LoJack

[CitizenFrye]

So any one here have one of these?

http://www.lojack.com/products-servi...otorcycles.cfm

[MnM]

cool but i bet there still is a way around it

[CitizenFrye]

true, But might help with insurance..

[dhuze]

Originally posted by CitizenFrye
true, But might help with insurance..

The last time I asked my insurance company about alarm systems they told me it would save about $5.00 on my insurance. As far as LoJack they are limited in their coverage in Mass and I don't believe they have any coverage in R.I.,N.H,or Vt. they also cost about $600 plus installation and you cannot install it your self it has to be done by a LoJack dealer. The reason is they don't want anybody knowing anything about the system. Also there is an activation fee which varies depending on what you want.
There was an article in motorcyclist magazine or sport rider on this last month.

[Kham]

Originally posted by dhuze
The last time I asked my insurance company about alarm systems they told me it would save about $5.00 on my insurance. As far as LoJack they are limited in their coverage in Mass and I don't believe they have any coverage in R.I.,N.H,or Vt. they also cost about $600 plus installation and you cannot install it your self it has to be done by a LoJack dealer. The reason is they don't want anybody knowing anything about the system. Also there is an activation fee which varies depending on what you want.
There was an article in motorcyclist magazine or sport rider on this last month.

the LoJack employee is also anybody. if i work there and i quit, i could pass on the info on how to beat it for some $$$.

[hohum]

Plus, it's a bike here... how long do you think it would take for a thief to figure out where the lojack unit is on a bike? I mean, lift the seat, trace the wires to the battery, and start cutting...

[dhuze]

Originally posted by hohum
Plus, it's a bike here... how long do you think it would take for a thief to figure out where the lojack unit is on a bike? I mean, lift the seat, trace the wires to the battery, and start cutting...

They have to know it's there first, but yeah from what I heard its wired to the battery to hold the information in the computer. I dont know how big the unit is. It would have to be real small to hide it from anybody who knows what should and shouldn't be on a bike.

So I guess what I'm saying young fryer tuck, Is you may be better off with a typical alarm. Maybe a motion sensor with a pager ,because lets face it if you hear an alarm do you go running to see whats up?

[CitizenFrye]

True dat.. Might just be better to hide a cheap GPS cell and leave it in the bike and turn on the locate feature and get an alarm...

[dhuze]

another problem with the LoJack is if they put your bike in a van or it gets to some wearhouse they cannot locate it becuase of the metal surrounding it.

[taylor]

Originally posted by dhuze
another problem with the LoJack is if they put your bike in a van or it gets to some wearhouse they cannot locate it becuase of the metal surrounding it.

where'd you get that information? if that were the case, i wouldn't imagine that lojack would be successful in locating many stolen vehicles at all...

[chr|s sedition]

Originally posted by dhuze
another problem with the LoJack is if they put your bike in a van or it gets to some wearhouse they cannot locate it becuase of the metal surrounding it.

yeah, from what I know lojack for cars works so well *becuase* walls / metal DO NOT stop it from working. I also know in FL a cbr600 was recovered *inside* a stolen van in under 1 hour from when it was reported stolen.

[dhuze]

Originally posted by taylor
where'd you get that information? if that were the case, i wouldn't imagine that lojack would be successful in locating many stolen vehicles at all...

This months issue of SportRider magazine. Apparently they do not publish any of their articles online so I will quote from page 62.
"this is certainly interesting technology,but it has a couple of drawbacks.The biggest is that the GPS will need to see part of the sky in order to obtain a position fix; it can't do this from inside
a building or a covered vehicle,and it will have problems making contact if mounted inside a saddlebag or on a sealed-off area of the bike. if you bike is loaded into a truck or a van,you may be out of luck.In addition, the battery-operated unit uses up power pretty quickly with repeated pings."

there is a whole page about the LoJack system. That is just part of a paragraph.

[chr|s sedition]

Originally posted by dhuze
This months issue of SportRider magazine. Apparently they do not publish any of their articles online so I will quote from page 62.
"this is certainly interesting technology,but it has a couple of drawbacks.The biggest is that the GPS will need to see part of the sky in order to obtain a position fix; it can't do this from inside a building or a covered vehicle,and it will have problems making contact if mounted inside a saddlebag or on a sealed-off area of the bike. if you bike is loaded into a truck or a van,you may be out of luck.In addition, the battery-operated unit uses up power pretty quickly with repeated pings."

there is a whole page about the LoJack system. That is just part of a paragraph.

