GPS Motorcycle Tracking

I'm a month or two away from moving my Suzuki sv650s up to Northern VA
and I'm told that motorcycle theft is pretty common where I live.
Have any of you had experience with any of the GPS tracking systems
that are on the market? Google turned up CycleTrak
[http://www.cycletrak.com/] for $450. Are there any other products or
do these guys rule the market?

It's an expensive investment if it turns out to be a better door stop
than anti-theft/recovery device. Would I be better off with a wire
lock or disk wheel lock? If it works, it sounds like a great idea.

Thanks,

James

 

Have lived in No VA all my adult life. M/C theft in this area is typically not
a problem in neighborhoods of single family homes. If you plan to live in an
apartment, or townhouse w/o a garage, here is my advice, fwiw:

1. ALWAYS keep your bike covered when it is parked. ALWAYS, from day 1. An
ugly, faded, cheap-looking (but not torn) cover is best. Lock the cover to the
bike.

2. ALWAYS keep your bike locked with a good disk lock and either a hefty
flexible steel cable or U-bolt type lock. Don't bother with a chain unless it
is one of the chains specifically made to resist bolt cutters.

3. If there is a motorcycle parking area surrounded by a wall or a steel fence,
ALWAYS park your bike in that area, and lock the bike to a post, fence rail, or
some similar stationary object.

4. If there is no specific motorcycle area, park you bike in the SAME spot with
your car, and park your car in front of the bike, blocking it in. Park the car
as close as your physically can to the bike. At night (and preferably at all
times that you are at home) secure the bike to the car.

5. A horn or siren alarm is useless unless you can hear it go off from inside
your apartment. No one else in northern Virginia will give a damn about your
alarm going off except maybe to curse you for installing the thing. They will
certainly not intervene if someone is stealing your bike!

6. A remote beeper alarm that goes off in your pocket is better, as long as the
range allows it to go off inside your apartment.

7. Your SV650 is less of a target than a Harley or a late model big bore
Japanese sportbike. Still, they are popular to thieves who disassemble and sell
the parts to club racers (the SV650 is one of the most popular L/W twin
racebikes). Don't advertise the fact that you own a bike. Try not to regularly
leave and arrive on the bike at the same time. Try not to always park it in the
same place. Try to park it where you can see it from your window.

Good luck!

Tim

 

Or buy a beater for $450, leave the keys in it, and sleep better at night.

 

A friend of mine used to live on Mt Auburn St., right off of Harvard Square.
This is a very busy pedestrian area. So, one saturday, he's working on his
Healey 3000 and goes inside for a beer; so much for that car...

When I lived back east, I avoided popular models just for that reason. Even
that doesn't always work. The same friend had a Volvo sedan stolen after he
got sick of replacing high profile rides. Like they say, some people would
steal a red hot woodstove.

 

And of course no one has yet answered the original poster's
question. Does the GPS alarm let you put the bastard in jail? (or other
forms of revenge... like on the little nigger kid that stole a friend's
Katana?)

-gc

 

Unlike cars, stolen bikes are often taken away in the back of a van. That
would render GPS tracking useless.

Ken Ishiguro

 

Erm, why? It would show you where the van began and ended its journey,
for a start.

 

Unlike cars, stolen bikes are often taken away in the back of a van. That

From the promotional material for some systems, these products will
start tracking the moment the bike is tilted beyond a certian angle
(as it might be lifting it into a van). Also, CycleTrak claims that
their transmitter is powerful enough to be hidden underneath a seat or
descrete location so it may be powerful enough to transmit through a
van.

My main concern is all of these "maybe"s. This all sounds plausible
and in theory it works, but I'd like to know if anyone has had first
hand experience with these systems or with their companies in general.

By the way, thanks Tim for the advice on securing the bike. Indeed I
do live in an apartment so that info will come in handy.

-James

 

racist ****.

 

I think he means because the tracking device would render useless inside a
van. The metal casing would not allow a signal.

 

As trackers are routinely installed inside cars, I find that hard to
believe.

 

ITYF the tracking devices fitted to cars do have an external antenna. The
metal body of the van makes an effective RF shield to the GPS device
mounted on the bike, which is entirely contained within the shielded van
body.

 

Hmmmmm.... not the one I saw a while back.

What we need is SWK for certain.

