I've been looking at getting a GPS bike tracker recently as I live close to central London where bike theft is unfortunately prevalent (even of 'low value' bikes like the GS).

I'm planning on getting one of the battery powered ones that you charge and put a prepaid SIM card in.

As long as the tank doesn't block the signal, I think inside the airbox would be a good, stealthy location to install it.

Does anyone have any experiences/advice with trackers like these, or potentially better locations they'd install it instead?

Quote from: max on July 02, 2018, 04:22:22 PM
I've been looking at getting a GPS bike tracker recently as I live close to central London where bike theft is unfortunately prevalent (even of 'low value' bikes like the GS).

I'm planning on getting one of the battery powered ones that you charge and put a prepaid SIM card in.

As long as the tank doesn't block the signal, I think inside the airbox would be a good, stealthy location to install it.

Does anyone have any experiences/advice with trackers like these, or potentially better locations they'd install it instead?

The Missendenflyer did a review of the monimoto there recently.
Sounds decent and relatively inexpensive. Might get one myself.

Quote from: Toner on July 02, 2018, 04:46:09 PM
The Missendenflyer did a review of the monimoto there recently.
Sounds decent and relatively inexpensive. Might get one myself.

Oh I saw Royal Jordanian do a video on that same tracker a couple of months ago too.

The only thing that put me off was the fact it would only send a GPS location every 5 minutes when stolen. I'd prefer if you could view its current location at any time while in the 'stolen' mode.

It looked good though, and would still be better than my current position of having nothing!

nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

I've purposely left my keys in my gs in a sketchy part of town and it never even moved...

also know a guy who's ignition is punched out in his and a screw driver dangles out to "turn the key" it never goes missing...

I think if you know how to start a GS. then you probably don't want a GS.

Quote from: J_Walker on July 02, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

Welcome to riding a bike in London, where scumbags will steal anything, even with you still on it! (I wish I was joking, there's an epidemic of bike jacking here).

Quote from: J_Walker on July 02, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

I have lived in a high(ish) crime area and have had my fair share of things stolen over the years.  I have to point out the myth that cheap things don't get stolen when there are more expensive options.

The reality of the economics of stealing things is simply that anything sold at any price is profit when you didn't pay for it in the first place.

Quote from: philward on July 02, 2018, 08:13:36 PM

Quote from: J_Walker on July 02, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

Downtown Los Angeles , broke my windows took a garden hose , took a newspaper , and magazine , Glad I didn't park my GS500F over there.......

Quote from: J_Walker on July 02, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

I've purposely left my keys in my gs in a sketchy part of town and it never even moved...

also know a guy who's ignition is punched out in his and a screw driver dangles out to "turn the key" it never goes missing...

I think if you know how to start a GS. then you probably don't want a GS.

Guess you don't have roving bands of young scummers who steal bikes just piss around a field on them an burn them out.

Quote from: Toner on July 04, 2018, 03:18:53 PM

Quote from: J_Walker on July 02, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
nobody is gonna steal a GS.... unless you're in an area where anything is stolen.

I've purposely left my keys in my gs in a sketchy part of town and it never even moved...

also know a guy who's ignition is punched out in his and a screw driver dangles out to "turn the key" it never goes missing...

I think if you know how to start a GS. then you probably don't want a GS.

Guess you don't have roving bands of young scummers who steal bikes just piss around a field on them an burn them out.

maybe not, maybe my GS's side cases covered in oil keeps thieves away. lmao

In general in the UK anything that's not nailed down will disappear in a few minutes. Central London is the worst in the UK, which is already bad, so yeah, a GS can and will be stolen if you aren't careful. After graduating, I specifically avoided the jobs in London for that reason, and even living away from London now, I specifically went out of my way to rent a place in a safe area with a garage - which meant basically moving out of the city, because city houses aren't cheap to rent, even without garages. It sucks that crime is so bad here that that is what you have to do if you want to be able to own a motorbike and keep it, but whatever. Got my eyes set on moving away to the continent - not just for the lower crime, but also the decently-surfaced roads and gorgeous scenery.

Tracker-wise, I have one in my bike I think, but it's not actually plugged into anything because I wanted to splice in a proper battery connector rather than the loose copper that it came with but never got around to it and am not really that worried about theft these days. That said, now, I would probably opt for a tracker powered by its own battery - easier to install in a hidden place whilst also unable to just be disconnected, plus no risk of draining the bike's battery, although of course you've got to charge the tracker every so often. You can get ones targeted towards cyclists.

Oh yeah, also, I wouldn't worry about the tank blocking the signal. Honestly, you could probably tape the tracker to the underside of it just fine. You could always try out different areas with your phone to see what the signal's like. Might be able to take a screenshot if you can't directly see the screen in the place you're testing it.

