Okay, so I'm sitting here in bed, sick as a dog, with no will to do anything, and was thinking about bike alarms. I've seen a few on Amazon, and such. I was also thinking about bike alarms attached to locks themselves (cables, u locks). I read about a Kickstarter campaign for a bike alarm lock going into production in January that uses ones smartphone. Don't have a link, yet, sorry.

So, thoughts? Good? Bad? Waste? Odd?

I would love a bike alarm that can be placed a seat tube, so that it is protected from wether conditions, nobody can see it, but accessible if you need to get to it.

no.

get the bike covered by insurance.

^There is nothing exclusive here. Nothing prevent you from getting both. By the way, insurance won't prevent a thief from stealing your bike and there is no guarantee that you will see the color of money from your insurance company.
Regarding the bike alarms there are plenty of choices and some of them are so cheap that even if it's not very efficient you don't lose much

Here is a 4$ one
https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Securi...rm+system+bike

A few more
https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Anti-t...rm+system+bike

https://www.amazon.com/QQ-Tech-Creati...rm+system+bike

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Motorb...rm+system+bike

A padlock alarm is better than a simple alarm since in the former case the thief who is not afraid by the alarm system can simply throw away or break the alarm

There are also motorcycle alarm disk locks that are way stronger even stronger than most Dlocks depending.
On a bicycle they can be placed on the chainring, the disk brakes, (spokes: not advised)

https://www.amazon.com/Trimax-Alarm-D...larm+disk+lock

With a good insurance plan in writing you will see the colour of money.

Insurance companies usually have hard time given up their money and when they do it is usually half of what you expected or 12 years later.
I spend my time reading that in the news the last example on the list being the train explosion at lac megantic in Canada. You can ask people on the forum that expected money from their broken kryptonite lock

Anyway, insurance, registering,.. are corrective approach, it doesn't prevent the theft from happening but can limit the damage after the fact. Locks, alarms etc... are preventive approach made to prevent the theft from happening. A good security system should use both preventive and corrective approach.

Like I said get good insurance.

https://www.munichre.com/

A waste of money. I like to ride my bike, not keep looking for new ways to spend more money on my bike, but that's me.

I have this on my bike. It basically works, but the db rating is overrated. It works well with a u-lock if you take a short break from your bike (like picking up stuffs from 7-11 or taking a bathroom break.)

Thanks you for info. Good to hear. With 20 of them on the bike it should be ok. Maybe with a cheap megaphone with that

Found an interesting weather proof alarm lock that is also a 14mm shackle diameter lock useful as a secondary lock for instance
https://www.kabrus.co.uk/xl202.html
https://www.amazon.com/Kabrus-Alarmed...larm+lock+bike


or this 17mm shackle diameter lock that is better for wide tires
https://www.amazon.com/Kabrus-Lock-Se...larm+lock+bike

I agree with the above comments, if you are not confident that your locking methods will fully protect your bike I would suggest you take out an insurance policy that will at least partially cover potential losses. IIRC homeowner's/renter's insurance will cover a bike stored at home from burglary, I think a bike-specific contract is needed to cover your bike while parked on the street.

If I put an alarm on my bike, I wouldn't hide it and play 'gotcha'. I'd put it right out in plain sight with the message 'don't even start with me'.

I, too, love to ride my bike. However, she is an investment, and as such, I would like to make sure that she sticks around for a long time.

Every state has a department of insurance... of some sort. You can pretty much plan on fair payment in most situations. If for any reason you're displeased the State Insurance regulators can usually resolve most issue by the 2nd working day.

However... I really like the idea of an alarm. I don't think technology and practicality has met yet... for even high end bicycle. But maybe... one of these ( tracker ) wired into the saddle?

I'm guilty on both accounts...