I was contemplating getting a GPS tracker for my bike but then saw the Apple air tag - much cheaper, a battery that is easily replaced and the tag will link into any Apple product so that the location can be a seen by one of the 1 billion Apple products that can use GPS. It connects by bluetooth to the, say, iPhone and piggy backs off the “Where’s my iPhone” system.

There are similar systems for Android but I suspect that they are not so widely uploaded whereas the Apple product is built into the Apple operating system - don’t worry, Big Brother is watching (out for) you.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

An apple air tag will only work properly when it is used in an area with a lot of iphone/ipad devices. The range of an air tag is max 100m outside without getting blocked by huge buildings made with a lot of steel. Inside a building the range varies between 15 to 45m still depending on the material and technical furnishing of the building.

Air tags are functioning pretty well where a lot people live in a relative small area as in congested and overcrowded areas. If you look to the statistics of iphone/ipad ownerships worldwide you recognize that these are mostly industrialized countries like US, UK, Japan and europe countries.

That you should have always in mind when you travel through south america and you are visiting small towns or areas with low population mostly creating a low income from agriculture or similar.

But you should also aware of that air tags could be used in a different way: If somebody is interested in you bike or car, he can place an air tag on it and track you all the day and night to find the right opportunity to steel your property.

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/2...technology.htm

https://www.businessinsider.com/appl...police-2021-12

There are lot of gps products who offer a tracking service like

- Trackimo TRKM007 GPS Tracker
- TrackmateGPS MINI PRO LTE GPS Tracker
- AES RGT90 GPS Tracker SMS Locator
- Racelogic VBox Sport
- ATian 303G GPS Tracker
- PAJ Motorrad GPS Tracker
- Globalstar SpotGen3

to name a few.

Best you can do is to use your senses and your personal feeling as well as to communicate with locals to find a safe spot to park. And not to use a bike looking brand new and telling everybody around you that you spent a lot of money for equipement on it. These types of bikes get stolen from people who know how to use a gps blocker.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ocker&_sacat=0

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Thanks a lot for all your advice!!!

A few days ago I bought a gps tracker of Monimoto. I thought it would be nice to find out where I left my bike! So often I forgot where I left it. I always try to make a picture of the street or make a waypoint on my gps, but sometimes I forget that and my memory and sense of direction are not exactly my best qualities...

But I am glad with the advice about secure parking. I used to book hotels and guesthouses in advance, but I think it is a better idea to just find something when I arrive in a village or town so I can check the parking.

To get a good insurance seems the best way to sleep more relaxed.

To be able to locate your bike, is not the same than get them back.

I did had to do a house search in peru by myself, after a enabled satellite messenger with livetracking was stolen...

Guess in many countrys the thiefes will get warned in front, before you can enter the terrain together with the officials.

My vehicle was always insured with mods, independend if it happens a break in or if it would get stolen - at least the cash will come back.

But yes, I did add a "delayed" disable function in my car, without a keypress you cant drive further than 1 kilometer, what can help for a steal / or too car jacking situation.

But: that is a big handicap where ever I had to give the car/keys away: mechanic, car cleaning, valet parking. Today I would opt just for the insurance....

The trip is the important thing, not the gear/vehicle itself.

A airtag with a disabled speaker dont hurt a lot - but it is not a livetracker with battery & "satellite network or mobile network & GPS" which you can exactly locate when you need it. Outside of the civilisation they will dont use jammers for avoiding the localisation.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

I mean that when I visit something during the day for a few hours I sometimes forget where I left my bike.

You can still book in advance, in fact it may be easier to find a place with secure parking if you use an online booking site.

These days I usually look at my maps at night in my hotel room and decide where I want to ride, how far I want to go and where I might want to end up. Then I get on Booking.com and do a search, looking for an economical hotel. Those kind of hotels very often use a a listing service because they are not so visible. They tend to be the kinds of places where local small business people or people visiting family might stay: clean, serviceable, not fancy, and relatively cheap.

These hotels almost always give information about their parking facilities, be it onsite or in a local garage or just on the street. If it's not clear what they have, you can send them a quick message to clarify it.

Sometimes they are hard to find if you just ride into town. We've all done that old neck wrenching act of scanning both sides of the street for hotels while staying safe in traffic- not so much fun.



...............shu

I once left my bike with cool and friendly firemen beginning their night shift at the fire station in front diagonally from the hotel in the Dominican Republic. Next morning the firemen had changed and asked for a ridiculous amount of money to let it go! Fun fun fun.

As Shu already have written - always ALWAYS find a secure parking spot for your bike during night. All hotels, hospedajes etc will have one or know a secure spot nearby. Also in most of south and central America there will be «parqaderos» safe parking behind walls with a guard where you pay a few $ to park the bike. If you use Airbnb - send a message to the host and ask if they have or know safe parking nearby. I even once took my heavy Tenere down in the basement of a house of my Airbnb host in northern Peru once , needed 3 guys to get it up again…LOL

I dont know about those GPS trackers - guess they could be a good thing after all. But safe parking at night is very recommended!

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I think people are conflating two separate issues here, namely bike security and the actual question asked - trackers.

Yes, absolutely, secure parking overnight, out of the way of acquisitive eyes, can avoid a lot of heartache, but even this isn't always enough. IME most bike theft occurs in cities in "first world" countries, due to feral crotch goblins, not in developing countries where there is a limited market for expensive touring motorbikes or spares. And plenty of it takes place in broad daylight. So, as well as finding secure overnight parking (not always possible) I've invested in a thick 3m steel cable and an alarmed disc lock. Neither is impregnable but each added layer of security makes it a little harder to steal.

I also have a tracker fitted, as I say just an extra layer of security. I've used Monimoto before now, and it's compact, easily hidden and self powered. Subscriptions are modest and battery life (2 x CR123A) is about 8 months. However it only covers one geographical region. I'm currently using Pegase, a French made unit which takes power from the live accessory feed but stops drawing at 12.2v so it doesn't flatten the bike battery and reverts to its internal battery for about a week. The interface isn't so good but it's fit and forget with no annual subscriptions and worldwide coverage.

Finally, don't assume local police won't be interested in your stolen bike.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.u...stolen-6195920