AirTag helps find stolen motorcycle, may have acted as a deterrent

A Renton, Washington resident was able to locate his motorcycle using AirTag after it had been stolen earlier Tuesday morning.

Brandon has experience with motorcycle theft, having had his bike stolen earlier in the year. So, when Apple announced the AirTag, he hid one away within his motorcycle the first chance he had.

On Tuesday morning, his motorcycle was missing from its usual parking spot in the apartment parking lot. After checking the Find My app, Brandon saw the motorcycle was only a few blocks away.

He drove to the location to see if he could spot the motorcycle. The Find My app reported the AirTag had last updated its location three minutes before, so either the AirTag or the bike had to be nearby.

Once Brandon arrived, he found that the thieves had abandoned the motorcycle. He notified the police, filed a statement, and the bike was recovered without any damage.

There isn't any way to know for sure why the thieves abandoned the motorcycle, but Brandon told AppleInsider that the AirTag may have notified them that a tracker was following them. The AirTag notifies anyone with an iPhone if it is traveling with someone that isn't the owner.

The Apple AirTag is a small tracking device that can fit in bags, on pet collars, or be used to track things like motorcycles. It isn't advertised as an anti-theft device, but the tracker is useful for finding things if they go missing for any reason.

10 Comments

entropys 4302 comments · 13 Years

About 3 years ago

Very fortunate they didn’t trash it in vengeance.

hexclock 1310 comments · 10 Years

Hey Brandon, stop leaving your keys in the bike.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

Theres a lot of reasons why the thieves abandoned it. Perhaps they were just unable to start the engine.

Many years ago I've had my motorcycle stolen only to find it right around the block. They couldn't disable the ignition lock and just left it there.

That being said, I purchased six AirTags and recently used four of them in luggage on an overseas trip. It was pretty amazing having the ability to monitor where my luggage was in the airport. My plan is to attach some to some high-value items in the event they're stolen.

AirTags will be huge once it hits critical-mass.

bloggerblog 2513 comments · 16 Years

I am shipping my bike from coast to coast and I'm currently dealing with an incompetent shipping company that misses their promised dates 100% of the time and never returns a call or gives you updates. Luckily I have placed two AirTags, one in the bike, the other in the luggage, and can track where the bike is at at all times. Worth every penny!!

sflocal said:

Theres a lot of reasons why the thieves abandoned it. Perhaps they were just unable to start the engine.
Many years ago I've had my motorcycle stolen only to find it right around the block. They couldn't disable the ignition lock and just left it there.

That being said, I purchased six AirTags and recently used four of them in luggage on an overseas trip. It was pretty amazing having the ability to monitor where my luggage was in the airport. My plan is to attach some to some high-value items in the event they're stolen.

AirTags will be huge once it hits critical-mass.

I especially like how the AirTags trigger at different times, makes you see where one was a few minutes before the other.