Using the new Apple "AirTag" to locate your motorcycle in case it is stolen

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17-CB-002

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Apple just released a new interesting product to track your key or handbag using the "AirTag" key chain. Thinking out of the box I am tempting to use it as a motorcycle tracker in case if my CB gets stolen.
Instead of purchasing a motorcycle tracker ($150) plus paying monthly admin fees, why not get the Apple "AirTag" and leave it somewhere on the bike (maybe under the gas tank) and when your CB is missing, you can ping it using your apple phone.

It is a one time purchase (roughly $30) and the beauty is that there is no monthly admin fee and it uses bluetooth technology and any apple cellphone in the vicinity to transmit its location.

The only draw back is that you have a maximum of 3 days to bring you cellphone close to it before it starts "beeping". So to reset the clock, you have to bring your paired cellphone within close proximity and it is good for another 3 days.

How To Track People With Apple AirTags

Any comments?
 
Interesting. I'm not particularly worried about my bike getting stolen though, and if it was, I'm insured.
 
There are plenty of cheap used ones around with low mileage to buy. Maybe not a lot of DLXs, but I could ride a 13,14 or 17 no problem
 
I'm not keen on all this surveillance technology. My trust level in these tech firms is well below a guy on the street selling fake Rolex watches.
 
This is the same technology that has been around for a long time with Tile. It is useful for keys and the like but you are relying on others having the same system on their phone and them having Bluetooth on and near your device. Your personal phone Bluetooth range is only 5m-10m. It is quite a limited offering, if your bike is in the middle of a field in a barn no Bluetooth app is ever going to find it.

If you want a simple tracker with very reasonable annual fees you might consider something like Monimoto. Not infallible either but better as a theft device than the Apple product. The fees are for a SIM card subscription at $42 (US) per year.
 
Tev62_imp said:
This is the same technology that has been around for a long time with Tile. It is useful for keys and the like but you are relying on others having the same system on their phone and them having Bluetooth on and near your device. Your personal phone Bluetooth range is only 5m-10m. It is quite a limited offering, if your bike is in the middle of a field in a barn no Bluetooth app is ever going to find it.

If you want a simple tracker with very reasonable annual fees you might consider something like Monimoto. Not infallible either but better as a theft device than the Apple product. The fees are for a SIM card subscription at $42 (US) per year.
Click to expand...
This is very similar to what I use now and is spot on reliable. In addition, it can be used for more than just vehicles.
 
GoldOxide_imp said:
Tev62_imp said:
This is the same technology that has been around for a long time with Tile. It is useful for keys and the like but you are relying on others having the same system on their phone and them having Bluetooth on and near your device. Your personal phone Bluetooth range is only 5m-10m. It is quite a limited offering, if your bike is in the middle of a field in a barn no Bluetooth app is ever going to find it.

If you want a simple tracker with very reasonable annual fees you might consider something like Monimoto. Not infallible either but better as a theft device than the Apple product. The fees are for a SIM card subscription at $42 (US) per year.
Click to expand...
This is very similar to what I use now and is spot on reliable. In addition, it can be used for more than just vehicles.
Click to expand...
This is very similar to what I use now and is spot on reliable. In addition, it can be used for more than just vehicles.
:thumbsup: Yes, I move mine about between vehicles too, that is the nice part about them being self powered.
 
I do like the idea of using the thief's cell phone to bust him as that will be the most likely phone to find the cycle.
 
If my bike were ever stolen, I sort of like the "personal manhunt" aspect. Our shop is in a part of town that can become somewhat unsavory at night, and our shop truck had a tracking device on it. It was stolen a number of times, and each time we tracked it, it was found abandoned a short distance from the shop. Seems people were taking it for the convenience of using a truck to move something, and then leaving it nearby. Each time we tracked it, we anticipated encountering the thieves, and brought scary looking things like crowbars, but always just found an empty truck. I wonder what we would have done if we ever faced the people who took the truck.

Perhaps I'd find this feature handy on a business trip when I leave my non-descript rental car in a large shopping center parking lot and then forget what it looked like when I come back out.
 
Tom_imp said:
I do like the idea of using the thief's cell phone to bust him as that will be the most likely phone to find the cycle.
Click to expand...
Only if they were running the same app. If the thief isn't running the App their phone will be of no use.
 
Tev62_imp said:
Tom_imp said:
I do like the idea of using the thief's cell phone to bust him as that will be the most likely phone to find the cycle.
Click to expand...
Only if they were running the same app. If the thief isn't running the App their phone will be of no use.
Click to expand...
Only if they were running the same app. If the thief isn't running the App their phone will be of no use.
It seems to me the service would only be useful if every iphone in the world was running it.
 
This wouldn't work because there is an "anti-creeper feature" where if the iPhone notices an AirTag following you that isn't your own, it will pop up with an alert that an AirTag is following you alerting the thief that they need to find and remove the tag.
 
tj_gee_imp said:
This wouldn't work because there is an "anti-creeper feature" where if the iPhone notices an AirTag following you that isn't your own, it will pop up with an alert that an AirTag is following you alerting the thief that they need to find and remove the tag.
Click to expand...
It doesn't quite work like that. When I have my Tile App running and have my Bluetooth on I am essentially agreeing to be a local tracker. If I find a tag that another user has tagged as missing I pick up the tag location and report it to the system unknowingly. The Other use is notified of the location by the system but he has no idea of who picked up the scent.
 
tj_gee_imp said:
Tev62, I was specifically talking about the Apple AirTags.
Click to expand...
Yes sorry, I do get what you are saying about the Anti-Creeper functionality, a good thing for personal privacy too. Other than that they work the same way as a Tile.

Apple - So, if you've put the AirTag into Lost Mode, it pings out a silent signal and when, say, someone with an iPhone walks past, it'll communicate with it. The iPhone owner won't know this. In the background, the phone quietly passes on the message that your AirTag has been spotted.
 
An old post. But, Mrs. G gave me a set of four AirTags for my birthday, thinking I could use them for my business travel. I'll definitely use one in my backpack, which is my Nuclear Football when I travel, and has been temporarily misplaced before, in a coworker's rental car, etc.

But thinking about putting the other ones in my motorcycles. They go from my locked garage to my indoor shop at work mostly, but are in parking lots when I go shopping or out with friends. Wonder if that would be a benefit.

... Or a way for Mrs. G to track my wherabouts... ?
 
Gone in 60_imp said:
An old post. But, Mrs. G gave me a set of four AirTags for my birthday, thinking I could use them for my business travel. I'll definitely use one in my backpack, which is my Nuclear Football when I travel, and has been temporarily misplaced before, in a coworker's rental car, etc.

But thinking about putting the other ones in my motorcycles. They go from my locked garage to my indoor shop at work mostly, but are in parking lots when I go shopping or out with friends. Wonder if that would be a benefit.

... Or a way for Mrs. G to track my wherabouts... ?
Click to expand...
Just stay away from the GF's place on the bike.
 
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