Tracking Devices

Neil W

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With the amounts of thefts of bikes at the moment i think it is about time we have a Section for Tracking Devices for Motorcycles (possibly a section locked with access only to paid up memebers and no access to visitors /public)

It would be interesting to know who has experience with various types of GPS trackers and their usefulness and success/reliability.

At the moment the main two types for sale in the UK appear to be either the Thatcham Insurance Approved Cat 6 monitored devices (would be interesting to know who has recieved Insurance discounts as they are very ambigous as to whether you will get them)

Autowatch ATT2 Track and Trace , not sure of initial purchase on this one but it is £150 p.a for the service.

Datatool Trakking (also Scorpion ST61) £179 plus installation and £99 p.a

Biketrac £299 plus £99 p.a

Scorpion Track HD no price for installation and purchase but £130 p.a

Smart Track Max .......£399 plus £149 p.a

Smart track Protector Pro ......... £399 plus £149 p.a

These seem to vary between rechargeable hardwired units or others with replaceable internal batteries .all require professional fitting to keep the Thatcham Approval


The second type are the stand alone units which are not monitored by an external company and do not have an annual charge fee but use a smart phone or similar app and the unit will contact the owner if the vehicle is moved and then track the vehicles via the app. These are a couple from the MCN website but there are numerous others

Autocom GPS Bike tracker £129

Oxford EL120 £199

Oxford Tracker Spy £219.99

Interphone GPS Safe tracker £239.99



I know from when I was at work that on cars/vans etc that the original TRACKER was a good system 20 odd years ago but was superceded by the monitored GPS systems for the mid noughties onwards and we had brilliant results .

Monitoring stations were able to tell us (often before the owners were aware) that vehicles had been illegally moved, their direction, speed etc and were able to place the vehicle in real time to within a few metres of where they were .

As I said it would be interesting to know if anyone has had personal experience of different products so as to make sure that others don't waste their money on a substandard product.


Please feel free to add reviews of any of the above units and their service and any other makes and models not shown above
 
I bought one of these & use it it w a free GiffGaff card.
It uses text messages to communicate with your phone & to arm and disarm.
I set the vibration sensor on it and if I so much as touch my bike it sends me a text alert with a link to Google maps showing the position of the bike.
There are various other setting on it & it's wired to the ignition & battery. If the unit is removed from the battery it sends a text again with it's location and continues to run for up to 11 hours on it's own battery.
As I use GiffGaff for my iPhone texts are free as long as I top up £10 every 3 months.
There are lots of more sophisticated devices out there but it does for me.
 
When I purchased my bike in September I was offered biketrac from the dealer as they had a special offer on, yeah right.

Anyway is was about £299 upfront and £100 per year. I did various insurance quotes and the max I could get it reduced by was about £60 p.a, or approx 7%.

I figured why should I spend money which effectively benefits the insurance company and probably reduces the amount it costs THEM. Seemed one sided to me with the insurance company benefitting the most.
 
Well interesting enough I was speaking to a mate who has a Thatcham Approved Tracking device on his car and his insurer offered him £5 discount per year off his premium ???????????????

Still have a couple of contacts in the job with links to the alarm trade, may give one of them a bell this next week to see if he knows of anything else
 
Be aware that with the oxford tracker you do need to pay an annual subscription. It's only about £60 and you can add a couple of quid to keep a tracker for life which effectively replaces a dead battery. To be honest I got one and am more than happy but it does take some ingenuity to not just put it under the seat. As it has no aerial outside the case you need to be wary of shielding it behind metal but it is quite hideable if a bit on the large side.
I am led to believe that Jonny thieving bastard has become quite adept at getting the seat off a bike and simply cutting all the live wires straight off the battery to kill a tracker until they can strip the bike at their leisure.
This is the main reason why I am trying the stand alone unit and not putting stickers all over the bike advertising the fact that one is on it. At the end of the day if they want it they will get it, all you can do is make your bike less appealing to your average thieving scrote.
Another terrible thought is, if someone has had to smash it to pieces to get at the tracker and get it into a van etc, do you really want it back? I would be happier if I could take the tracker off it and fit a sizeable explosive device but then wouldn't that be a joy with the keyless ignition failure brigade.
 