Quote from: Kookas on July 05, 2018, 12:50:37 PM
In general in the UK anything that's not nailed down will disappear in a few minutes. Central London is the worst in the UK, which is already bad, so yeah, a GS can and will be stolen if you aren't careful. After graduating, I specifically avoided the jobs in London for that reason, and even living away from London now, I specifically went out of my way to rent a place in a safe area with a garage - which meant basically moving out of the city, because city houses aren't cheap to rent, even without garages. It sucks that crime is so bad here that that is what you have to do if you want to be able to own a motorbike and keep it, but whatever. Got my eyes set on moving away to the continent - not just for the lower crime, but also the decently-surfaced roads and gorgeous scenery.

Tracker-wise, I have one in my bike I think, but it's not actually plugged into anything because I wanted to splice in a proper battery connector rather than the loose copper that it came with but never got around to it and am not really that worried about theft these days. That said, now, I would probably opt for a tracker powered by its own battery - easier to install in a hidden place whilst also unable to just be disconnected, plus no risk of draining the bike's battery, although of course you've got to charge the tracker every so often. You can get ones targeted towards cyclists.

Oh yeah, also, I wouldn't worry about the tank blocking the signal. Honestly, you could probably tape the tracker to the underside of it just fine. You could always try out different areas with your phone to see what the signal's like. Might be able to take a screenshot if you can't directly see the screen in the place you're testing it.

Nice idea about the phone signal strength as an indicator, I'll give that a go!

While I look for a tracker still, I fitted one of those dirt cheap (£13), movement alarms. It might not make the bike recoverable, but the more preventative measures the better in my opinion.

Quote from: max on July 06, 2018, 11:26:45 AM
Nice idea about the phone signal strength as an indicator, I'll give that a go!

While I look for a tracker still, I fitted one of those dirt cheap (£13), movement alarms. It might not make the bike recoverable, but the more preventative measures the better in my opinion.

Both of the locks I carry with me are alarmed, and I've got a Cyclone V2 in the bike itself fitted by a previous owner. The way I see it, alarms and the attention they draw put pressure on a thief that might just make them give up rather than keep at it. Multiple alarms mean hopefully one will still be going off even if the thief manages to kill another, although in practice they cover different areas of the bike so it's possible to set one off without setting off the others. That said, I've set off the disk lock alarm just with the sound of arming the main alarm a couple of times.

Speaking of which, the in-bike alarm is great, it means I can leave the bike completely unlocked when just popping into the corner shop or somewhere like that where I can park it right outside. It's supposed to have a bunch of other random functions, like it can be an immobiliser, but mine is either not wired up or it just doesn't work as I've started the bike a couple of times whilst the alarm was armed (the alarm did go off, but it didn't actually stop me starting the bike).

It does have the hazard lights wired to it, so it flashes those when it's armed/disarmed and when it goes off. It also has remote start, but it's not wired up either (for good reason, dunno why that would ever be useful on a bike, especially a carbed one) so it's essentially just a remote control for the hazard lights.

It's great until 4 burly folks pick up the bike and put it into a van with a faradays cage arrangement (or loads of tinfoil) inside. no GPS, no signal. drive off, dismantle and remove any tracker. Off to Felixstowe and end of. probably not a GS though. you can buy a push bike well into 4 figures that a child could pick up and put into the van which is more valuable than a GS.

you'd be better off claiming on the insurance and getting another one.

Its nice to know its not just me that wants to move to the continent too!

Quote from: tobyd on July 07, 2018, 02:28:53 PM
It's great until 4 burly folks pick up the bike and put it into a van with a faradays cage arrangement (or loads of tinfoil) inside. no GPS, no signal. drive off, dismantle and remove any tracker. Off to Felixstowe and end of. probably not a GS though. you can buy a push bike well into 4 figures that a child could pick up and put into the van which is more valuable than a GS.

To be truthful, I really doubt that would happen to a GS, even here!

Quote from: tobyd on July 07, 2018, 02:28:53 PM
Its nice to know its not just me that wants to move to the continent too!

There's been a bit of a mass migration since the Brexit news, which I unfortunately missed - I just graduated and started working right as a couple of employees where I currently work were moving off to Germany. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to expatriate after Brexit.

the number of times I've gone looking for the bike keys only to find them in the ignition....

I really hope so, Germany and France and onwards are great. it'll be really grim not being able to just skip on over there anymore... Sad times.

I think you all should take my route.

Put big arse dent in gastank. drill a few holes in the frame, never clean the brake dust off your rims. always have a visible oil leak somewhere on the engine, bonus points for multiple spots!

nobody will steal it.... because its pretty clear NO parts are worth a damn thing.

