Thieves 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.

Monimoto Motorcycle Tracker Review

The Monimoto MM5 motorcycle tracker is a smallish cylindrical device that contains a couple of batteries, a GPS receiver, a 2G GSM cellphone transmitter and a SIM card. It’s fully sealed with no wires or connections to your motorcycle, which makes installation very easy and prevents a would-be thief from tracing wires from your bike’s battery or disconnecting it completely. It also avoids issues with running your bike’s battery flat, necessitating the use of a trickle charger and the need for costly professional installation.

Alongside the main motorcycle tracker GPS you hide on your bike, you get a keyfob that connects to the tracker to ascertain if you’re near the bike. Both are supplied with batteries (two CR123A for the tracker and a CR2450 for the keyfob) and a couple of reusable cable ties to attach the tracker. Finally, there is a phone app you need to download to your iPhone or Android phone that sets everything up.

Costs

Just over £30 quid a year for the MoniMoto subscription is seriously cheap

The MM5 MoniMoto tracker retails for around £150 and comes supplied with batteries and a SIM card. This SIM has a subscription cost of £32.50 per year, but the first two months are included free. You can alternatively use any 2G SIM card of your choosing. Nonetheless, just over thirty quid a year for the MoniMoto is seriously cheap, as other tracker brands charge upwards of £100/year!

Setup & Installation

The little instruction pamphlet supplied promises a half dozen simple setup and installation steps – download app, run the setup, cable tie tracker to bike, stick key fob on keys, done – easy enough, right? It should have been, but alas I hit issues. Halfway through the setup on the app, it failed, encountering issues finding the key fob it aborted the setup and refused to connect to the tracker. I tried three different Android phones, in case it was my old Android version or a dodgy phone, but no, the same issues on each.

At this point, I got in touch with the MoniMoto support team, which you can do by sending diagnostic info directly within the app or connecting them directly via their website. MoniMoto support promptly responded in a mere 20 minutes later! Wow – that’s good. Unfortunately, after running through some initial resetting and reattempts, they weren’t able to do much more than gather info and send it to their developers. The MoniMoto tracker dev team came to the conclusion the keyfob battery was likely flat. Lo and behold, after replacing the CR2450 battery in the keyfob, everything worked much smoother. Looking back, I did notice there was no tab to pull out on the keyfob, so the supplied battery must have gone flat prior to the sale and was likely the root cause of all my issues. Certainly, an annoying niggle that could have been avoided, but it was easy enough to remedy and it’s functioned flawlessly since. However, I can’t criticise the MoniMoto too heavily for a flat battery.

After sorting out the software gubbins, it was merely a case of planting the tracker on the motorbike. The type of bike you have will obviously dictate how easy this is. A faired bike will offer more locations you can hide the tracker but will require fairing panels to be removed first. Whereas on a naked bike, the difficulty is finding a location that’s not in plain sight or too obvious like under the seat. Although the tracker is not large,  it is chunky enough to limit location choices. It is however fully waterproof (meets IP65 standards) and fully self-contained so there is no hassle with running wires to it. The supplied cable ties are reusable, which is good for trying different locations.

If you have multiple bikes in your garage, you can register multiple trackers on a single phone within the app, thus ensuring you get notifications should any go walkabout.

How well does it work?

Once set up, the MoniMoto tracker will ping a notification once a day (or another interval of your choosing) to inform you it is armed, ready and batteries are good. If you keep the key fob on your person, it is otherwise completely transparent in use, no further interaction is required, it just sits there doing its job. However, it’s when your bike is moved with no key fob nearby that it springs into action. Simply lifting a bike off the side stand is enough to trigger it (but you can configure it to be more or less sensitive if needed). Once triggered it will:

1. Phone your mobile to alert you
2. Switch to alarm mode
3. Send alerts with GPS location info every 5 minutes
4. After sustained movement, it will go into live tracking mode, sending location updates more regularly

The tracker itself has no audible alarm, so thieves would remain unaware, the call to your phone is your alarm (tip: set a distinct ringtone to the tracker’s numbers on your phone). This is when you go into full panic mode and run down the road after your bike! Hopefully, you can thwart some would-be thieves or find your bike abandoned still in OK condition. Otherwise, you have good information to pass on to the police. Unlike other more expensive offerings on the market (e.g. BikeTrac), MoniMoto does not get involved in recovering your vehicle. If it’s a false alarm, say your bike is at the garage, via the phone app you can tell the MoniMoto alarm to sleep for a period of time.

If desired, you can install the MoniMoto app on multiple phones, sign in with the same account and then get notifications sent to each phone. Handy to keep an eye on your partner’s bike if they’re away. However, the MM5 motorbike tracker will only ring one phone when alarmed.

