Abandoned Bicycle - Take it or not?

Protag Hiro said:

I want to take this thing and fix it up for a friend of mine. If I dont
take it, it will continue to languish away. When is it ok to rescue a
neglected bike? I think I have waited long enough, and it is time for
me to stake my claim. Am I a bike stealing jerk or a bike rescue saint?

I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect that the proper procedure is to report
the bike to the police. There may be some provision for you to claim it
if the owner doesn't after some specified length of time.

Bill

------------------------------------
| There oughta be limits to Freedom. |
| -- George W. Bush |
------------------------------------

In article <[email hidden]>,

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike that has been locked up
in front of a storefront near my hous. The storefront is vacant, and
the bike has been in the same place for the past 4 months. The tires
are flat, the thing is rusting away. It is locked up with a cheapo
cable lock.

I want to take this thing and fix it up for a friend of mine. If I dont
take it, it will continue to languish away. When is it ok to rescue a
neglected bike? I think I have waited long enough, and it is time for
me to stake my claim. Am I a bike stealing jerk or a bike rescue saint?

Since it's locked, I'd consider it somebody's property,
not to be meddled with. It's theirs to abuse in whatever
manner they see fit.

It's better to get giveaway fixer-uppers that people have
put out with the trash.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" wrote: Since it's locked, I'd consider it somebody's property,
not to be meddled with. It's theirs to abuse in whatever manner they see
fit.
^^^^^^^^^^^
That is a "correct" answer, but let's get real. That bike is abandoned. If
you leave it there, it will eventually be cut loose by a city employee and
thrown in the trash. If you want to be safe, ask someone at the police
department or the public works department whether you can have it. I'll bet
they either say "yes," or look the other way.

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike that has been locked up
in front of a storefront near my hous. The storefront is vacant, and
the bike has been in the same place for the past 4 months. The tires
are flat, the thing is rusting away. It is locked up with a cheapo
cable lock.

It is moral to take this bike if it is abandoned garbage cluttering the
street.

..max

"what does THIS button do?" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike that has

been locked up

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in front of a storefront near my hous. The storefront is

vacant, and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the bike has been in the same place for the past 4 months.

The tires

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

are flat, the thing is rusting away. It is locked up with

a cheapo

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

cable lock.

It is moral to take this bike if it is abandoned garbage

cluttering the

Quoted message said:

street.

I'm with Max on this. It's abandoned and is only deteriorating
and cluttering up the neighborhood.

--
Mike Kruger
Bike Chicago e-mail list info:
http://www.geocities.com/bvonmoss/bikechicago.html

In article <[email hidden]>,

Leo Lichtman said:

"Tom Keats" wrote: Since it's locked, I'd consider it somebody's property,
not to be meddled with. It's theirs to abuse in whatever manner they see
fit.
^^^^^^^^^^^
That is a "correct" answer, but let's get real. That bike is abandoned.

Well, let's just say it's /probably/ abandoned.

Quoted message said:

If
you leave it there, it will eventually be cut loose by a city employee and
thrown in the trash.

I don't think I could break someone else's lock without
getting a guilty conscience and subsequent nightmares
about it.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" wrote: I don't think I could break someone else's lock without
getting a guilty conscience and subsequent nightmares about it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I admire you for your conscience, and worry about your anxiety. What gives
me anxiety is seeing things go to waste when they could be put to good use.

As an aside, wouldn't it be interesting to know how the bike got to be
(probably) abamdoned? Did someone die? Did someone move away? Did they
buy a car, and not care anymore? Or forget where they left it?

"Protag Hiro" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike that has been locked up
in front of a storefront near my hous. The storefront is vacant, and
the bike has been in the same place for the past 4 months. The tires
are flat, the thing is rusting away. It is locked up with a cheapo
cable lock.

I want to take this thing and fix it up for a friend of mine. If I dont
take it, it will continue to languish away. When is it ok to rescue a
neglected bike? I think I have waited long enough, and it is time for
me to stake my claim. Am I a bike stealing jerk or a bike rescue saint?

I faced a similar situation. The bike was slowly being destroyed by
"vandals". I took it home and called the police. They came and picked it
up. They told me that after 90 days of being stored at the station, if no
one claimed it, they would put it up for auction unless I wanted it.

I waited the 90 days, called the police and no one had come to claim it and
so it was mine. It's a very low end bike and I call it the "campus bike"
because I don't care too much it someone steals it. In fact, I leave it
outside of my house unlocked so my kids can just grab it and go.

One small difference was that the bike I got was not really locked. The
cable was looped around the frame in such a way that it could simply be
slipped out.

-Don

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike

not worth the effort, wait till you see one with the words "campagnolo"
on it. Operate under the cover of night...

maxo said:

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike

not worth the effort, wait till you see one with the words "campagnolo"
on it. Operate under the cover of night...

