Motorcycle ownership comes with its fair share of advantages and compromises. Riding among texting teens driving two-ton SUVs is just part of the risk. Parking your bike poses its own problems, with inattentive parkers and industrious thieves constantly threatening your two-wheeled pride and joy. That's why a new system from Scorpio sounds so enticing.

The Scorpio Ride “Core” system uses an iOS or Android app to keep track of a GoPro-size module installed inside the bike. The box plugs into the battery and relays everything from location to tire pressure to your phone, tablet, or computer. If it gets knocked over, you get an alert. If someone loads it into the back of a van, you can track it.

Just as cool is the system's ability to track performance. At the start of twisty stretch of road, flip it on, and the unit will track the distance and time of the ride, along with the top speed achieved. If you drop your knee a few times and finish a phenomenal run, you can upload the numbers and map to Twitter and Facebook. And when you're on your way back, you can set it to alert your friends when you're about to arrive.

While we’ve seen stand-alone apps handle some of these tasks before, Ride packages everything together into a more complete setup, and adds in an extra layer of safety, security, and maintenance.

Add-ons to the Core include a perimeter sensor and a trigger-able 125dB alarm Photo: Scorpio

The Core connects straight into the bike’s battery, so it monitors the charge status and can send a message if the juice is getting too low. Scorpio says that when the bike is turned off and the module is in sleep mode, the unit doesn’t draw enough power to drain the battery. For tire pressure monitoring, you can purchase two caps for $79 to transmit air pressure data to the main unit, which connects with the app. The batteries are said to last at least two years.

For security, the Core has an internal 3-axis accelerometer that can be set to notice when someone besides you is bothering the bike. Should an overly touchy passerby start getting fresh with your ride, the app will send a push notification so you can shoo away the offender.

If someone manages to get the bike onto a trailer before you make it outside, you can trigger the app’s Emergency Mode, which produces a pin code that gives police temporary access to the live location feed and can be tracked to between 10 and 20 feet. If a thief disconnects the bike’s battery, the unit has an internal backup power source to keep sending information until they apprehend the perp and recover the motorcycle.

Naturally, all this tech doesn't come cheap, with the Ride Core unit starting at $219, not including any accessories, plus there's a $10.95 monthly fee for the data package. But if you value your ride, what price can you put on piece of mind?