1. that was actuly LAST months issue of Sport Rider, there is a new one out.

2. I think you misread the article, becuase it says on the VERY BOTTOM of the left colum of page 62 that "the advantage of LoJack...is that the signals CAN travel through walls and even escape the confines of a van"

-sedition

[dhuze]

Originally posted by chr|s sedition
1. that was actuly LAST months issue of Sport Rider, there is a new one out.

2. I think you misread the article, becuase it says on the VERY BOTTOM of the left colum of page 62 that "the advantage of LoJack...is that the signals CAN travel through walls and even escape the confines of a van"

-sedition

1. OK I don't have the new issue yet

2. look to the right side starting at the top corner of the unit the police see. adn that is about where I started.

I typed a "quote" so I'm not sure how I could have "misread" it

[mikem317]

Originally posted by chr|s sedition
yeah, from what I know lojack for cars works so well *becuase* walls / metal DO NOT stop it from working. I also know in FL a cbr600 was recovered *inside* a stolen van in under 1 hour from when it was reported stolen.

They market that story like it was going out of style. That's the only LoJack recovery of a bike I constantly hear about.

[chr|s sedition]

Originally posted by mikem317
They market that story like it was going out of style. That's the only LoJack recovery of a bike I constantly hear about.

they also just started offering it in FL...so it's still 'early' for them in terms of data collection about how well it works on bikes. I'd be curious to know how many were *not* recovered.

[ssg]

What I'd be more interested in is how GPS is directly affected by the LoJack.
I beleive the system itself uses it as an auxiliary service not the primary 'beacon'. I beleive the beacon is a land based analog signal that is repeated on a carrier frequency strung throughout states of their choosing.


If it was GPS based I wouldn't waste ten cents on it. Metal van? more like line of sight to at least 2 birds or you're going nowhere fast.

[ssg]

I have 5 cents riding on the fact that this thing is likely small enough that the theif won't know what it is if he did find it. Depending on how small, and what you need read - could be some type of exuberant rfid type thing too, requiring no power just a ground reference or rf coil to do the trick.



At least I hope this is why it took so damned long for the crap to come out.

[chr|s sedition]

Originally posted by somestrangeguy
I have 5 cents riding on the fact that this thing is likely small enough that the theif won't know what it is if he did find it. Depending on how small, and what you need read - could be some type of exuberant rfid type thing too, requiring no power just a ground reference or rf coil to do the trick.

At least I hope this is why it took so damned long for the crap to come out.

from what I know, it's supposed to really small and designed to look like some kinda 'normal' componant. I've also heard that it maintains life for awhile it line to battery is cut. it appprentlly can be put anywhere from inside seat cushion (unless you have a CBR600RR, Ducati, etc), to fuse box. when it came out i asked a lojack bike technician a a local shop about how well 'hidden' it is. I had one bike stolen, and dont want another one taken....I am still considering loJack for my R1, but have yet to decide if it i worth it or not.

[ssg]

'normal component' was also my thought..has to look like something commonplace.


Receiving back stolen vehicles are like sleeping with an ex after they cheated on you. 50% of you wants to know what really happened and 50% doesen't...give in to either and you'll be 100% less happy about the situation you've now gotten yourself back into.

Besides they give you that nice 30 day period to decide if that really was the right machine for you and haggle dealers. Guaranteed to prevent impulse buys, perfect!

[hohum]

Originally posted by chr|s sedition
from what I know, it's supposed to really small and designed to look like some kinda 'normal' componant. I've also heard that it maintains life for awhile it line to battery is cut. it appprentlly can be put anywhere from inside seat cushion (unless you have a CBR600RR, Ducati, etc), to fuse box. when it came out i asked a lojack bike technician a a local shop about how well 'hidden' it is. I had one bike stolen, and dont want another one taken....I am still considering loJack for my R1, but have yet to decide if it i worth it or not.

See, I don't much care if it 'looks' like a regular component, or 'is well hidden', its simply not as easy to hide something on a bike as on a car. I bet you $20 I could find it on any sportbike of your choosing if you give me a tools and say 5 - 10 minutes. Even if it runs for a bit after the battery is cut, if someone can find the wire that goes to the battery to cut it (take a look at your battery and see how many wires are coming off of it... not too damn many, this shit is gonna be easy to find) they can pull the unit and smash it... Serious bike thieves will still get the bike and not be found, its just the chumps that will get caught. In the end, I still go for lo tech prevention...