Just put deposit down on a new...

[Strifae]

Fazer!

After more than a year (or 2) trying to decide what bike to get to replace my FZS600 (it just does so much so well...) I have finally decided to get a shiny FZ1!

Its a real beauty (totally unmodified apart from heated grips and an alarm) and hopefully picking it up next Saturday - so excited! this is only my 2nd bike (have the 600 Fazer for over 4 years)

I am gonna miss my old bike but looking forward to the power of the litre bike!

one question - how quick do these alarms drain the battery if not riding for say a week? or 2? its a Datatag Cat 1 apparently

[tomlinscote]

My gen1 has a datatool 3 and after a fortnight of standing it gets harder and harder to deactivate the alarm, but once done the bike usually starts ok though.
 
P

[AyJay]

+2 for that. A fortnight and it starts to get a bit unhappy. Datatool Evo. Lovely bike though. Clean as a whistle.

[Strifae]

If i wasn't going to ride it for a pro longed period of time (unsure as to why that would happen lol) would disconnecting the battery solve that? or would that kick up any other issues when reconnecting it? (I don't want to trickle charge it really if I don't have to)

Yeah I fell for it as soon as saw the pictures lol

[solorider]

to turn the alarm off after a period of time shake the bike to set the alarm off or for it to give you a warning,the alarm goes into sleep mode hence why it is hard to switch off,a trickle charger is worth getting but get a decent make or you can kill a battery,just dont leave it on all the time

[AyJay]

Hmm. The Datatool user guide suggests that it draws less than 2.5 milli Amps and the battery is 12 Amp hours so to flatten a healthy battery it should take months. Thing is, I have other bikes which I ride during winter and it's the cold weather that knocks seven colours out of batteries which is why I keep killing them. Two weeks and it needs charging. Three and it'll really be on the way out. I suspect in summer, it'd take a lot longer to drain a battery, though.


With Datatools, there is a service mode which allows you to disconnect the battery, but I can't see anything in the manual which says whether it's a good idea to leave it in service mode for weeks, and of course it ain't doing the job of protecting your bike in service mode. Datatool say that their alarms should only be used with Optimates for trickle charge, but who knows.

[bludclot]

 
lovely looking bike - good luck with it.
 
personally i can't stand datatool alarms - put it in service mode for cleaning or any other task and it keeps chirping, so anybody walking past (the garage?) knows there's a bike in there worth alarming but that it's disabled. great logic - i bet it took ages to come up with that!
 
i suggest stripping out the datatool and ebaying it. if you must have an alarm (my insurance mostly sees one as a pre-requisite) then i suggest the meta m357v2 (from memory) as it doesn't drain betteries as suggested earlier (in my experience) but more crucially the activator button can be added to the ignition key as one unit meaning that there's no fob bouncing around while riding being distracting and scratching the top yoke...
 
that exhaust can wouldn't stay long on there if it were mine either...
 
 
oops - just re-read your post and saw that it's a datatag!

[Strifae]

Nah was my bad misreading the advert - it is indeed a Datatool not datatag (not even sure if they make alarms)

Hopefully it wont cause me any issues =/

[cable tie]

+2 for that. A fortnight and it starts to get a bit unhappy. Datatool Evo. Lovely bike though. Clean as a whistle.

Yep i have the same issue dato system 3, not sure if its something to do with the sleep mode it activates within the alarm to stop the battery drain, other than that i only leave it on a trickle charge in the winter months and its still on its original battery.

[BMCfaz]

Personally, I wouldn't have an alarm on any bike, and when I got my Gen1 last year I made the dealer remove the one that was fitted. Why? Because nobody pays any attention to them except you, and when you're not in earshot the toerags will have the bike in the back of a van in seconds! If you're going to spend the money and keep the insurance company happy, and you want a chance of getting your bike back if it's nicked, get a tracker fitted. No drain on the battery to worry about and there's even a chance of catching the b*st*rds that took it.

[cable tie]

   Mine was already fitted when i brought my gen 1, however its a fecking pain in the ar5e when filling up with fuel and if i ever just slighly touch the bike it than goes bleeping mad so i ofter leave it in valet mode, and as you say no one takes any notice nowadays and there is always the worry of losing the fob as well.
Only positive side it brought my insurance down otherwise id bin in.
 
Dave 

[CRH]

i had a meta357t on my fjr and it was a bstd!!!! always had flat battery if i left it longer than 3 days? new batt at that? then one day pulled into a layby for a fag! turned it off!, took keys out ig to open top box!!...then what did i do? dropped the fkn fob and stood on the bstd!! spare fob 50miles away!....thank god for rac! they nowt but a fkn pain!!!!!

