Trackers. Yes or No???

[Firthston]

My 2021 R1250GS came with a Datatool Scorpion tracker when I bought it at 14 months old. I insured it prior to picking it up telling the insurance company that it had one thinking I’ll get a good discount.
After getting it home I enquired about activating it and was a little bothered by the cost, I then noticed how quickly the battery was loosing charge, constantly receiving a charge from the Optimate 4 Canbus charger. After reading a lot of posts about this I decided to remove mine. The frequency of charging on the Optimate slowed considerably. About a week later I thought I’d better tell the insurance company and pay the extra, I figured it couldn’t be anywhere near as much as the subscription cost. After putting it through again it came back as no change to the premium, so much for getting a discount.
David64 - Happy to show you, do it for you or PM you how, not sure it’s a good idea to say on here.

Hi there
I have the same issue with a data tool tracker constantly draining my battery.
I bought the bike a month ago with it already fitted, but had the subscription cancelled. I didn’t realise it would still be draining
I’ve enquired about having it removed, but after reading ‘you did it yourself’- I wondered if could you please show me.
Thanks in advance
Darren

 

[EVskiy]

Where u get coffee for €2? JJH

In Spain, in fact you can get one for €1.50

 

[siddo]

In Spain, in fact you can get one for €1.50

1.30e in can pastilla, Majorca.

 

[tspivey]

Hi there
I have the same issue with a data tool tracker constantly draining my battery.
I bought the bike a month ago with it already fitted, but had the subscription cancelled. I didn’t realise it would still be draining
I’ve enquired about having it removed, but after reading ‘you did it yourself’- I wondered if could you please show me.
Thanks in advance
Darren

Hi,
Don’t want to ignore you but, just joined and first question asked doesn’t feel comfortable, so no I don’t feel I can tell you how.
I will say the information is already out there with a bit of searching.
Sorry.

 

[Firthston]

Hi,
Don’t want to ignore you but, just joined and first question asked doesn’t feel comfortable, so no I don’t feel I can tell you how.
I will say the information is already out there with a bit of searching.
Sorry.

Fair enough.
Thanks for replying anyway.
My son’s a qualified mechanic & has said he’ll remove it for me this week.
I just wanted to know if it was something I could do myself.

 

[littleade]

Fair enough.
Thanks for replying anyway.
My son’s a qualified mechanic & has said he’ll remove it for me this week.
I just wanted to know if it was something I could do myself.

It's easily done, just requires the correct torx bits and finding out where it's located, which if you bought it from a dealer they should be able to tell you as they're all in the same place and once located they just unplug.

I unplugged the one on my 2020 GS at the end of the free subscription and when I asked my dealer if he wanted me to reconnect it when I traded it in he said no thanks as they drain the battery! (He said when they fitted them as standard they proved to be the pain of the showroom as batteries went flat and they were forever putting chargers on all the bikes to keep them topped up)

 

[Firthston]

It's easily done, just requires the correct torx bits and finding out where it's located, which if you bought it from a dealer they should be able to tell you as they're all in the same place and once located they just unplug.

I unplugged the one on my 2020 GS at the end of the free subscription and when I asked my dealer if he wanted me to reconnect it when I traded it in he said no thanks as they drain the battery! (He said when they fitted them as standard they proved to be the pain of the showroom as batteries went flat and they were forever putting chargers on all the bikes to keep them topped up)

Thanks littleade, much appreciated. I’ll give them a call & see if they’ll tell me where it is.
I’ll be glad if I can stop having to put charger on every night
If I get it sorted, I’ll post again.
Cheers Darren

 

[ilkleymoron]

at the rear of the bike where they all are as its the only space

there are some images in another thread about them

 

[Morety]

I wouldn't fit a tracker to a bike as bike batteries are low enough capacity as-is so unless used daily or hooked up every night to a charger, trackers tend to run them down rapidly. I'd invest the cash instead on more security hardware. Handlebar/brake lock, a really good disk lock and a very sturdy chain and padlock. No subscription needed.

 

[DJ123]

I wouldn't fit a tracker to a bike as bike batteries are low enough capacity as-is so unless used daily or hooked up every night to a charger, trackers tend to run them down rapidly. I'd invest the cash instead on more security hardware. Handlebar/brake lock, a really good disk lock and a very sturdy chain and padlock. No subscription needed.

