Lemond1985

Inspired by this post: https://www.bikeforums.net/21165558-post52391.html

Let's say you're riding around on one of your favorite bikes that you bought used on Ebay or CL, and stranger tells you they think it's their bike, which was stolen many years ago. Let's say, for argument's sake, the person provides enough details that you're 100% convinced they're telling the truth.

What do you do next? Offer to sell it back to them? Hand it over? Let "the authorities" handle the situation?

Surely someone in C&V has dealt with this situation before. Me, I have no idea what I'd do, probably give it back, ultimately. I don't want someone else's stuff.

3speedslow

The y may well indeed have owned the bike but unless they filed a police report... they sold, gave it away and now they want it back. Declined!

JaccoW

That's one for the authorities. Unless you bought it at suspicious circumstances you would have had no idea it was stolen.

At the very least you could offer to sell it to them. But who knows how much time and money you put into it in the meantime.

merziac

Ultimately comes down to statute of limitations. I had a bike stolen long ago out of the tavern, cops came right now, hopped in the car with them and went after the thieves who were being somewhat watched and were known at the time but didn't catch them. The officer got back to me the next day after following up at the suspects place but no luck.

Fast forward several years when I go to look at a KZ 1000 LTD for sale, walk into the garage and hanging on the wall is the Raleigh Super Course that had been stolen years before. Reach out to the Sheriff and get together with them and find out this guy is also on their radar as well. We go together and examine the bike, I identify all components that I had built it up with and several unique identifiers like a fork leg that I partially stripped and was slightly bent but the S/N was not on the original report and I couldn't find it anymore.

This suspect phonied up paperwork for a gun trade, statute had ran out and the sheriff that was trying to help ended up getting in trouble for going after this too hard.

All that being said, if everything lined up and I was on the other side of this, I would give the bike back.

Maybe I should have tried to work this out with the guy who had my Raleigh but as I said he was sketchy and I didn't trust him, seems like he didn't have the title for the KZ either so.....

Lemond1985

I've had about 4-5 bikes stolen over the years (don't want any of 'em back, FWIW). One of them was stolen, recovered, and then stolen again. None were locked up, so I learned my lesson eventually, and make no exceptions for leaving unattended bikes unlocked these days.

But it's it's difficult thing to untangle after the thing has changed hands several times, each owner paying fair market value. I pay so little for my rides, they can have back whatever parts I've still got, heck I've got way too many bikes as it is anyway.

merziac

Same here, the Raleigh was the last one of many that I had stolen over the years, now they are always Fort Knoxed, always.

Had one of my modern Fuji's locked up at the store awhile back, came out and sketchy dude sitting on the bench says "3 locks, really" said "yep, really", looked down to unlock, looked up and he was gone, two Ulocks and a cable for the Brooks had him trippin.

CliffordK

I've had some trolls living under a bridge yell to me "That's my bike".

I didn't stop and didn't give them a second thought.

Lemond1985

What are their BF handles? They sound familiar.

One time I had some hoboes that were sitting under some trees along the railroad tracks yell to me "get a job". I ignored them as well.

mechanicmatt

Something like this happened to me except different.


Let me explain, I bought a Cannondale hybrid from someone who had just "moved" from a local college town and no longer needed it, I didn't think it was shady but it was well priced. I bought it.


It was in a little bit of rough shape, bad seat, bad grips, needed new cables & housing, etc. Well I did a complete overhaul, top to bottom, fixed it all, replaced parts, new cables, trued wheels, etc. Had it working like a dream just before the local KC swap meet "El Torreon".


Go to the swap, lots of people interested, particularly some college girls, an older lady, and a young gentlemen. All take a test ride, but the old lady kept coming back to test ride over and over, I thought for sure she was going to be the one who bought it, looked like everybody's older mom with teen aged kids or what not. Well she kept test riding it, waiting for me to get busy with other customers, and then hightailed it out of there with the bike back to where ever.


That's not the end.


I had plenty of cycling friends in the KC community and word traveled fast that someone had stolen from me. Well that lady, THE SAME DAY, had taken that Cannondale down to a large bike store some 40 miles away and attempted to trade in that bike (which was like a year or two old max) on a new hybrid. She found one in the perfect color, size, or whatever (I think a GT), left my bike and took that one on a test ride and never returned. My bike left at the store. They called the cops and filed a report, gave the bike details to the cops.


