Q: Why should I buy BikeSentry® to protect my ride?
A: When our co-founder watched his bike being stolen and drive off down the road, he realized that the cut chain laying on the ground, nor the alarm system flashing his lights and horn had stopped the thief. And when the police arrived in the next few minutes, they sympathetically wrote a report “just in case it turns up”. Jim knew he had just witnessed over $40,000, not to mention the years of labor he had invested… just drive off within seconds. What really hurt is he never took his eyes off the bike while grabbing a quick lunch…and they STILL stole it from him!
When GPS tracking devices first started hitting the market around 2000, Jim knew we could create a product to protect bikers. We started testing all of the existing devices, but EVERYONE of them FAILED within months once installed on a vibrating V-Twin. They also sucked the battery dead within days! From our early experience testing various GPS manufacturers, we also learned that “Water Resistant” devices usually resulted in failure not long after washing a bike, riding through a stream, or just being out in a good rainstorm. Unacceptable for powersports!
So our years of research told us that BikeSentry® had to be engineered to a higher standard than units “adapted from automotive or fleet trackers”. Globescan International was formed with one goal…to market an effective GPS Tracking and Theft Recovery product ONLY for powersports. We vowed to our industry friends we would not put an inferior product into the market…and we have lived up to that promise choosing not to launch until the technology could match the market requirements.
Finally after being invited up to Wisconsin, to meet with Harley’s engineers, and after being tested by one of the country’s premier custom manufacturer for over 6 months including 40,000 miles on-the-road, we know BikeSentry® is finally ready for market. BikeSentry® is engineered and assembled in the USA by our manufacturing partner who has over 30 years of combined experience with over 200,000 GPS devices in the field. We are finally confident that BikeSentry® will live up to the highest industry standards, as well as, the demands of the powersports community.
Q: What other features make BikeSentry® different?
A: Battery conservation has been one of our top priorities. In 2007 Globescan spent close to $100k developing a proprietary system to address the standby power consumption required by all GPS and cellular components that was killing batteries. The answer at first appeared easy… just put the device into a deep SLEEP MODE that could take the unit down to 1mA, which definitely solved the battery problem. Unfortunately, we discovered we could only locate the device after it had been “woke-up” by movement, it could not respond to a LOCATE command if it was not moving. So if your bike was stolen, and then parked somewhere without movement, there was no way to locate it! We are quite proud that our engineers discovered a way to keep BikeSentry® wide-awake and vigilant, while still affectively solving the battery problem with a mere 4mA draw. To put this into perspective, when you turn off your vehicle most radios will still draw close to 10mA just to maintain your preset station selections. Your radio’s 10mA draw will discharge a bike battery in approximately 83 days… so our 4mA BikeSentry® draw is extremely low. For the record, even if you disconnect your battery from all external power draws, your battery will naturally self-discharge approximately .3% to 1% of it’s total output per day. That’s why it is always a good practice if your bike sits for more than a week or two to use a “smart” battery charger to maintain it.
Q: What if my battery is disconnected or goes dead?
A: BikeSentry® will text and email you an ALERT message when your battery is low or has been disconnected.
Q: What if the battery is disconnected during a theft?
A: BikeSentry® has the only “Dual” Lithium Ion battery (2200mAh) with up to 230 hours of backup power if your bike is not moving and if continuously moving, it will last up to 27 hours drawing approximately 40mA. We chose not to combine our Lithium Ion batteries with the GPS device since typically (like your cell phone) these batteries have a limited number of recharge cycles and will lose 20% of their capacity per year regardless of whether the battery sits on a shelf or is recharged appropriately. BikeSentry® thought it was wise to design for inexpensive and easy battery replacements in the future. Our batteries are also fully water submersible to NEMA 6P, and shock and vibration resistant to MIL-STD-202F.
Q: How do I know if my BikeSentry® unit is actually working?
A: Globescan checks up on every device with a monthly “Heartbeat” poll. If your device is not working, we will contact you. You can also go online, Login and LOCATE it.
Q: Can I install BikeSentry® myself?
A: BikeSentry® only has three wires to install; a ground, 12v continuous power, and ignition (or existing alarm system). If you are comfortable working on your bike then it can be rather easy depending on where you hide the unit. Remember, the harder it is to reach, the more protection you get in case a thief has time to search for an alarm or GPS system. Also if your bike has an active warranty, we’d suggest checking with your dealer first just to be safe. Our experience favors a professional installation using someone certified to work on your bike’s electric system. Most problems arise out of a poor ground or power connection which are easily avoided with basic electronic skills.
Q: Can I transfer my BikeSentry® unit to other vehicles?
A: Yes! It belongs to you to protect your valuable property. Since we ask you to fill out a database form about your bike so we can help the police with information you might not remember, like VIN Number, License Plate, Mfg, Color, etc, we’d suggest you update any changes online anytime the device is transferred. There is no charge.
Q: Will it work on unregistered off-road vehicles?
A: Yes, Vehicle Registration is not necessary like LoJack. Just remember that although GPS signals pretty much cover the earth, communicating your location requires cellular coverage. BikeSentry® has the most comprehensive coverage for the USA, Canada, and Mexico using multiple roaming contracts. Global GSM/GPRS coverage is also possible with our quad-band modem.
Q: Does BikeSentry® have a MONTHLY charge?
A: No! The GPS signals that allow us to calculate your ride’s location are compliments of Uncle Sam. However, although we have made every effort to make protecting your ride affordable, EVERY GPS TRACKING device requires a cellular based system to communicate your location information back to our servers and then to your cell phone and email. Rather than charging a flat fee each month regardless of use, we thought it made sense to only pass on our annual cellular network charge that maintains your BikeSentry’s modem alive on the cellular networks. We have included with your purchase, the first year’s Annual Network Standby Plan* along with 50 FREE “Personal” locates at www.SentryTracking.com so you can test and use your BikeSentry® without additional charges the first year. There is NO ACTIVATION charges!
* After the first year, you will need to purchase our annual Network Standby charge of $29.95 to maintain your BikeSentry® modem active on the cellular networks. If your bike is stolen or if you chose to discretely track your own bike online, “Locates” can be purchased at anytime using your personal tracking log-in and password. We would recommend you pre-purchase the “100 Locates” Plan to have in your account in case of an emergency, but that is your option.
Q: Can I get a Discount on my Insurance?
A: Check with your insurance agent as “theft recovery device” discounts vary. Some companies offer up to a 30% discount off of your comprehensive policy. Ask and compare! Check out our list of biker friendly agents using the Find-a-Dealer link!
