Vstrom alarm draining the battery

[Jon Y]

About a year ago I ripped out the alarm on my Wee-Strom because I found that it kept draining the battery when parked up.

This week I met a fellow Strom rider who was suffering from the same problem so I thought I'd post here to find out if this is a common problem for the Stroms?

[Treadtrader]

I think it's common with any bike that has an alarm fitted Jon.
I think that's why so many people buy an Optimate or similar battery monitor.
It's the same with cars, but they have a bigger battery with more amperage, so last longer.

And it was my Strom, bloody things coming off this weekend!

[Jon Y]

Cheers Treadtrader.

It took me a long time to figure out the problem. As a stop gap I used to disconnect the battery whenever I parked up.

Surely someone must be working on a better alarm system?

[Treadtrader]

Been in the shed all evening.
Result, no more unreliable alarm, disconnected.
I'm quite happy to rely on my disclock for security.

Hopefully that'll stop the battery going flat all the time.

[Jon Y]

Good work!

Electronics is an area I really hate, I find it so fiddly and there is nothing worse in my opinion than trying to track an earth when I get a fault. Fortunately the Strom has not been too bad for it, my Dad's old Honda Nighthawk is another story!

[Zookman]

Alarms on a bike are a PITA. On my old Bandit 1200 i had a Datatool alarm/immobiliser, and the alarm part of it killed two batteries on the bike in just over three years, and numerous times i had a flat battery.
I now have a Meta and it only automatically sets the immobiliser and goes into sleep mode when the battery drops to a certain voltage. I only manually set the alarm part if i'm parked somewhere dodgy. Not that anyone takes any notice of a vehicle alarm anyway nowadays.
Alarms are just not worth the hassle of them.

[Paul C]

A well designed alarm should have a tiny standby current to avoid draining the battery, but over extended periods without use; any alarm will discharge the battery (batteries also self-discharge over time). I've wondered if there are any alarm systems out there that disconnect themselves when the batt voltage drops below a safe threshold?

But I agree, no-one takes any notice of alarms these days anyway.

Would a security system that calls/texts you with your bikes status (Batt Volts, Temp, Incline etc) be any better? It could send location data from GPS too, upon request by "authorised" parties. I'd like a system like that...