A good tracker won't kill your Bike's battery, and certainly not when setting a threshold and notification to tell you when it's getting low.

I've had a BikeTrak tracker for the last 2 years - even after leaving my Bike for a month over Winter the battery never dropped below 12.6V. And if it does, that's when i get a notification so i can either go out for a run on the Bike to charge it up or put the battery on charge.

 

[Wapping]

I have good quality trackers on my car and bike. Neither of them have the vehicles’ batteries overly depleted by leaving the trackers ‘live’.

 

[GSMarky]

It's a piece of crap as supplied and easy to remove. Get under the cover near the rear light & unplug it. It's that simple and will continuously give you trouble in my experience,.

Search my previous thread pics on how to..

 

[GSMarky]

I should state that the one BMW put on my new 2020 GS was a Datatool unit and was a total farce. No insurance benefit and if you moved your bike after a week you'd get annoying calls/emails from the muppets at Datatool.

Drains the battery for sure with or without a subscription.

My findings & opinions of course.

 

[John Armstrong]

Trackers can be of use:

Police uncover 'stolen' motorbikes, drugs and cash after tracker leads them to farm

Officers were able to trace a stolen motorbike to a farm in Aberdeenshire.

news.stv.tv

 

[littleade]

I should state that the one BMW put on my new 2020 GS was a Datatool unit and was a total farce. No insurance benefit and if you moved your bike after a week you'd get annoying calls/emails from the muppets at Datatool.

Drains the battery for sure with or without a subscription.

My findings & opinions of course.

A very similar experience mine! On the other hand my Monimoto has been flawless for over 5 years apart from an issue with compatability with Duracell batteries which isn't confined to their tracker.

 

[Wapping]

benefit and if you moved your bike after a week you'd get annoying calls/emails from the muppets at Datatool.

Is that if you moved the vehicle without the ignition on? Ie. just wheeled it? If so, that is what a decent tracker is designed to do. Mine activates, if I push my bike forward, without the ignition on.

My Datatool does not flatten the bike’s battery abnormally.

 

[Mr Bean]

Is that if you moved the vehicle without the ignition on? Ie. just wheeled it? If so, that is what a decent tracker is designed to do. Mine activates, if I push my bike forward, without the ignition on.

My Datatool does not flatten the bike’s battery abnormally.

You soon learn not to move the bike without the ignition being on...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the very small battery in my Bike Trac unit was continuing to power it for at least 6 weeks after being disconnected from the bike.

The Bike Trac unit draws very little power.

 

[GSMarky]

Is that if you moved the vehicle without the ignition on? Ie. just wheeled it? If so, that is what a decent tracker is designed to do. Mine activates, if I push my bike forward, without the ignition on.

My Datatool does not flatten the bike’s battery abnormally.

Yes, just moved it in the garage for example. I'm sure you are correct that it's design is to notify movement, but for me that was just pointless & annoying. If my bike was to get stolen I do not want it back. Issue resolved with the unit removed.

I think the lack of subscriptions may make it even worse as it keeps searching or something like that.. Trackers & alarms I personally stay well clear of.

 

[Wapping]

…….that it's design is to notify movement, but for me that was just pointless & annoying.

Trackers, definitely weren’t for you then.

Do though keep an eye out for the new trackers, which provide no warning at all that the vehicle is being moved, when no fob is present and / or the ignition is turned off. Likewise, they give no record as to where the vehicle is, reducing to all but zero the chances of recovering the vehicle. These are made by ACME Tracker and will be a sure fire hot seller with bikermates up and down the land.

 

[GSMarky]

Trackers, definitely weren’t for you then.

Do though keep an eye out for the new trackers, which provide no warning at all that the vehicle is being moved, when no fob is present and / or the ignition is turned off. Likewise, they give no record as to where the vehicle is, reducing to all but zero the chances of recovering the vehicle. These are made by ACME Tracker and will be a sure fire hot seller with bikermates up and down the land.

As I said whoever steals my bike can keep it - I do not want it back & nor do I want a flat battery when I need to use it.

As you say - most definitely not for me.