Could this exploding motorcycle alarm be effective?

Plenty of motorcyclists have contemplated what they’d do if they got their hands on the thief who nicked their bike. An idea posted on crowdfunding website Kickstarter is now promising riders the chance to get their revenge in before their bike is even nicked.

Bike Mine sets off a blank cartridge if the bike is moved, creating a 150db firecrack and quite likely causing an equally loud disturbance in the potential thief’s underwear.

The Bike Mine is attached to part of the bike and then the trip wire either connects to the wheel or to a fixed object nearby. If someone moves the bike without disconnecting the trip wire then they get the nasty surprise that hopefully scares them into legging it without the bike.

Inventor Yannick Read is seeking £15,000 to fund the project through riders pledging either £49 for a Bike Mine with two spare detonators or £99 for two Bike Mine units and eight spare detonators.

If the project meets the funding goal, Read gets his money and the riders who made pledges will get their Bike Mine devices. If he doesn’t, the people who made pledges don’t pay anything. At the time of writing this, he’s raised £1205 in pledges and has another 38 days to raise the remaining money.

For more details, see the Kickstarter page here.