Royal Enfield Continental GT650 – TG's Custom Bike Build

Between June '22 and May '23, the police registered 18,361 motorbikes as stolen with the DVLA. That's a hell of a lot of half-inched bikes. And these days you don't have to scroll far on Instagram to see Edward Anglegrinderhands in action — brazenly and belligerently robbing bikes in broad daylight.

It's a terrifying stat, especially as the bike community has come together to help TG build a gorgeous custom; complete with ritzy components and painstaking hours baked into it. There are the shiny new wheels from Central Wheel Components, Harris Performance’s racy trinkets, Nitron’s triple valve suspension, hand-stitched Tom Hurley seat, Malle luggage, plus much, much more. All of this gear adds up, which we should've been mindful of. But anyone who has seen Grand Designs knows that budgets and ambition can snowball rapidly with any project. Well, we’re another victim to add to the list.

What’s possibly worse than that stat up top, is that according to some recent analysis by The Observer, police failed to capture any criminals who stole a vehicle in more than 100 neighbourhoods across England and Wales last year. So, with this in mind, we need to protect our Continental GT Café Racer at all costs.

That's why we spoke to BikeTrac — a UK firm that has been specialising in motorcycle security systems, particularly premium advanced tracking devices, since 2009. BikeTrac’s secret weapon uses GPS and RF technology to help recover 94 per cent of bikes fitted with them, sometimes within hours. And they can even call on Interpol if necessary.

Once upon a time, alarms were a useful deterrent, but that was back when the police had more resources and thieves were less aggressive. Nowadays, trackers provide silent precision and alerts, significantly increasing the likelihood of getting your bike back.

See, with BikeTrac fitted, if the bike is stolen, both the user and the main control room are alerted immediately. Then the bike can be tracked with an accuracy of about three to five metres using GPS. However, it also employs additional RF, or radio frequency. So, if the bike is stashed in a container, garage, or the back of a van, BikeTrac can locate it down to a metre. They’ve even recovered Ducatis from the second floor of a block of flats before. Better than that, BikeTrac has a partnership with the burly folks at Securitas.

Because the police are very busy, if plod can't respond, Securitas can act on BikeTrac's behalf. Typically, a stolen bike is left within about a mile of where it's stolen from. If it's on the public highway, BikeTrac can reclaim it under common law, bypassing the need for police involvement altogether. Bonza.

Beyond tracking, BikeTrac’s device offers handy features like battery level alerts, GPX details of your rides, and even knowing if you've had a serious wobble and fallen off, sending a text to your nearest and dearest. At £299 (plus a subscription), admittedly it is one of the pricier tracking solutions out there, but its recovery rate is exceptional. And you want the best possible success rate if the worst were to happen.

However, a tracker is only part of the solution. To seriously deter thieves, you also need to fortify your bike by layering it up with locks, covers, and chains. Fundamentally, thieves can be lazy sods, targeting the easiest steal, so make their life as difficult as possible, and they may well move on.

To ensure BikeTrac’s device and fitting remains confidential, we’ll keep the details of what happens under wraps. But our affable mechanic Max Vanoni at Urban Rider is a registered supplier, skilled in fitting, wiring, and setting up the device in just a few hours so knocked it out with ease.

For peace of mind, it’s money well spent… and far better than just gluing an AirTag to somewhere on the chassis.