Trackers and Alarms

[simonbbt]

Not had an alarmed bike for a few years but I might be getting something new soon and was wondering what trackers/alarms people use and what they recommend or have had issues with. Bike will be going in an Asgard shed with an Almax V chain and anchor but I'd like the extra peace of mind a tracker system would give when I'm out and about.

[Yorick]

I fitted a cheapo alarm from local shop.
About £70 and makes lots of noise.
Keep it simple.

[Count Steer]

I fitted a cheapo alarm from local shop.
About £70 and makes lots of noise.
Keep it simple.

Have to agree. Biggest problem I've had was with an alarm/immobiliser on a s/h bike I had that decided to immobilise at random - while riding. Engine off etc. It was a pig to remove too. They may be better now and this one wasn't a factory install job.

[Taipan]

Bennets did a review on them which would be worth a look. The only thing to be careful of is they can flatten your battery which can be a problem if you're only an occasional rider?

[Taipan]

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/r ... le-tracker

[Yorick]

Bennets did a review on them which would be worth a look. The only thing to be careful of is they can flatten your battery which can be a problem if you're only an occasional rider?

I only use my alarm if it's parked up away from the villa.

[The Spin Doctor]

https://buy.vanmate.co/products/vandefe ... m-for-vans

If you remove the outer shell plastic case which is simply to mount it, the actual alarm inside is only 9.5cm x 4.5 x 2.

Seven levels of sensitivity, six months from the batteries, remote fob and 110dB. Currently £34 on the website.

[Skub]

I wonder how many bike thefts have alarms actually prevented?

If the bike is adequately secured and insured,surely that's enough without encouraging the chances of electrical gremlins by adding complicated alarms. I had occasion to remove a misbehaving Datatool alarm from a Fireblade some years ago,it wasn't easy and put me right off putting anything similar on my own.

As folk have said already,if you must have one,keep the thing simple.

[Yorick]

I wonder how many bike thefts have alarms actually prevented?

If the bike is adequately secured and insured,surely that's enough without encouraging the chances of electrical gremlins by adding complicated alarms. I had occasion to remove a misbehaving Datatool alarm from a Fireblade some years ago,it wasn't easy and put me right off putting anything similar on my own.

As folk have said already,if you must have one,keep the thing simple.

Scrotes broke into my garage in Leeds and broke/cut the 2 locks.
Only when they moved it did the alarm go off. Woke up Homer and his barking alongside the screaming alarm scared them off.

[ajlog]

I use one of these, Monimoto, it has it’s own battery so no issues in draining the bike.
There is no siren but it calls your mobile if sensing the bike moving without the fob nearby.
Then it send its location to the app so the bike can be tracked.

Not too expensive for a tracker, the previous version is available at less than £100 and the annual subscription is less than £40.

https://monimoto.com/uk/shop/

[The Spin Doctor]

I wonder how many bike thefts have alarms actually prevented?

If the bike is adequately secured and insured,surely that's enough without encouraging the chances of electrical gremlins by adding complicated alarms. I had occasion to remove a misbehaving Datatool alarm from a Fireblade some years ago,it wasn't easy and put me right off putting anything similar on my own.

As folk have said already,if you must have one,keep the thing simple.

I had problems with a previously installed Datatool - fortunately it immobilised the bike whilst I was at home. One caused major grief on a mate's bike on a trip down to the Pyrenees. We eventually figured out how to bypass it but it ruined half a day's riding - it was either that or abandon the poor guy at the petrol station where it had zapped the ignition.

Unfortunately, living in London without access to a garage I can no longer get theft cover...

[Jody]

Am I right in thinking you can hide an apple airtag thingy on your bike for tracking?

[MingtheMerciless]

Bike trac user here, so far all good. Minimal power drain off the bike battery. It usefully has a holiday mode so if the scum break into your house and find the keys for the bike it will still flag its being moved even with the ignition on.

[The Spin Doctor]

Am I right in thinking you can hide an apple airtag thingy on your bike for tracking?

You can... I covered that hack on Elevenses some time ago... let me dig out the script and see which episode it was... I'll report back.

[MrLongbeard]

Am I right in thinking you can hide an apple airtag thingy on your bike for tracking?

You can, and ne'er-do-well's can hide one on it to find where it sleeps at night.

[The Spin Doctor]

You'll know that I've mentioned trackers a few times on the show - well, I was interested to read a story about how a US rider tracked down his stolen motorbike using an Apple AirTag.

They are sold as a device to keep track of personal items like keys, bags, handbags and even the collar of your dog.

But a Washington man appears to have used an Airtag to track his motorcycle.

Having had motorcycles stolen previously, so when Apple announced the AirTag along with the iPhone 12 models, he bought one and attached it to his motorcycle.

Just a couple of days later Brandon left his motorcycle in a parking lot but when he returned, the bike had gone.

But once he opened the Find My app on his iPhone, he could see his motorcycle was only a few blocks away from the parking lot.

He alerted the police, filed a statement and took his bike home.

AirTag can be sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network.

These devices transmit the location of the AirTag to iCloud — from there, you can use the Find My app and find it on a map.

The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect privacy.

Precision Finding is compatible with versions of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12.

And the best bit is the price - £29 for one tag, £99 for four.

[The Spin Doctor]

Am I right in thinking you can hide an apple airtag thingy on your bike for tracking?

You can, and ne'er-do-well's can hide one on it to find where it sleeps at night.

I've heard of cheap trackers being planted on bikes before now... you need to park in a ruddy faraday cage

[KungFooBob]

You'll know that I've mentioned trackers a few times on the show - well, I was interested to read a story about how a US rider tracked down his stolen motorbike using an Apple AirTag.

They are sold as a device to keep track of personal items like keys, bags, handbags and even the collar of your dog.

But a Washington man appears to have used an Airtag to track his motorcycle.

Having had motorcycles stolen previously, so when Apple announced the AirTag along with the iPhone 12 models, he bought one and attached it to his motorcycle.

Just a couple of days later Brandon left his motorcycle in a parking lot but when he returned, the bike had gone.

But once he opened the Find My app on his iPhone, he could see his motorcycle was only a few blocks away from the parking lot.

He alerted the police, filed a statement and took his bike home.

AirTag can be sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network.

These devices transmit the location of the AirTag to iCloud — from there, you can use the Find My app and find it on a map.

The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect privacy.

Precision Finding is compatible with versions of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12.

And the best bit is the price - £29 for one tag, £99 for four.

The moral of the story is, if you nick a bike don't go within bluetooth range of someone with an iPhone.

[maccecht]

Got one of these. About the size of a pk of fags. Works well no fees. Needs charging every 5_7 weeks

[Taipan]

Got one of these. About the size of a pk of fags. Works well no fees. Needs charging every 5_7 weeks