This MM5 European model uses the 2G cell phone network to communicate and requires reception from the GPS satellite network for locational information. This ensures your bike can still be tracked if shipped around Europe, Russia and many neighbouring countries. There is an MM6 model that uses the 3G network for use globally including in the US, check it out if you’re travelling further afield. Either way, should your bike be stowed underground, in a thick container or next to a GSM/GPS jammer, you may not get any alerts from it. Some (much) more expensive trackers on the market offer an additional VHF signal to work around this limitation (e.g. Tracker).

The Batteries

With no permanent connection to your motorcycle’s battery, there’s no worry about draining it or needing to keep it on a trickle charger. However, you will periodically need to replace the MoniMoto’s own batteries. MoniMoto claims around 1 year from the main tracker’s batteries, but it will chew through them if in alarm mode and constantly sending out updates (they quote about 10 days of alerts). You can eek longer if you configure less frequent check in’s, reducing it from the default of every 1 day to anything up to every 1 month.

The MoniMoto app will let you know when the tracker and key fob batteries are low. Nonetheless, replacement batteries are cheap to buy and easy to replace:

• Main tracker: 2x CR123A batteries – £6 a pair.
• Key fob: 1x CR2450 battery – £4 a pair

Conclusion

The MoniMoto MM5 is competitively priced at £150 upfront plus a £32.50/year subscription and is simple enough to be installed oneself, making it one of the cheapest motorcycle trackers on the market. As we all know buying cheap isn’t always the best plan, however, in this case, you are getting a quality product that is very effective at what it sets out to do.

Pros:

• Low price, upfront and subscription
• Easy install with no wiring
• Simple, self-contained weatherproof design
• Good support with prompt response times

Cons:

• No constant active tracking (would drain the battery too fast)
• No VHF tracking
• No assistance with vehicle recovery
• Batteries replacement effort each year
• Not Thatcham approved

However, the above cons relate to features only available on other much more expensive trackers (around double that of this MoniMoto tracker), which require professional installation, wiring to your bike and hefty subscription costs. For £150 upfront and £32.50/year sub, you will be hard-pushed to find a better tracker. This makes the MoniMoto a great choice for all bikes, even older lower-value bikes you didn’t think economical to fit a tracker too. It’s also so simple to install and cheap enough that you could equally fit it to any vehicle, your car, work van, quad bike, sit-on mower, Gator etc.

Rating: 4/5

Find more details and buy the MM5 motorcycle tracker direct from Monimoto.

Update: The Monimoto MM5 has now been superseded by a newer model.

Buy the latest Monimoto 7 Tracker from SportsBikeShop

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.

Litelok Motorcycle Security Chain Construction

The Litelok Gold Moto 108 is made from a patented Boaflexicore material (named after the Boa Constrictor snake!), constructed from hundreds of high tensile alloy strands in a polymer matrix. Basically a very clever braided wire, six of which are then combined into a flat 5.5cm wide band. This provides a super-strong, yet flexible and lightweight design which can easily be threaded through your motorcycle’s wheels or frame. When locked it forms a flexible circle of about 35cm diameter, enough to go around a wheel and through a ground anchor close to. It is quite springy, so you do need to watch it doesn’t spring out straight and ding any paintwork as you bend it around. The lock itself where the two ends join is built from a drill resistant hardened alloy steel with marine grade stainless steel rivets, so should not offer any weak point. A rubber covering on one end also helps avoid it scratching your bike, shame both ends didn’t have such a covering. A small circular key pokes into the side to unlock it, easy enough to operate once you realise the key needs to be pushed in further than you initially think. Three keys are provided, handy to avoid swapping keys between both of us when each of us goes out with the lock.

The steel wires are covered in a black plastic mesh which in turn is surrounded by a removable neoprene outer cover, available in a choice of red or black colours. The neoprene is nice and soft and avoids scuffing or damaging any paintwork and I do like how this cover can be Velcro’d off and on to fling in the washing machine when it gets a bit grubby. A handy carry bag is also supplied, again useful to stop a grubby lock dirtying other stuff in your luggage.

It should also be noted Litelok is a British firm which manufactures their motorcycle security chains at that Swansea factory. Always nice to support a local business, as let’s face it, in the current political and economical climate British business needs all the support it can get!

A lightweight motorcycle security chain for commuting & touring

A lightweight chain needs to be porable enough to carry on your bike and that is exactly the use case this lock is targetting. A portable lock you can throw in your bike luggage and secure your motorcycle wherever you go. Weighing in at just 1.6 kg, its 1.1m length can be coiled up into a small bundle around 25cm in diameter, thus perfect to throw in a hard luggage box or tank/tail bag. A couple of Velcro straps on the lock help you keep the lock coiled up and stop it springing out (which it likes to do with some force). All of which has made the Litelok Moto our goto lock for carting into the city when commuting or when touring further afield. Definitely preferable to lugging around over 10 Kg of 16mm Pragmasis chain and Squire lock in a big top box.

