Did the ‘We Track Bikes’ ever get testing done with LB?
My understanding is, Tracker uses VHF rather than GPS. This means you can’t necessarily check a webpage to see where your bike is, but it can be tracked by the Police regardless how thieves try and shield the signal. A big downer here is it can’t be moved to another bike, but please correct me if I’m wrong.
Bike Trac looks good and I understand has a good recovery rate and the price is certainly more appealing, but I guess is more vulnerable to someone with a decent van. You can presumably check it’s location and get info like bike battery level, so you know when you might need to charge it.
I have the tracker and you cant move it from bike to bike. If youre gonna keep it for 3 years then pay the lifetime subscription. Mine is nearly three years now and Im paying monthly. Didnt think id keep it that long
Well, I’m biased as I used to work for Tracker but I know how many people used to have the satellite only trackers removed and replaced with Tracker as once under cover or in a van they can no longer give a satellite signal! There was a small article in last weeks MCN that tells how the police came across a live tracker signal, when they went to the location there was 15/16 other stolen bikes found with the one with a tracker fitted!
The thing to ask yourself is;
1- would you want it back?
2- is the reduction of your insurance over the 1/2/3 years you will own it more then the cost of installing and subscribing - if not then its not really worth it!
I’m probably being stupid, but why would I not want them to get my bike back to me ASAP?
Also, surely a better question would be, if my bike is nicked and not recovered, what happens to my insurance compared to if it’s nicked and then recovered? Personally I wouldn’t expect to be financially better off if the bike isn’t nicked but I’ve bought a tracker.
If your bike is nicked and they damage it/strip it to see if there is a Tracker system fitted then you will still need to make a claim for repair!
I wouldn’t want my bike back if it had been stolen and molested, rather just get the payout get another bike and keep my protected no claims - insurance won’t go up to much + its quicker then waiting for repairs!
I even looked at the cost of my insurance with 6 points and 1 claim (keeping protected no claims) to see what the difference would be compared with no claims and no points (current situation with protected no claims) and the difference is £78! Also because my bike is garaged having an alarm makes no difference - therfore i won’t get one! simples!
That was a CBR1000 RR5, they found 17 other bikes with it at a farm in Upminster in Essex, apparently they think most of the bikes where stolen from the East London area.
i have a customer that has a BMW S1000RR, TWICE it has been stolen, first time they found it in an industrial estate lock up in Chigwell, along with 6 other bikes all stolen.
second time was in East London, located the bike with in 10 minutes of the tracker alerting him, the thieves had parked it behind some gates and left it - prob too see if it was trackered up-
i will ask him what tracker he has when i see him next.
trackers are worth every penny i think if you have a nice shiny desirable bike;)
@Sean £78 difference? Having my bike stolen would only increase my insurance by such a small amount? Why am I thinking others have said it gets cranked up over a grand or so?
@Ratty That’s what I’m thinking seems to happen quite often. The freshly stolen bike is left somewhere for a couple of days to see if it’s being tracked. Quite often it can be recovered with no damage. I’d certainly be interested to know which tracker your customer uses.
Another thought, if Tracker can’t be moved off the bike, will it raise the value so to speak? Can the details be passed to the new bike owner if I’ve paid for 3 years but sell after one?
If you sell the bike with a tracker (or any other accessory or security device for that matter) it adds no value - plus the new owner will have to pay a transfer fee plus whatever subscription they then want to pay for - effectively if the bike has 3 owners in 3 years that all pay the 3year subscription thinking they will keep it the the company have had 9years subscription + initial purchase cost + 2 transfer fee’s!
Do a quote with your current criteria plus a claim of theft with the value of claim being what you paid for the bike and see the difference!
will find out for you fella, thast what they do dude, they aint stupid…
the first time it went missing they found it partially stripped- airbox was off and injectors taken out to be sold most likely, or they may have been looking the for the tracker, but never found it…
My thinking also. I considered getting a tracker for the Superduke, but when the salesman pointed out exactly that issue (“would you want it back, particularly knowing these bikes are often stolen for smash and grabs”), I checked with the insurance, and it only made a few £ different, it would take a couple of decades to warrant the purchase price of the tracker alone.
tracker’s give you the chance to get your bike back, i would’nt care what its been used for, so long as its not too damaged too badly.
plus there’s always the chance that if they plot it up for few days you will get it back undamaged.
an Almax WILL NOT stop it being stolen, a tracker will give you a chance at getting it back before its damaged it think, some even alert you its being moved or interfered with, you could even catch them at it;)
I guess when I said ‘add value’ I guess I meant ‘make it more desirable’. But anyway, that pretty much crosses Tracker off my list I think. Whilst I don’t know that I would sell my bike within the next 3 years, the thought that I would also be flushing £600-£700 down the toilet would rather urk me.
I’ll try getting the quotes though, thanks.
“tracker’s give you the chance to get your bike back, i would’nt care what its been used for, so long as its not too damaged too badly.plus there’s always the chance that if they plot it up for few days you will get it back undamaged.”
This is what I’m thinking. Surely the damage can be claimed on insurance, if there is any.
I have protected no claims etc 12 years no bike claims… I had a minor claim on the company car (paid for by the company), no insurance pay out + vandalism (dent to wing)… Yet again no insurance pay out, fixed by my employers…
My premium on the bike doubled to £600:angry: but still £300 cheaper than anyone else… Thanks to the ‘shared’ data base, I had to report both incidents, as the fleet company had registered them… So feck knows what would happen to my premium if a bike claim was ever logged!
My bike is so old it ain’t worth getting a tracker
