Thumbs up to Shiny Bike Syndrome - BikeTrac Installation

[The Tot]

In the recent spate of thefts that have been cropping up either here, on other forums, or on facebook, I decided sod it! My bike looks pretty damn desirable, and as a result can potentially attract the wrong sort of attention too.

I braved the snow and sleet today and made the trip across to Newbury to get my BikeTrac tracker fitted at Shiney Bike Syndrome, the place where you can go to get your bike valeted with ACF50.

Link to the site is here - https://www.shinybikesyndrome.co.uk/new/shop/bike-trac/

The reason why I went for Nigel was that he offered free fitting, and considering that Newbury is only 70 odd miles away, it was cheaper than 2 hours labour to get it fitted locally. I fancied popping down to Newbury to go down to Pro-Bike and query them about a small fuelling issue with the R1. I thought I'd knob 2 birds with 1 johnny.

The chap was very friendly and a proper workshop mechanic. I'd know how the installation was done and how it's set up. In actuality, it's an easy enough installation to do by yourself. The difficult bit is finding ansensible place to hide the device (I'm not going to divulge this information on a public forum obviously). Suffice to say, he did a clean job on the install and was giving useful suggestions on do's and don'ts.

Set-up was very easy and within 1.5 hours of tinkering about in his mancave, I was on my way...along with a quart of ACF50!

Ride home sucked balls though. Decided to detour along some B roads because it "seemed" sunny, but by the time I was scratching through the wiltshire plains, it started snowing pretty badly. All I can say was that it's like riding through a windows 3.1. screensaver. Racing leathers wasn't a good shout either! Though warm enough with my base layer, my fingers were frozen by the time I got to Swindon!

Suffice to say, the tracker works. I got a phone call from the BikeTrac call centre telling me how not to set the device after I had set up some geo-fences for my alerts. I told them to disable the speed tracking and gave me some other recommendations such as ICE numbers and rider-down facility. If you have the proper installation done, with the ignition live switch, if the device senses that you've gone beyond 80°lean with the engine still running, it'll alert you or ICE/Next of Kin. So all in all, I'd recommend getting the BikeTrac, just for piece of mind!
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[RhynoCZ]

https://i.giphy.com/yoJC2xuXHqtrKP1f8I.gif
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[The Tot]

How is this spam, when I'm giving my experience of a service, which I do not own or operate!? If you want your bike nicked, so be it, but I'd think that some of us would have a more proactive view on security Considering that a few GOOD mates of mine have had their bikes nicked, I'm sure SOME of us will want to have the feeling of sleeping easy.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Rogerborg]

Fair play, BikeTrac is the only tracker where I've seen owners say that it's actually helped to get their bike back.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[The Tot]

Yeah, London's and the south east is pretty bad for it at the moment. The fact is that if any bike gets pinched with a tracker and ends up in a shipping container, the likelihood is that it'll help other owners find their stolen bikes.

I like the fact that the device is passive, i.e. if an alert comes off, the call centre rings you, like what they did today, and you confirm if the bike is stolen or not. If it is, the service then coordinates with the police along with issuing a warrant to the location where the bike is stored at.

For me, this is useful because I'm regularly away overseas for business, so I DON'T want the hassle of getting a call from the command centre to tell me that my bike has been moved without my authorisation, which then requires me to contact the police to deal with it. It's a bit more than similar products by datatool and tracker, but it's a piece of convenience for me. I'd hate to deal with the aggro when I'm half way around the world, where it's clearly obvious that my bike isn't where it's supposed to be.

Also, the device utilises GPS, GSM and good old Radio Frequency, so there's diversity in the detection and tracking.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[waffles]

I've got a BikeTrac, had it for nearly three years and can't fault it so far. They are expensive but call and text within minutes (or in a couple of cases, seconds) of my bike being moved. Top kit

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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[ws4936]

[waffles]

I've just paid £180 for two years. There are other cheaper options out there but this one seemed to tick all the boxes for me and offer additional services too.
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[Blackwolf]

As an aside, ive been following SBS for a while now too. His work is always impeccable
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Current: Ducati Multistrada 1200s

[The Tot]

Charles,

Him and his missus ride Aprilias - Falco and Gen 2 Tuono. I think he's an ex-Aprilia mechanic. His mancave was full of really neat stuff. There were some moulds for pre-preg carbon fibre engine case protectors and a few other items he's been working on.

He's a genuinely mellow chap. I was more chuffed that he installed the tracker for free and had the patience to give me a run down. It felt no different to say having a few of the BCF lot huddle together at the BBQ to fix each others bike.

Had a really good time chatting to him. It's nice to see guys like him sorting fellow bikers out!
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Blackwolf]

Yeah, he is good mates with Griff (An amazing Aprilia mechanic-diagnosed my Tuonos fault) top bloke
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Current: Ducati Multistrada 1200s

[The Tot]

He that fella that runs Performance Aprilia? He did mention his name a few times.

But SBS has been going on for a while and seems to have repeat custom. Actually, one thing that did it for me was the fact that Nigel went out of his way to fit me in today. It was supposed to be his day off, but still managed to put some time aside this morning to fit me in. Says a lot about his character really
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[The Tot]

Bit of a bump.

Was in the garage removing the decals on the R1, and I was just polishing and rubbing the fairings to remove the tacky residue. Put it this way, within 15 seconds of me buffing the side panels, I not only got a text, but a phone call from the control centre notifying me that there's an unauthorised movement on the bike.

So, nobody will take notice of an alarm. Even if it is wailing, chances are you're probably nowhere near your bike! Nothing like having a chap ringing you up to say that somebody is tampering with your bike!

It goes to show that that little box from BikeTrac does its job and does it very well.


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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[P.addy]

How much did it cost and how do you secure your bike when out and about?

[waffles]

Good innit! I find it quite reassuring that the slightest movement results in an almost immediate response from them. It is expensive but it is a top piece of kit.
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[The Tot]

£299 fitted from Shiny Bike Syndrome - unit itself is £299, although as with alarms, the tricky bit is disguising the loom and hiding the unit.

How do I secure the bike when I'm out and about? Well, I try to park in a CCTV barriered car park, bike covered and Abus Alarmed disk lock. Won't stop it from going into a van, but considering my garage is in an area with horrendously poor reception, tonight was proof that its response time is quick! I can barely fit anything under my seat cover, so even a 13mm 1.2m pragmasis chain won't don.

Once they've got a positive fix that your bike has gone walkies, the system becomes fully active and they track it down (even if it's in a van or faraday cage). Also will issue a police warrant to seize the bike upon finding its location. I paid £100 more over alternatives from Tracker and datatool for this.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[woo]

pm sent
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Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[P.addy]

Well its not the stolen bit, it's the attempted and damaged one. Chained up would definitely prevent opportunistic thefts.

Tailpack not possible?

Seems cheap enough for what it can do but I'd not hold any hope with police doing anything.

[bikertomm]

Worth it's weight in gold if it means you have time to rodger a bike theif over the head with something heavy.
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07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[The Tot]

Especially if its a gang of these rudeboisBaaakLaaafTV, Ya get me! Seems that pedboi gangs haven't evolved one bit. Probably on some sort of Croydon Riot list!
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[iooi]

[waffles]

[Musketeer]

Having a tracker installed is probably a good idea, but the fact the company running it can track your speed I find somewhat disturbing
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[Kris]

[Rogerborg]