Will a GPS tracker drain my motorcycle battery?

Only if it's wired to it — and that's an important distinction when you're choosing a tracker.

Hardwired trackers connect to your bike's electrical system and draw a small standby current around the clock. It's a modest draw, but motorcycle batteries are small, and over weeks of winter storage that trickle can leave you with a dead battery in spring. If you hardwire a tracker, a battery tender becomes close to mandatory for long-term parking.

Self-powered trackers — the magnetic, battery-operated kind — draw exactly zero from your motorcycle. They run on their own internal battery, which in well-designed units lasts around 9 to 12 months before you swap in a replacement. Your bike's battery never knows the tracker exists.

The self-powered design has a security bonus most riders don't consider: a tracker independent of the bike's electrical system keeps reporting even if a thief disconnects the main battery, which is a common early move when a bike is loaded into a van. There's no wire to cut and no fuse to pull.

So if battery drain is your concern, it's an easy answer: choose a self-powered magnetic tracker, mount it on the frame, and your charging system stays completely out of the equation.

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the Stealth magnetic GPS tracker