Tracker success stories?

[ferrisio]

I'm moving next week and will have to keep my bike on the road. Has anyone here actually recovered their bike due to it being fitted with a tracker? I'm just thinking of getting a cheapo GPS one as opposed to one of the expensive annual license ones, but I wondered if anyone had an actual result with one as opposed to all the marketing shite you read?

Otherwise chains and a cover (and the fact the bike is a shitter) is going to be my security
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BMW R1100R

[Rogerborg]

The only one that I've seen actual owners say resulted in a recovery is BikeTrac.
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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

[.Bishbash.]

OOOO, good question, personally never heard of any.

Also, what % of people here use them?
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Current bike - GSX-R1000 k8

[bikertomm]

The tot uses one on here on his R1 iirc, he did a relatively long post about it somewhere.
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07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[waffles]

I have BikeTrac. I checked on my phone and my bike is still exactly where I left it

Wasn't there a story of a guy's bike that ended up in Eastern Europe and was picked up again shortly afterwards?

EDIT - Found it here
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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

[Supermoto_Fan]

Why is there such a market in these Eastern block countries for usually expensive exotica? High taxes on new bikes there? Must be a reason other than just because they can, obviously.

There obviously a massive demand! Assuming they end up sold as a bike and not parts.
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Yamaha MT-09 - Triple powerrrr

[Irn-Bru]

Because the police don't care about stolen motorbikes.

I had a BikeTrac on my KTM 690 SMC many years ago now and while it didn't get nicked the tracker worked spot on. Had a few phone calls with BikeTrac until I set it up properly (I used to move the bike around with ignition off) and they are spot on. The route tracker thing was mint too, I used it all the time. Annoying finding a new route and not remembering where it is for next time - problem solved.
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KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[chickenstrip]

[Rogerborg]

[ferrisio]

^^ Balls, hadn't thought of that angle. 1000 thanks.
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BMW R1100R

[cjrp]

Take a look on the BikeTrac or Tracker FB pages - every week they post a few bike return success stories. For me it's worth it for the peace of mind that I can look at my phone and be sure my bike's where I left it.
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CBF125 | CBR600FA | Monster 821

[Doovy]

[Taught2BCauti...]

I use quite a few of those cheap Chinese 'GPS' trackers off eBay, but only the 4-wire ones.

They cost about £15, but most of them don't have an actual GPS chipset in them - so I don't think they would be any good for tracking stolen property.

The oldest one that I have still running, has been working reliably for nearly 3 years, gets used once or twice a week, and I have never had a problem with any of them.

The location service is crap though, especially where there is only one or two GPS signals within range, they can report being be up to a mile away from where they are actually located!

The SIM Card costs me £5 each for 3 months.
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Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[waffles]

[bugeye_bob]

taken from the Stolen in London link,

"With the bike now in Lithuania, the Bike Trac team in the UK stayed up through Tuesday night, keeping track of the bike as it continued its journey east"

So they dont cover 24/7, if they are bed you will get no response ?

also they mentioned that the UK Police wouldnt get a warrant, so lets hope if your bike was stolen it is kept out in the open or the Police wont help ?
"SOC quickly tracked the bike to a known location not far away in London, but due to this area being densely populated, local police could not offer us a search warrant even with our Radio Frequency technology showing a strong signal. "

[Rogerborg]

Indeed, it's only more likely that you'll get it back with BikeTrac than with some cheapy solution that can "report being be up to a mile away from where they are actually located".
____________________
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

[Taught2BCauti...]

[Jmoan]

Shouldn't technology suitable for this task be easily available in this day and age.

Something like a small gps and mobile phone unit controlled by one of those arduino style boards which checks to see if its been moved or been shaken about,then send a text with location every so often and when called for or linked to an alarm.

[Polarbear]

If I got my bike back in the condition it was stolen is one thing. If it came back damaged, with electrics ripped out etc, I'd rather not see it again and just claim off insurance.

So do I want a tracker or just try and not get it stolen first

Nice to be able to check on where it is it though.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[ferrisio]

So tempted to try with something like this - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-GSM-GPS-Vehicle-Tracker-SMS-Locator-Anti-Theft-Car-Tracking-3EB0-/271973836492?hash=item3f52e766cc:g:MEoAAOSwT6pV5VXV - it insists (upon itself) that it is true GPS, plus has a shake/vibration alarm - rather than screeching and annoying neighbours it will text me so I can check it out.

However given the reasons above, if it did get pinched and if I did get a location I suspect recovering it would be a job for my good self and I'd struggle to get anyone else interested.
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BMW R1100R

[talkToTheHat]

Every bike I've had has had a sticker on it claiming it has a tracker, a convincing blinking light and either datatool microdot things or alphadots. Never had one stolen.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[Pigeon]

I've just fitted (today in fact) this tk102 tracker

Reason being I'm having to leave my bike in an open car park for a couple of months with zero street furniture. So she's getting twin disc locks (both alarmed, but one of them is as sensitive as Katie Hopkins) and a tracker.

Got it because, as I understand it, quite often there is a 24-48hour window in which vehicles are dumped on a quiet side street before being taken for breaking or shipping. So it _might_ help, and for the price I figured worth a try.

Can be set to notify when moving, when taking a whack etc

There are running costs. You have to stump up for a PAYG Sim (one comes with the package, but it's data usage isn't the cheapest and it's stuck on divert to voicemail which the mobile company claim to have disabled, but I can only contact the device using the app and txt, I can't ring it currently). Every time you txt it a command, it costs a send from your phone and a send from the tracker (currently 19p). I've spent £6 today just setting it up and titting about. But in reality, it's probably £10 every 90 days to keep it active.

8,700 sales. Wouldn't it be funny if they were just collecting a huge database of vehicles and their locations to sell to thieves....

[iooi]

[Pigeon]