The Litelok Moto carries the Sold Secure Motorcycle Gold rating, which provides a fairly reasonable level of confidence it will hold off a thief and might earn you an insurance discount too (check out our guide on motorcycle insurance tips). Although we haven’t tested the lock to destruction, many other YouTubers’ failed to defeat the lock with bolt croppers and it is apparently only susceptible to very specialised and expensive steel cable cutters (see Bennetts destruction test). The clever alloy and polymer matrix is too strong and flexible for standard-issue bike thief croppers, they simply can’t cut through due to the non-continuous nature of the wire matrix. The width of the band would require several crops to work through it, increasing the difficulty and duration of an attack. That said, I would not envisage it resisting an angle grinder attack, but few chains can (and the Sold Secure Gold rating does not include an angle grinder attack).

The lock typically retails for around £140 (or £126 with our discount code below), which puts it in competition with many other small or medium chains with 10-12mm links that weigh significantly more and often less resistant to a bolt cropper attack. Especially those with thinner or brittle (through-hardened) links. If desired, the Litelok Moto also sells in pairs with a common key for a slight saving at £270. A straight forward way to double your security for a particularly desirable bike.

Compared to a disk lock the Litelok is certainly bulkier and less portable but has the advantage you can chain your bike to a railing or ground anchor so it can’t be lifted away. However, you could always pack a disk lock for use in conjunction for double protection. One will fit nicely in the centre of the coiled Litelok Moto in your luggage. Remember, the best security strategy is to use multiple layers of protection, where each of which needs different tools and more time to defeat.

Is the Litelok the best lightweight motorcycle security chain?

In all honesty, there’s not much I can seriously criticise about the Litelok. Sometimes I wish it was a bit longer to reach around some railing or object I’d like to secure the bike too, with a top box on a bike, you can’t always park close enough for it to reach. The locks desire to spring out can make it a bit of a handful to thread around stuff and coil away, but you soon learn to manage it.

So, no, the Likelok Moto does not afford the same protection as some super-fat Pragmasis or Almax security chain. No, the Likelok Moto will not withstand an angle grinder. But that’s not the point, what you have here is a lock that is portable and lightweight motorbike security chain, that doesn’t cost crazy money but will offer you a reasonable amount of protection against attacks from most bolt croppers or other run-of-the-mill tools. At home, a tougher security device would be advisable, but away from the home the Litelok Gold Moto 108 offers a respectable amount of protection in a convenient package at an agreeable price.

Rating 4.5/5

Get more information and buy from the Litelok website. Beginner Biker Adventures can also offer a handy discount code that will blag 10% off the price:

Discount code: BeginnerBike10

Enter the code on the Litelok store checkout.

→ 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.

The ABUS 8077 Disc Lock Alarm in Use

This ABUS 8077 weighs in at 880g and comes with a nice padded pouch to transport it in, so it definitely wins on ease of transportation. It’s supplied with two keys, with one of the key fobs incorporating a handy LED light to help you unlock your bike in the dark, definitely a good idea.

Using the lock is straightforward; key in, open it up, pop it through your brake disc, then clamp it shut – job done. The holes on our CBF500 brake disc were pretty tight for the 13mm locking bolt, so it took a bit of wiggling to fit it. Fitting to my Fazer was much easier, however. It’s generally advised to apply to the rear disc to make it harder to attack; however, our CBF500 rear brake disc doesn’t have any handy holes suitable, so check suitability on your bike. Once locked in place, it gives off a single beep to indicate the alarm is armed. As the disc lock typically hangs down from the brake disc, unlocking can be a little fiddle as you try to find the keyhole beneath without nudging off the alarm.

The alarm is pretty sensitive with even a minor nudge causes it to give off a warning beep. A further nudge and it will kick off making a full-on racket! The stats reckon it’ll put out 100dB in 15-second blasts, it’s certainly plenty loud considering it’s powered by just two AA batteries. Battery changing is fairly straightforward, just needs the battery holder prising out with a couple of kitchen knives whilst it is unlocked.

I picked up an elastic lock reminder bungee after hearing many stories of people forgetting to remove their disc locks and attempting to pull away… To be honest, the sensitivity and noise of the alarm are enough to prevent you from doing this.

Normally the ABUS 8077 disc lock alarm retails for between £100-£140 ish, but I picked it up for £70 as an Amazon Prime special. Still not cheap, especially when you consider 1.5m of Pragmasis 16mm chain and a Squire padlock sets you back £160 and will let you chain your bike to something solid to afford greater security. Ultimately, this ABUS disc lock alarm fits a specific use case where you need some security away from home when lugging a huge chain just isn’t practical, and this covers it well.

