GPS tracker and datatag

eoin.d

looking to up the security on my bike and was thinking about installing a GPS tracker and datatag, has any body experience of these or recommend any? thanks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058209420/gps-tracker-and-datatag

I use monimoto as a tracker, I fitted it myself. It's good, would defo recommend it. Loads of YouTube videos on it

eoin.d

Seen a lot of good reviews on monimoto alright. You just pay a couple of euro a month for the sim card is that it?

Homer

Posted this over in motors section but a cheap and cheerful option I went for recently (for a car that would be attractive to thieves) was the new apple air tags if you can find somewhere to hide it. You do need the “find my” app on an apple device but at €40 it’s a super cheap and very effective alternative that needs battery changed approx every 12 months. Plenty of videos on YouTube explaining how it works

eoin.d

Is there an android version of these available?

Bluefoam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117912756#Comment_117912756

Yes. Apple copied the whole thing from a company called 'Tile'...

Effects

Tiles are absolutely useless. They can't find stuff a few metres away half of the time. Good luck trying to find a stolen motorbike.

I know the Apple tag uses the same tech, but I imagine that the network works better as it pings off more devices.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117912714#Comment_117912714

Apart from them beeping once away from the phone after a relatively short time they would be fine, the beeping is to protect people from stalkers so more important than not buying a proper tracker.

Homer

Well mine is in the boot of the car so can’t be heard and it’s really just to offer some form of tracking in the initial hours in the case of the car being taken. I know my wife gets notifications on her iPhone as she is the other driver to say an air tag is tracking her but I knew that from watching the videos on YouTube before I bought it. As I said for me it’s just a simple cheap way of being able to track the car in the event of an emergency or it being taken without consent.

D3V!L

I had a BikeTrac on a couple of bikes and found it great. You pay a yearly subscription and thats it. My current bike came with a Datatool tracker and it needs a yearly subscription and then charges for each message you get from it.

eoin.d

Of all I've looked at the BikeTrac looked most impressive, only thing I didn't like was that it had to be installed by an authorised installer.

What's the story with the guards if you have one of these trackers and your bike gets stolen? Are you basically left on your own to recover it?

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117913758#Comment_117913758

They are supposed to notify Andriod phones soon that there's an AirTag active, so once the person steals your car they'll get a warning that there's a tracker

Effects

Surely they can't access someone else's airtag?

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916042#Comment_117916042

It's not accessing the air tag, the air tag is notifying people nearby that it's active and tracking location. This is a safety feature of the airtag.

Effects

Sorry, technically I'd see it as accessing it, if it's alerting people to it being there.

But surely if it's notifying people nearby that it's there and tracking the tag, then it would be alerting loads of people, all the time.

Bluefoam

The idea is so that you can't pop one into a girls handbag and use it to follow her home... Seems like a legit compromise to me. Remember, it's for tracking your house keys, not vehicles.

D3V!L

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914548#Comment_117914548

I got it from a bike dealer in Dublin and installed it myself. The shop stamped the cert to say they installed it.

Homer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916315#Comment_117916315

It will only notify people they are being tracked if they are in close proximity to the tag for several hours.

Colm17RvB

Datatag is a ball bag of shite and means nothing in Ireland. In the UK the police actually have the devices for scanning vehicles and use them, over here I think they have 3 around the country, and then on top of that you have the Gardaí who couldn't give a toss about a datatag so it's a ball bag of shite.

Trackers tho are a great idea. I had dfense a few years ago and it was really good, but I don't think they're available in Ireland anymore. I've BikeTrac now and the thing is class, cannot recommend it enough.

eoin.d

Ya I heard that about datatag but the insurance always ask about it.

With the BikeTrac if your bike goes missing is it just up to you to get it back

Colm17RvB

Insurance companies ask about it cos it's a hangover of them being British, in my experience only Carole Nash have asked me that.

With BikeTrac you have the subscription service so they themselves assist in locating it if it's a difficult situation, along with the Gardaí.

Anecdotally I know of someone's bike being knicked, and GPS tracker pin pointed it, they went to retrieve with the Gardaí but when the Gardaí realised who had taken it the left it be as the thieves were known to them for other illegal activities and they didn't want to get involved. With a bit of pressure from the owner and the insurance company the bike was eventually recovered, but it had been rallied around the place and was in tatters. That's got nothing to do with the tracker not working properly, that's just down to the Gardaí being hamstrung by being powerless sometimes.

Effects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117932502#Comment_117932502

You mean they weren't bothered doing their job as it would be too hard?

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117932502#Comment_117932502

Be interested to hear of other stories of stolen bike recovery using gps trackers because the gps trackers are limited in that if the bike is kept in a shed or other enclosure like back of van, etc you can only get an approximate location when the GSM signal bounces off the nearest phone tower.

goblin59

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118408552#Comment_118408552

Approximate location can help though, gives you a search area and can let the Garda know.

I'm not a fan of appletags / tiles as if the thief also has an apple device wouldn't he know theres a tag on the vehicle too.

I'm looking at the Monimoto and after digging on the Motogadget website I know they have a tracker coming out too.

I'd be interested in the motogadget one, but i want to see the specs on it first.

If you scroll down to the feature comparison Chart you can see mention of the Motogadget Tracker.

https://www.mo-ride.de/en/app-with-mo-unit/

Just on monimoto, I have it on a faired super bike and it still took a bit to hide it. If I needed to take it out I have to take a lot of fairing off and I’m handy enough to feel comfortable taking all the fairing off a brand new bike to try and figure somewhere to hide it, if your not handy I wouldn’t go near trying to fit one of them.

If you had an unfaired bike I don’t know where you could hide it tbh. It’s not huge but it’s not small. You would be talking rear end which is too obvious so next step is somewhere in the headlight assembly and as I said it’s not a small device.

I really like it though, works great in any tests I did

goblin59

yeah I couldn't hide one on my DR as its too exposed, with only two panels for a fairing.

dmigsy

BikeTrac was installed by the previous owner of my bike when I bought it. I just had to pay for the subscription. It's a good service with the potential for leading to some vigilante antics if the bike gets nicked!

It also monitors the battery level and alerts you via app notification if it drops below a certain level - very handy over the winter if you're not on the bike for a few days and haven't stuck on the battery optimiser.