Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - gps tracking device

I've been trying to convince a buddy of mine that has a gps tracking company that he should load his units into some stems or a package that can be pushed into the bar ends.

This made me wonder how many other people would be interested in a gps device that wouldn't have a monthly monitoring cost but you'd either pay for locating services up front or as needed.

I suspect that encasing a GPS transponder in an aluminum shell (stem, handlebar) would play hell with its receiving and sending signal strength.

I've got GPS on my phone, and can rig that to transmit periodic updates over e-mail or twitter, so the only time I would have any use for something like what you're proposing is when I'm outside of cellular service--which is rare.

Actually, what I'm proposing is to place it into a carbon fiber stem, or into the bar end with a small antenna going under the hand wraps.

I want it more for a 'sh*t, my bike got stolen, now what?' event instead of a 'let's track everywhere I've been'.

Oh, gotcha. A bike lojack. Would be cool, but finding room for a usefully large battery might be a problem.

I'm not sure how the thing would be powered ... you'd probably need a way to make it draw from the energy of the bike, sort of like a Prius, but with good brakes and no runaway acceleration problems. :D It might need a nuclear power source, which has worked pretty well for the Voyager craft since the 1970s.

Playing Devil's Advocate, imagine I stole your bike, ten years into the future, when everybody has these things. I'm not going to take your handlebars apart to check ... but maybe I'll keep it indoors, in some concrete structure ( locked in a nearby parking garage ) for a few days. The concrete will prevent the thing from getting a GPS reading, and the few day should draw the battery down.

Now if you can get by those issues, you might have a winner on your hands. But those are the questions skeptics will be asking.

I think what you'd have to do is conserve battery life using some simple tricks. Sure its not going to be foolproof but it is a hell of a lot better than nothing and you'd at least have The last known address.