What is definite is that it also depends where you live, and where you park your bike. I live in Germany, in a small village, that is probably less attractive to thieves, whereas Frankfurt, only 40 Kms away, probably attracts more attention.
I really believe that the CENTER of ANY system to prevent theft, must be a VERY LOUD alarm, and a friend of mine has two different ones on his bike, he has also not lost a bike while living and working in Frankfurt.
Just how much alarm(s) "help", I cannot guess and I do not know, but as others here will tell you, I mention alarms just about every time someone loses a bike and posts here.
So sadly, it is still not the "norm" for many e-bikers who post here.
I did read of someone, in the UK I believe, that had live fireworks as an alarm (most effective I would guess), and it was said, that the thief had to go and change his pants, but that may have just been funny embellishment! It also sounds quite dangerous for the owner, if something went wrong.
I personally like the way you can set up a GPS tracker, for several different options (at least the Trackers I have owned and used), and they also need to be part of preventing bike theft in my view, and may even reduce insurabß´nce costs (just guessing on that point!):-
1) Sleep mode, that wakes up on physical movement, calling "home" to tell you that. I use the USB power supply on my bike, to keep the internal battery charged. Sensitivity adjustable.
2) Tracking of the tracker is very easy with really simple, and cheap, Android software. It is so accurate, that you can see in which lane the tracker is in, on a multi lane road/motorway. So in use, you have positioning infos down to a few meters.....
3) There are GPS Trackers for cars and motorbikes, with a relay, that can be triggered to OFF, exactly when the owner wishes, say stopping the fuel pump on a vehicle, and/or switching off the ignition. This might even be used on certain e-bikes, to safely remove battery power, for example. Though I have up to now, not bought one of these (simply because I did not know there were such units at the time I bought a Tracker!) It could even be used for when you are close to the position of your bike, to switch on a hidden, but loud alarm!
There are other features that could possibly be useful for an e-bike (any bike) owner.....
I simply ask why do people "concentrate" on known problems, by ignoring the fact that disk cutting of bike locks is a well known and therefore a prime example, but they COMPLETELY forget alarms and GPS Trackers.......
It seems so obvious to me personally, but it obviously isn't that obvious, or more people would fit and use them.
One caveat is that car GPS Trackers, will be more difficult to hide on a bike, as they are a little bit larger that true bike versions (or they were some years ago). Though I myself have actually only bought "Personal GPS Trackers" and fitted them to my bike......
Some further, up to date investigation, is needed by people with something to lose......
Do be careful, some trackers advertised as being GPS, are NOT GPS, they are simply Mobil phone towers tracked, and in a city that may get you down to 50 meters or so, but out in the country it might be Kilometers.....Ebay sellers always NEED to be asked several times, before they MIGHT admit this. Those units are useless. The ones you will need are generally above 20 UK Pounds each!!
This might be a genuine one, and if true, the prices have dropped over the last few years:-
I would recommend asking for a download of the manual before buying. The accuracy is suspect, as in my experience, a true GPS Tracker should be far more accurate than being claimed here. So it may just be GSM Phone towers.
Auto GPS Tracker GSM GPRS Fahrzeug Locator KFZ Überwachung Ortung Peilsender Neu | eBay
Finden Sie Top-Angebote für Auto GPS Tracker GSM GPRS Fahrzeug Locator KFZ Überwachung Ortung Peilsender Neu bei eBay. Kostenlose Lieferung für viele Artikel!www.ebay.de
What is good to see is that it can handle 12 - 36 volts, and that it has two connectors, one for power, and the other one can drive a relay coil, though this has not been mentioned, which is the reason for needing to read the manual before purchase....
This one looks better, USB Charging socket and relay control leads, but it is in German, so those who don't will need to find the English version on ebay.co.uk:-
If I can answer any questions anyone may have about GPS, give me a call! I do not know everything, but I will do my best for you.
GPS Tracker GT02A GPS Sender Ortung Peilsender KFZ Auto LKW Motorrad eBike Quad | eBay
Sie können damit bewegliche Güter auffinden und per SMS oder Internet überwachen. GT02A Pro Revison 3. Kinder Ortung. Akkus und Batterien gehören nicht in den Hausmüll. AlsEndverbraucher sind Sie zur Rückgabe gebrauchter Batterien gesetzlichverpflichtet.www.ebay.de
By the way, a GPS Tracker, is almost a mobile phone, and with certain models you can switch on a microphone and hear sounds from where the tracker is, also, you can also switch on a loudspeaker, for example when you want to talk to your child or elderly parent.....
I find them fascinating.....
regards
Andy
PS. The thieving FECKERS need to be stopped, we all must be a tick cleverer than the thieves!
I think the tracker concept is a great idea, but I do wonder. Say you managed to track down your bike, what do you do about it? More often than not, the police couldn't give a monkeys, even if you are able to tell them exactly where the bike is. Are you gong to get into an altercation with a gang of bike thieves to get it back yourself?
Sadly, I've found the best solution is to have two e-bikes. One for best, which you keep securely at home or in the office at work, then you have a crappy old ebike no-one would be interested in stealing for going to the shops etc.