That's not the end


A buddy was there and saw whatever happened there, noticed the strange lady, and took note, found out about my exploits at the swap meet the next day and told me all about what had happened with the bike and that nutcase. Let me know the bike had been found and the police filed a report. I called the shop, said I was the owner, and told my tale of thievery, and they said just to call the police get that all cleared, and come by when I could. I called the police, told them what happened, called back the shop and said I'd make it there the next day.


That's not the end


So I drive over to the shop to pick up the bike and it's gone. It ended up that the bike I had originally bought used was stolen from that "college town" from a gal that had just started college. Her dad made her go to the police when it was stolen and give them the serial code. Well the cops after getting a report filed to the shop, checked the serial against the database, of course her name popped up and they called reunited the bike to the college girl. Shop had given it back to her an hour before I got there. I got another call from cops and explained where I got the bike. I had the address and phone number of the thief so I handed it all over.


That's basically the end but...


The store somehow gave my phone number to the college gal who got her bike back and she called and said, thanks for getting her the bike back and that it rode awesome now, shifted like it never did before. It was like it was a new bike.


However, I felt no guilt, no annoyance, no problem. I would have given that bike to her every time had I known from the start. Getting stuff stolen from you sucks, no matter who you are.

francophile 

I think many of us here can empathize with the loss of a bike.

I'd feel some empathy if someone came to me indicating a bike I had was once theirs. But without a police report clearly showing the serial number, I wouldn't believe it, regardless what ID'ing info they offered. I park publicly, anyone could get that info.

If they were able to provide a police report with valid serial number, I'd be happy to work with them on tracing back where I got the bike. But I would make sure they understand there's a possibility nobody would get the bike afterwards depending on a few variables, not limited to where/when it was taken.

This happened to one of my friends a few years back. Had some audio equipment stolen out of his car. Had some very distinctive markings on everything (custom artwork) and even pictures of ownership. Local cops took it into evidence, it never came back out again. He followed up two years later only to learn it'd been released for police auction. Somehow that's normal?

jetboy 

makes me think the test ride bandit lady might actually be a small well meaning chaos god- seemingly randomly stealing bicycles but actually setting the world back on course. who knows what small wrong she might have righted by stealing the second bike...

delbiker1 

I am standing pat with the bike. IMO, it would be up to the person it was supposedly stolen from to pursue any kind of claim and or return. Definitely need documentation.

scarlson 

I don't think I'd run the risk of this. Everything I have has some of my custom work on it, so as to render it unrecognizable by any previous owners. Except maybe the Jack Taylor tandem, unless rust removal counts. That's worrisome. Hmm, I did get it for basically no money... Wonder if it's stolen!

I think I would Not Believe whoever said that my bike was theirs, especially here in Boston. In Vermont where I used to live, OK, it's smaller and I feel like I see fewer scams, so I might believe the person. I'd still need proof. I put lots of work into these bikes!

RobbieTunes

If it can’t be proven to be stolen, no problem. There are more liars posing as victims than culprits.

If it can proven to be stolen, it would generally take a police report. The police report may well be filed for insurance purposes, which means the victim was indemnified. In that case, the bike belongs to the insurance company, which likely won’t want it or would take a low bid just to end the paperwork.

If if the statute had run, no problems.

If I bought not knowing or even remotely thinking it was stolen, it’s going to take legal action to get it.

If mine was stolen, and I remotely was convinced the thief was alive and well, and known to me, well, that situation would end right there.

It takes about 20 seconds to steal a bike. It takes about 10-15 to hood a person and stuff them into a trunk. Then you have all the time you need.

Lemond1985

I deliberately took that factor out, so there would be no decision left other than what to do, hand it over, stand your ground, whatever. Because proving ownership would be next to impossible without detailed receipts of everything.

iab

For me to be 100% sure the bike was stolen, I'd need proper documentation, which would be verified through the competent authority.

Whether it falls under any statute of limitations or not, I'd give the bike back.

Golden Rule.

scarlson 

If it's certain that it was the other person's bike, stolen, it presents a really interesting dilemma.

On the one hand, most of my bikes I've put in so much work to repair or restore, including frame work, machining, and wheelbuilding, which should maybe make them more "mine". But that's René Hubris talking, there.

