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The problem for me is how do you charge it up? And if you go on holiday and don't ride the bike or charge it, does the tracker go flat and become completely worthless?
I think the best solution would be an alarm/tracker that charges from a dynamo hub. It'd be fine for a cafe/shop run - charge it up on the way then leave the bike locked up with a loud alarm that goes off as soon as someone moves your bike. When you're at home you put the bike in the shed/garage/flat/whatever where presumably you have some additional sort of security.
frankenbike
This appears to be an obvious idea but is it available ?
The theft tracker
The origin of Sherlock, the “invisible” bike tracker, started in a scenic piazza in Turin, Italy. It was there that its founder, Pierluigi Freni, was leaving the theatre with a friend, who discovered that his bike had been stolen. Freni says the pair wished they had a Find My iPhone app for the bike. And so a business idea was born.
The result is a GPS tracker that sits invisibly inside handlebars (so thieves can’t simply remove it). Users activate the device when parking, and receive an alert if the bike is moved. They can then track its position on a smartphone and share a tracking code with police. The app also includes a “bike passport” – a document with information on the bike and the owner – which was developed with police.
The startup has received support from the University of Bath Innovation Centre, as well as funding from the European Union’s frontier cities project. After selling out an initial run of 1,000 units last year, the company is getting ready for a larger second round of production, while celebrating winning the Best Startup prize at the 2017 CosmoBike show in Italy.
too costy ?