[paul.s]

Personally, I wouldn't have an alarm on any bike, and when I got my Gen1 last year I made the dealer remove the one that was fitted. Why? Because nobody pays any attention to them except you, and when you're not in earshot the toerags will have the bike in the back of a van in seconds! If you're going to spend the money and keep the insurance company happy, and you want a chance of getting your bike back if it's nicked, get a tracker fitted. No drain on the battery to worry about and there's even a chance of catching the b*st*rds that took it.

this mans spot on had nowt but chew with bikes fitted with datatool allarms my bikes often sit for a few weeks at a time too.a tracker and an almax lock and chain is much better than an allarm

[Strifae]

Doh! expensive to get it removed? :P

[tomlinscote]

Mine was part of the original wiring so not sure how easy it is to simply get rid, but someone here will have done it before
It will make a difference to your insurance premium though, even though alarms don't really deter deteremined thieves insurance types seem to like them. A big sod off chain is cheaper to buy and often a bigger deterent but often overlooked by insurance companies!!
 
P
 
 

[locksmith]

I'd be more worried about dumping the can and rear mudguard

[ghostbiker]

About time you moved up
as for the alarm i would get it removed. hat the fricking things.
Are you getting it from a dealer? think i saw one very much like that at morses the otherday. if so they will offten remove it as long as you ask them to before you pick it up. once you have it they tend to charge.
It all comes down to time to remove it. allow a dealer 2 hrs labour charge at least.

and dump the can and number plate hanger asap :P
actualy just the muber plate hanger the can on those aint TOOOO bad.

[purplebear7]

I agree 1000% with Goasty .. I'd insist that they bin the alarm before the bike is taken out of the shop.
 
More trouble than they are ever going to be worth .. as that bloke Top Gun    recently said .. I never have .. and I never will. 
 
However .. I have heard of lots of guys who've been stranded .. because of alarms playing silly buggers.
 
Here in Denia (a Med Ferry Port town) we have a lot of 'Radio' waves bouncing about, shipping and police, etc.   I have had people parking a bike within half a mile or so .. can't start the bike until they push it out of the Radio Range. 
How daft (as in bloody annoying) is that.
 
Not many (if Any) people ever seem to take much notice of Alarm Bells ringing, Buildings, Trucks, Car's and Bikes, it's just another bell .. and they do not want to get involved anyway.   
 
Nice Bike Buddy  enjoy yourself.
 
Stay Safe    Trev    (The Polar Bear in Spain)

[Dave48]

Nice looking bike-not sure about the standard "can" Interesting points raised about alarms/immobilisers. My Gen 1 came with a Datatool immobiliser fitted by 1st owner. I trickle charge my battery every 2 weeks on the Optimate. Can see a time coming when will prob have to remove it-its 10 years old now. Have a sturdy disc lock under seat for rdes out & the Titanics anchor chain & padlock for storage! Enjoy-its a great feeling collecting a new bike.

[Strifae]

I am not too bothered about the plate hanger :P but yeah the exhaust is on my list of things to change as soon as I can afford it - from the video's i have seen it looks far easier to remove than the FZS600 can was!
 
I may get my local garage to remove the alarm as I have only paid a deposit so far so I doubt they would do any work like that till have all money (as you could argue removing an alarm removes a selling point and they dont have the full whack yet) As i am picking it up from quite far away dont really fancy 2 trips up there - once to pay and once to pick it up after alarm changed over.
 
I was sort of happy about having an alarm but have totally changed my mind now! lol will have to invest in an Optimate I think

[ghostbiker]

No harm in asking at least. If they say no then look at other options but it could save you a couple of hours lab charge. they can be a pain in the ass to remove.

[Aegis Bearing Mel]

Nice one mate.


I must be in the minority here, but I've had an alarm on all three of my bikes, and the only issue I had with any of them was the one on the FZ6 stopped working at all after 23 months.
I went for the Meta upgrade kit every time, worth it's weight in Saffron to me.

It might just be my job, but it's amazing how much space the bike gets in playgrounds when the bairns here the alarm prime, and once it's been set off once they stay well away from it.

The biggest issue you'll have is realising you've gone and bought a red one.

[Strifae]

Red is the fastest colour


5 sleeps!

[allanmac]

Most of the factory fitted alarms are wired directly into the loom but can be removed and use a replacement plug with the connections bridged to allow the bike to run normally. Got one for a Triumph tiger from Fowlers recently took 2 minutes to fit job done. Mind you I took the datatool off my bro in laws VFR800 recently and had the bike running in about 10 minutes so not much of a challenge if they are determined to have your bike im afraid.
 
Cheers Allan

[red98]

Red is the fastest colour


5 sleeps!

strifar....i think you may have been mis-lead...........yes red is the fastest colour........if you have a 600.....you`ve now got a thou,the rules change with a thou,if you wanted the fastest thou you should have bought a silver/grey one