A tracker for a motorcycle: theft and safety
A Teltonika use case about protecting motorcycles and motorcycle fleets: the compact, water-resistant FMB965 tracker reports theft, being towed away and signal jamming, draws almost nothing from the battery while parked and keeps an eye on riding style.
A Teltonika use case about protecting motorcycles and motorcycle fleets: the compact, water-resistant FMB965 tracker reports theft, being towed away and signal jamming, draws almost nothing from the battery while parked and keeps an eye on riding style. There are more than 200 million motorcycles, mopeds, scooters and motorised bicycles in the world. They are used by couriers, the police, rental companies and ordinary owners. A motorcycle is easy to steal, and a rider on the road is less protected than a car driver, so fleet owners have two main questions: where the machine is and how the person riding it is doing. An ordinary car tracker is a poor fit for that. On a motorcycle there is little space, plenty of water and dirt, and a small battery. The FMB965 is built with all of that in mind.
What this scenario solves
Motorcycles are stolen often: in London alone, according to police figures, more than 9000 motorcycles and scooters go missing every year.
On a motorcycle there is barely anywhere to hide a tracker, and the housing is permanently wet, dusty and shaken about.
An ordinary tracker can flatten a motorcycle's small battery over a long period standing still.
A rider is vulnerable on the road, and the fleet owner cannot see who rides aggressively and who does not put a helmet on.
Motorcycles are stolen often: in London alone, according to police figures, more than 9000 motorcycles and scooters go missing every year.
On a motorcycle there is barely anywhere to hide a tracker, and the housing is permanently wet, dusty and shaken about.
An ordinary tracker can flatten a motorcycle's small battery over a long period standing still.
A rider is vulnerable on the road, and the fleet owner cannot see who rides aggressively and who does not put a helmet on.
The theft figures are unpleasant. On the UK Department for Transport's estimate, the chance of a motorcycle being stolen there is around 13% a year. In the United States, according to the NICB report, motorcycle thefts in 2020 were up by 30%. A motorcycle can simply be rolled into a van, and no steering lock will stop that.
In cases like these minutes decide the outcome. If the owner or the dispatcher learns about an attempted theft straight away, the machine can be found before it is broken up for parts. For that you need to know where it is, whether it has moved, and who rode it and for how long.
But a tracker on a motorcycle has its own difficulties. Space is tight: in a car a tracker is hidden under the dashboard, whereas on a motorcycle there is hardly any free volume, so the device has to be compact. The conditions are harsh: rain, dew, mud, clay, sand, dust, pressure washing, vibration, hot air off the engine.
Power is a problem in its own right. The battery of a petrol motorcycle is several times smaller than a car's. If the machine stands for weeks, in the rainy season or over winter for instance, an ordinary tracker can flatten it. Rides on a motorcycle are short, and the tracker's built-in battery does not get the chance to charge properly off the generator.
What Teltonika offers
Teltonika offers the FMB965 — a compact motorcycle tracker in an IP67 housing with a 1200 mAh battery and a deep sleep mode, which reports theft, being towed away, signal jamming and loss of power, can immobilise the starter and monitors riding style.
Installation and setup
Fitting the device and configuring it for the fleet scenario at hand.
Data transfer
The device collects data and sends it to the monitoring platform; how often depends on the model and its settings.
Analysis and control
The person in charge gets reports and alerts and looks into what stands out.
The FMB965 works on 2G networks. The housing is small for its class and protected to IP67 against dust and water, so the tracker can go anywhere suitable on the frame, under the seat or in the fairing. The housing clips together, with no screws and no tools, and still keeps water out.
Power. In Power Off sleep mode the tracker draws less than 1 mA. If the motorcycle stands for a long time, it uses almost none of the vehicle battery's charge. A built-in 1200 mAh battery lets the tracker run on its own for up to 30 days. Separately, the FMB965 watches the vehicle battery voltage and warns the owner or the dispatcher when it falls to a critical level, so that the machine does not cut out on the road or refuse to start after standing.
If the motorcycle is used rarely, the tracker can be wired so that with the ignition off it disconnects from the vehicle battery entirely and runs off its own. It then drains the motorcycle not at all, but in that mode it will not report the vehicle battery's charge level either. Which to choose depends on what matters more.
Theft protection. The FMB965 watches several scenarios and sends a notification at once: disconnection from the vehicle supply, jamming of the GSM signal, being towed away (the machine moving with the ignition off), leaving the automatic geofence around the parking spot. The response is configurable: a message to the server, an SMS to the owner, or a digital output firing to set off the motorcycle alarm or immobilise the starter. The driver identification feature with an immobiliser will not let anyone without permission start the machine.