 

if I put a GPS tracking system in my car/van/pickemup, it wouldn't work?

--
Odinn

'03 FLHTI ........... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/ElectraGlide
'97 VN1500D ......... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/VulcanClassic
Atlanta Biker Net ... http://www.atlantabiker.net
Vulcan Riders Assoc . http://www.vulcanriders.org

Fill in the blanks to reply

 

So, that Garmin handheld that my buddy has isn't actually working in his
car, even tho it looks like it is?

Wait, emore, do you work at the same place I do? No, wait, he has a Honda,
not a Toyota.

--
Odinn

'03 FLHTI ........... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/ElectraGlide
'97 VN1500D ......... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/VulcanClassic
Atlanta Biker Net ... http://www.atlantabiker.net
Vulcan Riders Assoc . http://www.vulcanriders.org

Fill in the blanks to reply

 

Will a GPS work in a windowless van with a metal bulkhead between the
driver and the cargo area? That's what _I_ am talking about. I would
be surprised if a GPS didn't work in a normal passenger van or car
with windows.

As TOG said, if I were going into the bike stealing business, I'd be
opting for a windowless van.

 

I did? Where was that, then?

'Snot a bad idea, mark you.

 

I don't remember TOG saying ANYTHING about a windowless van.

Hell, TOG didn't even say anything until Ken Ishiguro said something. Ken
is the one who said bikes were often taken away in the back of a van.
Nothing mentioned about windowless.

****, you're the first person to even mention windows in this thread.
Even so, a van without windows would make it pretty fucking hard for the
thieves to drive it away.

Even with a metal bulkhead between the cargo area and and driver, I would
be surprised if the GPS didn't work. Now, to see if I can find such an
animal to test it in. Maybe a UPS or FedEx van would work to test it in.

--
Odinn

'03 FLHTI ........... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/ElectraGlide
'97 VN1500D ......... http://www.sloanclan.org/gallery/VulcanClassic
Atlanta Biker Net ... http://www.atlantabiker.net
Vulcan Riders Assoc . http://www.vulcanriders.org

Fill in the blanks to reply

 

Well, my fuzzy logic processor strikes again- I could have sworn
someone in this thread had mentioned the favored transport of
professional bike thieves, and and I thought it was you. Must have
been an unconscious association I cultivated for some odd reason.[1]

A quick peek on my server reveals that it was 'bowman' who said it:
<bs33h2$8s8bb$-berlin.de>

"If one is planning to rip off bikes for a living, a commercial van
with no glass and a bulkhead behind the driver's seat would be good. A
little armor plating and runflats might not be a bad idea either in
some locales."

[1] Odd indeed, since you are widely known for attempting to entice
anencephalic ebayers into purchasing[2] SOBs or portions of same,
rather than for skulking about the countryside nefariously relieving
them of their much loved bikes.

[2] As we all know, your true objective has been to avoid the cost
of hauling them to the tip. The receipt of few beer tokens during
the course of the transaction is purely a side benefit. I have a
cunning plan to achieve a similar result via a recurring weekly
auction on ebay involving the contents of my wheelie bin. Judging
from the bids on your C90, and the ample known population of oxygen
wasters with ebay accounts, it should likely prove to be sucessful
beyond my wildest dreams.

 

A GPS receiver uses very low level (weak) radio signals from satellites. A
heavy tree cover can and does effectively block those signals. Metal
anything (car, truck, etc.) will block those signals. Try using a GPS inside
a building - it will not work.

Using a GPS inside a vehicle will frequently work because of the vehicle
windows. If you set the GPS on the dash, or mount it somehow so that it's
antenna has a decent view out a window, it should work. If you place it on
the seat beside you, it probably won't work. Set it on the floor and I can
almost guarantee it won't work.

As for a tracking system, there are two requirements. The first is the GPS
which must be able to receive the satellite signals to know it's location.
The second is a cell phone which either dials out the alarm and location, or
is dialed into to request a location report. GPS tracking systems do not
talk back to the satellites.

I am not aware of any GPS tracking system (combined GPS and cell phone) that
is designed for motorcycle use. It may well be possible to set one up, but
you start running into other concerns also. One is where you locate and
secure all of the electronics. Another is providing proper antenna's for
both the GPS and cell phone. And yet another is providing 24/7 power from
the tiny little motorcycle battery.

Carl