Long Term Update

Four years later, this ABUS 8077 disc lock alarm is still going strong. We’ve been through many battery changes, but generally get several months out of a set. I have found that very heavy rain will ingress causing it to short out, drain batteries and/or cause the alarm to fail. But a good douse of WD40, fresh batteries and some cleaning up always fixes things.

Rating: 4/5.

Buy the ABUS 8077 Granit Detecto Disc Lock from Amazon

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

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.

This time we stuck with the 16mm chain, an absolute minimum to scupper any tea leaf with a pair of 42″ bolt croppers (the jaws of which generally only open 14-15mm). However, we went for just a 1.5m chain, to keep the weight down. It has only been in very rare cases have I needed the full 2m length of my chain. Keeping the length to a minimum is better to help ensure the chain and padlock is not resting on the floor, so it can’t be levered or smashed against.

I already have the Pragmasis Torc ground anchor installed for my bike, which was just big enough to thread the two 16mm chains through. As you can see in the photo left, the cover over my one-year-old chain has discoloured quite a bit compared to the brand new one. However, there are no tears in it and it’s still holding up well, nevertheless.

Overall, I can highly recommend these Pragmasis security chains, don’t settle for anything less, it’s just not worth it. One mate recently lost his DRZ-400 Supermoto to some low-life scum, after locking it up with an Oxford Hardcore chain… Broad daylight, lunchtime, in front of hundreds of shoppers, gone in seconds. Lost £750 in insurance excesses and facing inflated premiums for coming years. Don’t cut corners on security!

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

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!

Some professional alarm fitters quoted me £200 to replace the control unit. However the control unit is very much a plug and play job. With the wiring loom already in place, the hard work has already been done. So I managed to order a replacement control unit and key fobs for the princely sum of £135 + postage from Abacus Alarms. Fitting was indeed a breeze.

First, whip off the seat, locate the alarm and remove any cable ties securing it, carefully. Don’t slice any nearby looms! Next you need to remove the two screws that hold and cover the loom plugs. These are special anti-theft screws, specifically designed to cause your screw driver to slip on removal. However a firm grip with a thick headed flat screwdriver will do the job with a little perseverance. Remove the now loose plastic covers a peel back the rubber sleeve beneath. Next unplug the two cables, there’s an 18 pin black one and a 2 pin white one. Fitting the new control unit is merely the reverse of the above. Plug it in, check plug catches catch, replace rubber sleeve, fit plastic covers and screw together. New plastic loom covers and screws are provided. Secure it neatly, turn the ignition on and off and then test with the new key fobs. All in all, a half hour job.

The new alarm is hideously loud, far louder than my old one ever was. The new key fobs also have an extra button for an alert/rape alarm, that set off the bikes siren. Possibly useful, but just make sure you press the right button when you try to unlock your bike!

I just need to sort out sticking my Fazer key in the other alarm fob, rather than carrying this separate key ring fob (shown left).

So, if your Meta M357TV2 alarm is on the blink and you’re pretty sure the wiring loom is still in good order, try swapping the control unit yourself. It’s a straightforward job and could you a good wad of cash.

Update: replacement Meta M357TV2 alarms are becoming harder to come by. I suggest you get in contact with Abacus Alarms, who have a few options you can check out. If you have a Meta M357TV2-1, there is an alternative drop-in replacement from DefcomT which you can buy from Abacus or Amazon.

→ 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!

Don’t wear the chain around you body whilst riding. It’ll do serious injury, if you fall off!

As I already have a concrete drive way, I have opted for a bolt in ground anchor. Others favour anchors that are embedded with concrete poured around them, which are great, but I didn’t fancy cutting a hole in the existing concrete. Even so, I had to borrow my neighbours SDS drill to make the holes, my small Makita and the supplied drill bit got no where. The Pragmasis Torc ground anchor came with long bolts and special resin to bond them to the existing concrete. However my concrete drive wasn’t quite deep enough and these capsule just pushed through to the softer layer beneath leaving the bolts loose.  On contacting Pragmasis, they were very helpful and sent me their alternative expanding rawl bolt fitting kit, which did the trick perfectly, holding the anchor rigid to the floor. Small ball bearings are supplied to hammer into the heads of the bolts to prevent them being unscrewed. The installation was fairly straight forward, with everything except drill supplied. However the supplied drill bit wasn’t SDS, so couldn’t be used.

A Squire lock is supplied with is the defacto standard (and also supplied with Almax chains too). However I found the keys aren’t the strongest and worryingly have slightly bent one already.

Overall, I can whole heartedly recommend the Pragmasis security kit. It’s not cheap, coming in at just over £200, but it’s definitely peace of mind.

Rating 4.5/5