A typical episode looks like this. At night a delivery company's motorcycle stands outside the rider's home. At 02:30 the tracker records movement with the ignition off: the machine is being loaded into a vehicle. The dispatcher gets a notification, and the coordinates keep updating while the motorcycle travels in somebody else's van. If the thieves cut the power, the tracker switches to its built-in battery and carries on reporting where it is.
Rider safety. The built-in accelerometer and the driving monitoring scenarios record harsh acceleration, braking, dangerous lean angles in corners and speeding. For a fleet owner that is a chance to have a word with the rider before the wild riding ends in an accident.
Helmets. The FMB965 supports Bluetooth LE and works with EYE Beacon beacons. A beacon goes into every helmet in the fleet. If a rider sets off without a helmet, the tracker will not hear it and will send an event to the dispatcher.
Where to fit it. Experienced installers do not put the tracker where a thief will look first, that is, under the seat next to the battery. A better spot is inside the fairing, behind the headlight or in a cavity in the frame, where the housing is covered by plastic but the satellites and the network are still in view. A metal tank above the tracker degrades reception, so the spot is checked for signal level before it is finally fixed in place. The power wiring is run along the standard loom, so that it cannot be seen and cannot simply be snipped at the terminal.
What owners ask. "And what if the tracker is found and removed?" The tracker will have time to send a loss-of-power event and its last coordinates, and its built-in battery will keep it going for a while longer. "How long will it last if the motorcycle stands all winter?" In sleep mode the draw is minimal, but over a long period without charging it is better to start the machine once a month or put the battery on a maintenance charger. "Can I see the motorcycle on my phone?" Yes, through the monitoring platform's mobile app, with notifications about alerts.
The package and its limits. The basic option is an FMB965 wired into the vehicle's electrical system with alerts configured for towing, jamming and loss of power. Depending on the job, a starter immobiliser relay, a driver identification key and EYE Beacon beacons in helmets are added. Immobilising the starter only helps if someone tries to start the machine: if it is being loaded into a van, the tracker will report where it is, but bringing it back is down to people. For a courier fleet the result looks like a morning report: overnight alerts, mileage and engine hours for the shift, harsh manoeuvres and rides without a helmet for each rider.
For motorcycle fleets one more small thing is useful: reports on engine hours and mileage. They are what oil, chain and tyre changes are planned from, rather than waiting for a courier to break down in the middle of an order.
The uses are not limited to motorcycles. The same model suits snowmobiles, quad bikes, boats, jet skis and trailers: anywhere space is tight and water is plentiful. Firmware and settings are changed remotely through FOTA WEB, so a whole fleet can be reconfigured without gathering the machines in one place.
What you get
It fits where space is tight
The compact FMB965 housing goes on the frame, under the seat or in the fairing of a motorcycle.
Rain and pressure washing do not bother it
IP67 protection and a clip-together housing with no screws keep out water, mud and dust.
It does not flatten the battery while parked
In sleep mode the tracker draws less than 1 mA and runs on its own battery for up to 30 days.
It reports theft immediately
Being towed, signal jamming, loss of power and leaving a geofence raise a notification, the alarm or a starter immobiliser.
It is visible who rides dangerously
The accelerometer records harsh manoeuvres and speeding, while a beacon in the helmet shows whether it is being worn.
One tracker for different machines
The FMB965 also suits snowmobiles, boats, jet skis and trailers.
Why this solution
The FMB965 is not a car tracker adapted for the job; it was designed for a motorcycle. Hence the size, the water protection, the housing without screws, the high-capacity battery and the sleep mode with its minimal draw. All the theft protection scenarios are already in the firmware and are switched on in the settings; no extra electronics is needed for them.
Another strength is compatibility with Teltonika accessories. EYE Beacon beacons in helmets, an immobiliser relay and an alarm all connect to the same tracker. And FOTA WEB makes it possible to manage the firmware and settings of hundreds of devices from one window.
The Teltonika tracker protocol is supported by many widely used monitoring platforms, so a fleet owner is not tied to a single software supplier.
How this works in Azerbaijan. The country's main motorcycle fleet is the couriers of delivery services in Baku, Sumgait and Ganja, who ride mopeds and motorcycles all year round. What matters to their owners is theft, accidents in heavy traffic and riding without a helmet. The second scenario is private motorcycles and quad bikes, which stand in garages for months over winter and head for the mountains of Gabala and Guba in summer, along with jet skis on the beaches of Absheron and Nabran. What to allow for: the FMB965 works on 2G, and 2G coverage from Azercell, Bakcell and Nar is good in the cities, but it is worth asking the operators about their plans for switching the older networks off; in summer the tracker's housing gets very hot in the sun and next to the engine, so the mounting position is chosen with shade and ventilation in mind. GPS.az fits the FMB965 to motorcycles and mopeds, wires up the starter immobiliser and sets up theft notifications on the Wialon platform.
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