by Rick Williams for webBikeWorld.com
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Motorcycle
Alarms
Motorcycles are great but they typically don't have much
room for storage, which means that leaving your riding gear on the bike when
it's parked can be a nuisance.
I ride
with a jacket and a helmet year 'round, and although I can carry them with
me when I'm walking through a park or a
store, it would be much better if there was a worry-free way of securing
everything to the bike.
Well, here's a neat little gadget
which can take care of the problem -- it's called the Voltage Valet.
The Voltage Valet is a palm-sized lock and alarm device that
features a four foot long self-storing cable with a three digit combination lock.
It is available in either black or yellow, it's powered by a single 9-Volt
battery, it comes with a one-year warranty and it also includes a flashing
LED light to warn potential thieves that it's armed.
The cable can be pulled out of the Voltage Valet by pressing
a release lever on the side of the
unit. The cable is then threaded through the items to be secured and
through a convenient location on the bike, such as a frame member.
When free end of the cable cable is released, it snaps back into the
Voltage Valet, which then generates a single beep from the unit. Spin
the
combination on the lock and it's all set. A 110 dB alarm will be set off
if the cable is cut, which is loud enough to deter most thieves.
But that’s not all: the Voltage Valet also has a motion
sensor mode! After the
unit is locked, the button on the front of the case is pressed and the unit beeps
twice and a light flashes for 4 seconds.
After four seconds, moving the
Voltage Valet will cause it to sound three warning beeps and then four
seconds later the alarm will sound for 40 seconds, then it will stop and rearm. So
if the Valet is still being moved it will alarm again after 4 seconds and
keep doing so until it is either no longer in motion, the 9-Volt battery wears
out or the unit is disarmed.
Here's a .wav sound file illustrating the sound of the
Voltage Valet's alarm.
The Voltage Valet is disarmed by spinning in the correct
combination on the lock and then pressing the cable release button.
The owner can choose any number for the combination. Since the unit's
alarm will sound within 4-5 seconds from the time it
is moved, it typically goes off for a second or two before I have enough
time to dial in the
combination and release the cable. This is an annoyance, but considering how
fast some thieves are I’d prefer having the alarm sound sooner rather than
later.
I have a seat bag on my motorcycle which is secured to the bike by
bungee cords. The dumbest criminal alive could steal the bag in five seconds
which minimally would net them the bag, a few tools, a tire gauge, the rain
liner for my Kilimanjaro Air jackets, a bunch of maps and some other odds
and ends.
So I usually hang my helmet on the helmet lock and run the
cable from the Voltage Valet through the bolt on the helmet lock, through
the visor on my helmet, then up through one sleeve on the jacket, then
through a ring on the seat bag.
The Voltage Valet itself goes into the bag on top of
my goodies. If anything gets a tug by a would-be thief, the alarm goes off.
Same result if some nefarious character decides to rummage around inside the
bag!
Of course if you are a minimalist and don’t have bags,
helmets or a jacket to secure, the Voltage Valet can also be hung on the
bike and used as a motion sensor, or the cable can be run through the wheel as an
alternative to a disk lock. The nice thing about the Voltage Valet
over a disk lock is that if you forget to remove the Valet, there is less chance of doing
damage to the bike or yourself.
And here's a bonus: off the bike, the Voltage Valet can be used on hotel
room doors, doors on trailers, yards, barns or anything else you wish to
secure.
Conclusion
At a list price of $29.95, the Voltage Valet does a credible job securing
items but the four foot long cable does hinder its usefulness.
Overall though with a bit of creative arranging, quite a lot of gear can be
secured at a very affordable price. If you need a lock but with a longer
cable length, the Lock Alarm or
the Alarm It offer alarmed cable locks but without motion sensors.