I figured why should I spend money which effectively benefits the insurance company and probably reduces the amount it costs THEM. Seemed one sided to me with the insurance company benefitting the most.

Short term there is little immediate (financial) benefit in fitting a tracker. HOWEVER, if trackers reduce insurers costs (through recovery of vehicles rather than total loss) then this will feed through to their customers and should result in reduced premiums.
 
Short term there is little immediate (financial) benefit in fitting a tracker. HOWEVER, if trackers reduce insurers costs (through recovery of vehicles rather than total loss) then this will feed through to their customers and should result in reduced premiums.

Or more likely higher profits :D
 
Or a bit of both!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Remember that sim card no subscription trackers rely on a satellite fix. They usually set an automatic perimeter, which can be as large as 200 metres. If this is set manually too small at say a 100 metres, and the unit temporarily loses a satellite, it will think the bike has moved and send a text. This is not often apreciated by the buyer or pointed out by the manufacturer so would be worth asking the question.

Despite this I'm sure it must be better than nothing.

Tom
 
Well spoke to someone who in the past has sorted locations for tracking devices on 'BAIT' vehicles mainly farm quads which he reckons were very successful , will look into if they are suitable for an GSA LC model before deciding what to do.

I will not be posting said locations on an open forum if they do seem practical propositions
 
With the amounts of thefts of bikes at the moment i think it is about time we have a Section for Tracking Devices for Motorcycles (possibly a section locked with access only to paid up memebers and no access to visitors /public)

But twelve quid subscriptions would provide a lot of info for gypsies, wouldn't it :nenau
 
I've just been doing research in to this after reading the article in MCN.
My place of work has now changed and I've gone from a secure underground car park to my bike now locked to a concreted in post outside by the front wheel.
So in reading, the Gs is now the second most nicked bike, and they go around with spare front wheels in case your bike is just locked by the front wheel! I've now started to loop the chain from the locking post through the forks above the mudguard.

One thing that people don't mention, having had a bike stolen, is the insurance company will load your premium after they have paid out on it for the next 5 years, until you need to stop mentioning it at renewal time, despite having a no claims discount. So yes you don't loose your no claims, but the premium goes up anyway. So I'd rather get my bike back quickly with cosmetic damage that can be repaired, hence looking for a tracker now.
So has anyone made the decision to fit one and what have you gone for?
 
...if trackers reduce insurers costs (through recovery of vehicles rather than total loss) then this will feed through to their customers and should result in reduced premiums.

Naive.

IMO, the optimal system to address theft involves multiple elements:

1. Hide or disguise the bike to reduce the scumbag's knowledge of your bike - garage, shed, back garden, tatty cover.

2. Secure it to something solid to make it as difficult as possible to move it, even if parked out of sight - use decent chains & locks; the more devices securing the bike, the more difficult.

3. Make it difficult to manoeuvre - steering lock, disc locks, U-locks, park up tight to a wall and/or park your car up tight to the bike.

4. Use some means of detection - alarm, tape down the horn button, alarmed lock, CCTV.

5. Use some means of immobilisation - immobilisor, DIY-wired hidden kill switch.

6. Use some means of tracking - maybe consider using primary device and a second basic device.

7. Have decent insurance.

Most important is to give a shit. The bike with the above will almost certainly be passed over for the bike parked uncovered on a public street with just the steering lock used.

Good work OP - the world of trackers seems to be a bit of a murky quagmire; very hard to tell what's what. And I like to know about what I'm looking at, rather than trusting sales blurb or people.
 
I 'Follow' BikeTrac on Facebook and the amount and frequency of thefts is pretty staggering, the GS seems to be the bike of choice but locations of thefts mainly London & the south. Some bikes even reported as getting stolen and recovered more than once in 24hrs !!

BikeTrac obviously only report on recovered vehicles and no mention is made of unrecovered vehicles if any.
 


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