Lo Jack?

Well my bike is almost ready to be put back on the road but I need one more part... An ALARM! Just wandering if any of you have used lo-jack or simmilar type gps trackable alarm systems on your bikes. I am not interested in an alarm that just makes noise and blinks as I have learned the hard way that is is not as much as a deterant as you would think. I want The police and myself to be able to track the bike if it suddenly changes hands. Any feedback on price, value, quality, and instalation is appreaciated!

 

I had Lo-Jack installed on my bike when I bought it. It cost me $600 but it is a one time fee. It also helps with insurance. When it wouldn't start and got towed away they key fob was not close enough to the bike and within 30 seconds I received an e-mail, text and phone call that my bike was moving. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

Heres another Question... How hard would it be for a criminal to disengage the alarm if they knew it was there? disconnect the battery, randomly cut wires to the unit, do you think it is better to not put security decals on the bike or an led?

 

Not to make you panic but I was about to get LoJack installed and I did some research online. Some criminals are actually getting smart about it and what they do is take the engine out immediately and just sell off the rest of the bike. I read of some stories where the police did track down the bike but it was just an engine that they found.

I don't know about you but I'd rather go for a more foolproof security option and that is to keep the bike indoors or somewhere it would be hard for a theif to nab it. When I go on trips I look for those cheap hotels that have doors facing outside and I just roll the bike right in.

 

A couple of other key points to note is that not all Police departments are equipped with LoJack tracking devices. Most police departments are already on tight budgets and many simply cannot afford to purchase the necessary equipment especially in smaller towns with local enforcement only. In addition to this you must be within a certain distance of the bike for the tracking devices to pick up the signal that is being transmitted. If someone takes your bike and drives out of range where there are not many police patrols it is likely that you will not recover the bike. A better option in my opinion is to install a GPS tracking device on your bike. Most of these devices also have built in standard alarms that will sound the siren and also alert you via text message that the bike has been moved or tampered with. Instead of being at the mercy of the police you can actually get on the internet from a PC or smartphone and track the bike yourself from the manufacturer website. Most of these services require a monthly service fee but at least you can locate the bike on your own and then alert the police to it's exact location. Since most have built in backup batteries you will still have time to locate the bike in case the battery is disconnected.

Here is one site that I am considering purchasing from. They claim to not have any monthly service fees and use NavIQ mapping software.

Regards,
Rollin

 

I have heard that LoJack isn't completely reliable. If you are out of a metropolitan area, whatever they use to send the signal for tracking doesn't work.

I have a system on my bike called Magictrak. It works on cell technology for communications and satellite tecnology for location. I can actually send a text message to my bike at anytime and receive a text message back telling me where it is. I can also login to a website, setup a perimeter around it, and if it leaves that perimeter, I will receive a text message that it is moving. I can also disable the starter so it won't start, then enable it again just before leaving.

Obviously all of this is dependent on being in an area where you have cell phone access... and so far I haven't been anywhere that I couldn't get communications from my bike. Also, if you're on a road trip, you need to have computer access or bring a laptop and have access to the internet.

On the downside, I had T-Mobile service and it did not work with that. I switched to Verizon and it works perfectly every time. They say Verizon and AT&T are known to work with it. They don't know for sure either way on other services.

Just my two cents...