Might I add that I would be rebuilding this bike for a very sexy girl
who I am after, and who is after me? Is it worth the effort now?
Bwahaha!

Protag Hiro said:

Might I add that I would be rebuilding this bike for a very sexy girl who
I am after, and who is after me? Is it worth the effort now? Bwahaha!

Adding streamers will get you to home base faster. This wisdom comes from
experience.

😄

In article <[email hidden]>,

Protag Hiro said:

maxo said:

Protag Hiro said:

So there is a yellow Schwinn Varsity girls bike

not worth the effort, wait till you see one with the words "campagnolo"
on it. Operate under the cover of night...

Might I add that I would be rebuilding this bike for a very sexy girl
who I am after, and who is after me? Is it worth the effort now?
Bwahaha!

steal a better bike.

..max

max said:

steal a better bike.

she's a hipster. she only likes stuff that is vintage. ha!

Find out if there is a group in your town that takes in and repairs bikes
and then gives them away for charity. We have one in our town and they get
'way too many adult bikes. They are always wanting to "place" children's
bikes to needy kids. So, contact this group and see if they have a suitable
bike for your girlfriend. If they do, you could make a donation to the
group, a donation that they could put to use buying chains, cables, lube,
etc., for the kids' bikes they repair.

Pat in TX

naw. i would rather steal than help the needy.

Protag Hiro said:

naw. i would rather steal than help the needy.

Now if as you say, this chick you're getting the bike for is a hipster,
then you need to acquire it under ironic circumstances. At least wear a
ringer T when you steal it.

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:PEKye.391760

Quoted message said:

As an aside, wouldn't it be interesting to know how the bike

got to be

Quoted message said:

(probably) abamdoned? Did someone die? Did someone move

away? Did they

Quoted message said:

buy a car, and not care anymore? Or forget where they left

it?

Yes, that's an interesting question.
I "rescued" a bike that had sat behind our church building for
about a year. (I posted notices on the bike, on the bulletin
board, and in the church bulletin, but got no replies.) I
think the bike got abandoned because the owner saw problems
and didn't want to deal with them. The front tire was flat.
The front rim had a gash in it that looked bad visually, but
wasn't of actual consequence. One pedal was cross-threaded
and therefore crooked (I had to replace the crank and pedal.)
The brakes needed adjustment. All these are easy fixes if you
have some skill and interest, but not everybody has. It's a
large frame (I'm 6'3"😉 so the owner might have turned 16.

Wed, 6 Jul 2005 20:58:42 -0500,
<1120701112.5472e67807b42e7bb41f2c23a1bf1a6e@teranews>, "Mike Kruger"

Quoted message said:

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:PEKye.391760

Quoted message said:

As an aside, wouldn't it be interesting to know how the bike

got to be

Quoted message said:

(probably) abamdoned? Did someone die? Did someone move

away? Did they

Quoted message said:

buy a car, and not care anymore? Or forget where they left

it?

Yes, that's an interesting question.
I "rescued" a bike that had sat behind our church building for
about a year. (I posted notices on the bike, on the bulletin
board, and in the church bulletin, but got no replies.) I
think the bike got abandoned because the owner saw problems
and didn't want to deal with them. The front tire was flat.
The front rim had a gash in it that looked bad visually, but
wasn't of actual consequence. One pedal was cross-threaded
and therefore crooked (I had to replace the crank and pedal.)
The brakes needed adjustment. All these are easy fixes if you
have some skill and interest, but not everybody has. It's a
large frame (I'm 6'3"😉 so the owner might have turned 16.

I just tonight added another foundling to the collection.

For the past three weeks there have been boxes of 'stuff' set out
behind one house I regularly pass. It's been the sort of stuff people
keep around thinking it's too good to throw out. Its variety and
volume has had the look of a post humus clean-up by relatives. While
some of it was interseting, none of it was worth my carrying home.
Tonight there was a bike.

Flat fat tires, chain rusted, grips deteriorated etc. It has new
cables, decent brakes and deraillerurs. It was repainted red at some
point. It has vertical dropouts and a top tube which extends a bit
behind the seat tube which extends a bit above it.
I've not yet investigated it further but the rims and hubs don't
match. It's complete and will clean up into another loaner bike for
the upcoming wedding.

There was no question that it had been set out to be taken by anyone
who wanted it.
--
zk

Quoted message said:

From: Zoot Katz <[email hidden]>
For the past three weeks there have been boxes of 'stuff' set out
behind one house I regularly pass. It's been the sort of stuff people
keep around thinking it's too good to throw out. Its variety and
volume has had the look of a post humus clean-up by relatives. While
some of it was interseting, none of it was worth my carrying home.

At http://www.freecycle.org , we call this situation curbcycle.