spotting this lock reduced on Amazon Prime sealed the deal.

Abus Granit Detecto X Plus 8077 Disc Lock Alarm

Categories
Maintenance

Thumbs Up: Squire SS65CS Padlock

Squire Padlock ReplacementLast week when my wife tried to take her bike out she discovered the Squire padlock had seized, leaving it chained to the ground! Neither key would unlock, we tried dousing it in WD40, GT85 and Halfords Shock’n’Unlock spray, even after been left to soak for a day or two. We tried tapping it with a hammer, but nothing would make the key budge in the lock.

Upon contacting Security For Bikes who we purchased it from, they informed us it was covered by a 10 year warranty and put us in touch with an engineer at Squire. They got back to very quickly with some advice, mostly what we had tried already, but as a last resort suggested applying pliers to the key to force the lock. This worked and the padlock opened, however it wouldn’t unlock again subsequently.

As per Squire’s advice we sent it back for repair/replacement. A couple of days later a brand new padlock arrived through the post with a cheque to refund us for postage.  So, a big thumbs up goes to Squire, for their top customer service, prompt responses and a warranty that really is worth the paper it’s printed on.

You can purchase a Henry Squire SS65CS padlock from Amazon here.

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

Categories
Uncategorized

New Motorbike Security Tips Article

Motorbike Security Tips, Best locks, chains, trackers.No one wants to lose a bike to thieves, so get clued up on the best security gear out there to protect your ride.

Check out my new in-depth article on Motorcycle Security Guide.

Lots of details on all the best types of devices to use and info on the common attack thieves employ. Definitely valuable reading.

Categories
Gear Reviews Hardware

Pragmasis Chain & Squire Lock Review

Pragmasis-Chain-Squire-LockAfter getting Mary her own motorbike, getting an extra security chain was a top priority. Being so pleased with the Pragmasis Protector chain I’ve been using, they were the obvious choice. I had considered an Almax chain, which is generally regarded as being on par with the Pragmasis chains. Both brands cost the same and are supplied with the same Squire padlock, however, Pragmasis offer free next day postage – can’t argue with that.

Categories
Hardware Maintenance

Fixed Broken Meta M357T V2 Alarm Immobiliser

Meta-M357TV2-replacement-1Last week the Meta M357TV2 alarm and immobiliser on my Fazer started playing up. It refused to make any sound when arming and disarming, just silent flashes of indicators. When deliberately triggering the alarm it remained silent and I just got hazard lights flashing. The immobiliser did however continue to work. Then later in the week, it started to make a noise again, just extremely quietly. Very odd. Obviously I kept my lack of alarm hush hush until I had remedied the situation.

Reading up, it seems that after around 10 years the internal battery on these alarms starts to give up the ghost and causes these kinds of issues. I also came across accounts from those who left it and it deteriorated further to the extent they couldn’t disable the immobiliser – eeek!

Categories
Gear Reviews Hardware

Security, Pragmasis Chain & Torc Ground Anchor

Pragmasis Security Chain & Torc Ground AnchorBike security is essential in London. It’s a sad state of affairs, but bike crime is rife and only a fool would skimp on security. A good solid chain is one of the best measures you can take, but it is only as good as what you chain the bike to.

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

Your chain should have at least 16mm thick links, anything less is a waste of time. As many would be thieves favour 42″ bolt cutters, which generally have a mouth that can only accommodate ~14mm chains. Even better, opt for a 19mm chain. The best brands out there are Almax and Pragmasis. Price wise there is little difference, however I opted with Pragmasis as their ground anchor appeared to have the edge slightly. The downside of these big chains is weight. Since I would be carrying the chain to work everyday, I opted for the 16mm chain, which at 2m and with lock, weighs in at about 15Kg!