Modern Vespa

Hello!!!

Recently my helmet was stolen and inside my helmet were my keys. I would like to think it was part of a drunk teenager scavenger hunt but regardless of what happened - it means there is a set of my keys out there!!! I did make copies of my master so I have others now. I installed a ring video for where I keep my bike but am also interested in a GPS TRACKER device in case it gets stolen I can track it down!! LOL. Any ideas? Anyone ever do this?

I bought an Apple AirTag for my ET3. The trick is finding somewhere where it will be "visible"' to Bluetooth, but not to the naked eye. I tried slipping it between the foam at the back of the seat and its cover, but it managed to work its way loose.

Still trying to figure out where to secrete it!

I have Apple AirTags on my scooters and my keys. The AirTags can help me locate the scooter or keys, but they do have some drawbacks. If a thief (or anyone riding with me) has an iPhone they will eventually get a notice that "an AirTag is following them", so a thief could know to look for a tag. Also, the battery lasts only a few months, which is kind of a nuisance. Overall, though, I think the AirTags are a good idea.

Airtags are the minimalist option due to limited battery life and the passive nature of operation. They only activate if someone nearby has bluetooth activated on their iPhone.

If I were in a high risk area for theft, I would consider something like the Monimoto gps unit.

https://monimoto.com/motorcycle-alarm-system-with-gps/

I have to ask - WTF put your keys in your helmet?

If you use the (brown) master key to program new (blue) driving keys, a new code is set in the control unit which renders the old programmed keys unusable. If more than one key is to be programmed, ALL keys must therefore always be programmed in the same programming process so that they all work. A maximum of 7 keys can be programmed.

If you have more than one blue key, you can test this: Simply program ONE blue key again with the master, then the other blue key(s) from a different programming process should no longer work. Dont forget to program ALL of them again…

However, this does not change the fact that anyone could open the steering wheel lock and the glove compartment with the pure key (even if the vehicle cannot be started).

Has anyone used the Syncup Trackers?

I got some free ones from T-Mobil with a phone purchase. Just wondering of they are as good the as the AirTags. They have virtual bounded you can create for them so you get notified if it moves outside that boundary. I was surprised to find that AirTags don't have that feature.

The only issue I have with them is that they are not as small as the AirTags so they would be harder to hide.

One problem with air tags is that anyone with the app can tell there is a tag on the bike and they will keep looking until they find and dispose of it.

I have classic cars and I use tags from a company called GPS and Track. Not affiliated, just a fan. It is powered by the vehicle battery with an internal battery backup and uses phone text radio frequencies to report it's location and is completely undetectable to anyone except the company and they report to you, primarily by text message or phone if it is suspected that it has been stolen.

You can use the app to find out where your vehicle is at any time and you can set up a "geofence" that will alert you if it goes outside an area specified by you.

If it is stolen you and the police can drive directly to where it is.

The unit costs about $129 with two years service and can be renewed for $25/year.

There is also a battery powered model that checks in once a day instead of every hour and lasts for three years for $255.

You would think so, right? But AirTags have been instrumental in recovering countless stolen items.

It seems most criminals just aren't that bright.

And if they do notice that their stolen goods are being tracked, they might very well panic and ditch the goods.

Everything you say is true. Air tags are much better than nothing but they rely on someone with the app getting in range of the tag.

With the GPS and Track unit you can open the app at any time and know exactly where your vehicle is.

Plus you have to be an Apple acolyte in order to use an Airtag. The GPS varieties are agnostic.

Yes, true GPS tracker devices will always be better, but at a cost.

Someone with an iPhone near an AirTag is actually shockingly common.

There's also the Android equivalent
https://www.android.com/intl/en_au/learn-find-my-device/
Scroll down and click "checkout featured items" for compatible tracker tags. I recently bought a couple of these from ali for AU$10 and they work perfectly with Google's system.

The supporting software is in all* androids unlike third party solutions such as Tile which require their app to be installed. (I also have a Tile tracker and their app).

For the acolytes: Google's app experience does need some work, but neither the less their system works.

* Last year added to the Google Play services component and not in china.

It was in my garage in a residential neighborhood with garage closed. I have kept there for years. Learned my lesson!

Follow GermanGTSDriver instructions on keys programming, and no need for tracker, spend money on a decent lock

Litelox x3 on front wheel and feed it round suspension and wheel.

I took my master key to a hardware store and they made me two keys. If it's my understanding of the messages here that my old keys will no longer work? I did not do any programming of any sort......just went there and they made keys.

Well, if the new keys deactivate the immobilizer, they must have received the code somehow.

If you have had the keys cut and programmed by a locksmith (without the programming being done on your Vespa), then your master has been cloned.

If the master key has now been cloned, the ECU in the vehicle does not know that the stolen/lost key should no longer work.

ONLY if the new keys are programmed using the procedure described in the wiki ALL: Programming New Keys, this replaces the programming of previous keys in the vehicle.

Yes!!! Key was cloned......

If you have the brown master, cloning was unnecessary, I hope it didn't cost a fortune.

Then program the two new keys with the original master. Only then will the stolen key be deleted.

Note it's the ECU that gets programmed, not the keys. So the ECU will just know the master key RFID, and no other once the programming has taken place. This is fine.

I had already written this above, but thank you for putting it out there again.

I did have the brown master, but programming seemed a bit confusing to me. It was $65 to clone. Worth it with zero headache.

It couldn't be easier than described in the step-by-step guide in the wiki. You are welcome to try to describe what irritates you about it.

But apart from that, I don't know how else I could help you and I'm out.

The problem with buying keys from an auto-locksmith is that they will be the programmable type, and the RFID in them will be blank until they are programmed. The new Vespa keys (which are not programmable) will each have their own individual fixed RFID - which makes programming the ECU easy.