I remember reading a few articles a while back about bike thieves... sometimes I think I shouldn't have read them because now I'm a bit paranoid about it, tbh.

One article claimed to have actually found a former bike thief and he agreed to do an interview... and he explained what him and his crew looked for when scouting for bikes to steal. He admitted that sometimes, he didn't care what the bike was or how it looked or what shape it was in... he just wanted to steal it just for the pure act of stealing. Gave him (and I'm sure the rest of his 'buddies') a thrill.

Some people are just dickbags I guess... and they will do things just for whatever rush it gives them.  Money isn't always the goal.

I don't think inside tank is feasible even if the metal didn't block the signal. I think inside the tail of the bike where the tool box would live but glued to the top.

However it's certainly better to simply prevent the theft in the first instance, surely. A heavy chain and lock or a wheel lock will certainly deter any but a professional thief who would not be interested in the GS. In fact I'd think the steering lock would be sufficient.

Quote from: user11235813 on July 08, 2018, 03:13:13 AM
I don't think inside tank is feasible even if the metal didn't block the signal. I think inside the tail of the bike where the tool box would live but glued to the top.

However it's certainly better to simply prevent the theft in the first instance, surely. A heavy chain and lock or a wheel lock will certainly deter any but a professional thief who would not be interested in the GS. In fact I'd think the steering lock would be sufficient.

Nah, unfortunately steering locks can be snapped with a couple of quick yanks - the handlebars provide plenty of leverage for that. Parking it anywhere here you definitely need at least one good disk lock, probably two if you live in London as they go round with angle-grinders and hammers.

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on July 08, 2018, 02:53:32 AM
I remember reading a few articles a while back about bike thieves... sometimes I think I shouldn't have read them because now I'm a bit paranoid about it, tbh.

One article claimed to have actually found a former bike thief and he agreed to do an interview... and he explained what him and his crew looked for when scouting for bikes to steal. He admitted that sometimes, he didn't care what the bike was or how it looked or what shape it was in... he just wanted to steal it just for the pure act of stealing. Gave him (and I'm sure the rest of his 'buddies') a thrill.

Some people are just dickbags I guess... and they will do things just for whatever rush it gives them.  Money isn't always the goal.

There are two kinds of thief we have here, the 'professionals' that go equipped to sell bikes on and the sad yobs that just see something they can take for a joyride and then burn in a field somewhere once they're done. It's sad that there's a category of youth like that here that, from day 1, have no interest in making anything of their life and just get by stealing other people's things instead.

Quote from: Kookas on July 07, 2018, 06:16:14 AM
Both of the locks I carry with me are alarmed, and I've got a Cyclone V2 in the bike itself fitted by a previous owner. The way I see it, alarms and the attention they draw put pressure on a thief that might just make them give up rather than keep at it. Multiple alarms mean hopefully one will still be going off even if the thief manages to kill another, although in practice they cover different areas of the bike so it's possible to set one off without setting off the others. That said, I've set off the disk lock alarm just with the sound of arming the main alarm a couple of times.

Speaking of which, the in-bike alarm is great, it means I can leave the bike completely unlocked when just popping into the corner shop or somewhere like that where I can park it right outside. It's supposed to have a bunch of other random functions, like it can be an immobiliser, but mine is either not wired up or it just doesn't work as I've started the bike a couple of times whilst the alarm was armed (the alarm did go off, but it didn't actually stop me starting the bike).

It does have the hazard lights wired to it, so it flashes those when it's armed/disarmed and when it goes off. It also has remote start, but it's not wired up either (for good reason, dunno why that would ever be useful on a bike, especially a carbed one) so it's essentially just a remote control for the hazard lights.

The previous owner had fitted the talking version of that on my old bike - funny at first but that soon wore off. I just bought the cheaper alarm only module this time as I never used the ignition features on the old one either. Thinking of getting an Oxford alarm chain lock too as an extra.

Quote from: tobyd on July 07, 2018, 02:28:53 PM
...

you'd be better off claiming on the insurance and getting another one.

Its nice to know its not just me that wants to move to the continent too!

My excess is £400 and the lost NCBs will almost make me worse off for claiming on insurance as a 'young' rider for the GS. This damn country.

Quote from: user11235813 on July 08, 2018, 03:13:13 AM
I don't think inside tank is feasible even if the metal didn't block the signal. I think inside the tail of the bike where the tool box would live but glued to the top.

However it's certainly better to simply prevent the theft in the first instance, surely. A heavy chain and lock or a wheel lock will certainly deter any but a professional thief who would not be interested in the GS. In fact I'd think the steering lock would be sufficient.

Nonono not inside the tank, most likely in the cable-routing groove on its underside. I thought of there in the tail initially too, there's definitely the room for it.