Any BIKE TRACKING Devices

Spent a few £ on the bike, want to trace it if stolen, does anybody know of a tracking device I can add to find it after its been nicked ?

new product due out

last time i was in Williams in Manchester, there was a company that have developed a new bike specific tracking product. I thought they were due to roll it out at the k1200 launch there. Worth giving williams a ring.

looked quite interesting and they expected price to be reasonable.

I cant remember the name (will check) but you can buy a GSM tracker/alarm for bikes. Seem to recall they have a SIM deal with Orange, the cost includes 12 months pay as you go.

Could also use child tracking products www.qqaaxx.com which can be placed under the seat.

At a meeting with Tracker UK a couple of months back, they have a motorcycle Tracker nearing readiness for the market. It will work on the same principle as the car/plant/HGV system. The problem for bikes has always been that the tracker unit has been too big to easily conceal on a motorcycle.

The MO of car thieves these days is not to be detered by Tracker etc. They know that the system requires the owner to contact the police, report the theft, contact Tracker with the crime reference number, Tracker then confirm with the police and then turn on the tracker itself. It transmits at max power for a period then drops down to a lower signal strength.

The thieves know they have a few hours to search for and remove the tracker unit before the signal is activated. More if the owner isn't likely to be aware of the theft for some time. I have seen some beautiful cars trashed in the effort to find the tracker before they gave up.

The problem with bikes, Bakes, is of course that there are few places to hide the unit that won't be found quickly, less on a bike like a GS.

The system that uses a mobile phone is better in that it alerts the owner if it is activated but it depends on the owner having the phone (or in some case a pager) always at hand and always within signal. The owner still has to either stop the thieves themself or try to convince someone in a police control room to despatch a patrol (providing any are available of course!).

Not sure if you are aware but most motorcycle theft is component crime fuelled by the cost of new parts. If you tried to build a Yamaha R1 from new parts, from scratch over the counter from a dealer, it would cost in excess of £30K! There is a ready market for parts because bikes can easily sustain so much damage in relatively minor collisions or offs. Add to that the fact that many owners buy a new bike on the 'drip-dry' then find that any insurance payout doesn't come close to the amount of finance etc. and you can see why the second-hand spares market for re-builds is so bouyant. (You'll often find the frames and engines of stolen bikes in track machines). Most of the above is mainly applicable to Japanese sports and sports/tourers. BMW's and particularly GS's don't figure so much in this activity. GS's mainly because they sustain relatively little damage compared to the plastic rocket types. You are more likely to become the victim of the opportunistic thief, hence the chain etc.

It is dificult not to become paranoid about theft but in my experience, if you are someone who is aware of theft potential you tend to be less likely to become a victim.

Hope this is of some use!

P.S. Re the component thing, just as an example, I know of one case where a brand new Honda was supplied by a main dealer and fitted with a tracker unit in a sting type operation. The bike went within hours and was tracked straight to another Honda main dealer where it was stripped immediately!!!

if you have an old mobile this may be of some use
mobile phone tracking just send a text to your phone and so long as the youve got a signal
http://www.followus.co.uk/:D

From experience Tracker is an excellent system, however, you are relying greatly on local police vehicles being fitted with the tracker system.With the new airwaves radio systems introduced many forces no longer fit the trackers to their patrol cars as they interfere with each other.Also tracker requires being informed by the owner to activate the sysytem.

The other option is 'track back' the system which uses GPS to plot the position of the stolen vehicle. It automatically activates if the vehicle is moved without authorisation. There was talk of it being made available for bikes , quads etc.

In stealing likely Tracker equipped vehicles, thieves in West Yorks park them up overnight and leave them for a good few hours. If they get recovered, so what, they had no outlay and they go and nick another one and try the same again. A bike can be stripped down to component parts in an hour or so and the tracker is binned/burnt etc.
Trackbak and Trackstar using GPS is incredibly accurate BUT, the company ring the Police on their call handling line, the details are put on a computer and the send button delivers the message to the Control Room who read said message and despatch unit. The delay can be into the several minute category. Not impressed.
The system itself seems marvellous...i.e its stationary outside 123 High Street, and hey presto, there the stolen car. But it falls down with the 'modernised' Police Comms.
Back in the good old days, an old bobby would pick up the phone from trackbak and be talking to them as he despatched a unit and would basically be the go-between, afterwards, he may put a bit on the computer screen. Now we HAVE to do all the computer bollox first. Its what send statistics to the Govt. Call me a cynic.
Would have a Tracker in my car but not the GPS ones.
Wouldn't bother with one for a bike tho'

what you need to know is that any of the systems that run gps to track,which is most,are useless once the bike is contained within a van.the gsm element will be calling for help but the gps will only know its last plotted positon before entering van and when unloaded at destination garage if it does not see at least three satellites from scratch,not quick unless in open territory with very open horizon it will not give a useful location.they are a lot of money for little reward!

Forget tracker, I used it on my company vehicles in the U.K. and was'nt impressed. As Neil W has has stated (correctly) you rely on the local plod having the equipment in their vehicles. If they have more pressing problems...you are at the back of the queue.

The best system is Securicor Track Back...it uses GPS satellite technology...they can also alert you, on a contact number of your choice, if the vehicle is lifted and moved.

The system is used to track valuable loads and numerous transport companies keep track of vehicle movements with it...

If i were to buy my own system with my own cash, it would certainly be Tracker. I am one of the plod who chases tracker signals in West Yorkshire and can state categorically that if a tracker signal is discovered by a car (most traffic cars and armed response cars have them fitted) several cars and the Helicopter will search for the vehicle with very good results. On the Air Support Unit we get sent details of any outstanding vehicles with Tracker as soon as they are discovered stolen. We will generally take off and, due obviously to our height and area we can cover, we will pick up the signal and once picked up, we will find the vehicle. It does not involve coordinating with any other agency and so works well.
The datatrak/gps based things as stated above rely on a chain of communication that is very fallible. I would not pay my own cash for such a system.