On the other hand, most of the work is done for a reason: because the bike was in some state of broken or at least in disrepair. So the work I've done kind of pays some "rent" for having owned a bike that wasn't mine for however many years.

The reality for most of my bikes is that it would be at best counterproductive and at worst impossible to return a bike to the state in which it existed when I obtained it (and thus closer to when it was stolen in this hypothetical situation) and thus make the previous owner "whole" again.

The logical thing to do, I guess, is to ask the previous owner/theft victim if, given I am not a professional and can't be held responsible for any failures in my brazing or wheelbuilding or drillium or questionable fender clearances, they really want the bike back. I'm guessing they'd go a little pale and change their mind pretty fast after they saw the liability waiver I'd draw up to avoid being sued. Remember, I don't know this person. How do I know what they'll think of my work, and how much do they know about when to stop riding because of a mechanical failure, before it hurts them? I would surely be held accountable.

We'd discuss a little and I'd end up building them up a nice old Schwinn World Sport to original spec, with 27" wheels and no fenders, from my basement frame and wheel collection. Everybody would leave happy.

3alarmer 

...FWIW, no one has PM'd me (yet).

Senrab62 

My Trek 660 was stolen on the fourth of July a couple years back. Yes, alcohol was involved lol. But it was taken off private property. I called the cops, but they do not do anything about stolen bikes here. Nothing. At all. Essentially said you are SOL.

I assumed it was a goner. Fast forward a year or so, and some a-hole has my bike on CL. I call the cops and the officer literally said "if it's yours, take it back and call the cops". It's what I did and I got it back. Not typical, but I had a good ending to my situation.

I cannot stress enough to register your bikes and serial numbers with law enforcement and online and document with pics. Extensively. It helped me out.

francophile 

Does anyone else bother running bikes you're buying/selling through Bike Index to confirm if it was reported stolen anywhere? https://bikeindex.org/bikes?stolenness=stolen

I usually try to run everything through once I can reveal the serial on a frame.

Chris_in_Miami

I had this scenario play out very recently. I was sharing some pics of a bike I scored from a pawn shop on another forum, and got a message from another member from the other side of the country who recognized it as a bike that was stolen from him while he was living here. He said he didn't want it back and had made peace with the loss, but wanted me to know the bike's history. He gave me some details about the bike that convinced me the story was true, and I was fully prepared to return it, but he declined. I did send a few of his accessories back to him.

I had originally bought the bike to resell, but now that I know the history, I decided to hang it on my "forever" peg (it is really nice and worth keeping.) I had actually sworn off buying bikes for a few years, partly due to a health situation, but this was a full Campy/531 deal and quite cheap, so I thought I'd have a quick flip. I have definitely revised my views on buying from pawn shops. If I decide to get rid of this bike, I'll donate it to the local bike co-op.

I do feel a little dirty about owning this one, but it helps that I have the previous owner's blessing, he was beyond understanding about it.

Thieves suck.

katsup

I do this normally after I bring the bike home. However, I'll do it in front of the seller if the environment seems unusual. One time a guy started getting very uncomfortable and admitted the bike was abandoned, but the serial number came up clean so I bought it. That frame was rusted through so it got parted out anyway, it was cheap.

BMarino

Agree on this. I would give it back, but ask for compensation on all new components put on it by me, or strip it of them and keep those.

Ballenxj

I think the fist thing I would do is bring the accuser with me, and contact the person I bought it from. They could then argue it out from there. If it turns out the accuser has a legitimate claim, the seller can either pay that person what I paid, or offer to buy it back from me, including any repairs, or options I may have added. When I buy something in good faith, I do not expect to be scammed out of it.

riva

I do wonder about status on a few of mine. On a recent bike I got on the craig, a similar bike "stolen" ad was up. Same size same salmon color frame but everything else different. I found myself checking back and forth comparing the pics for nicks in the paint, headset, etc. Nicks did not match up so I figured it could not possibly be it. So I went and bought it. I also have a rattle can flat black cdale that this thread brings to mind. One thinks why would somebody do that, 1st thing that came to mind is that it was a 'sleeper' anti theft measure. Didn't occur to me until later maybe it was not a pre theft measure but rather a post theft measure.. duh.

Last week I was riding through a neighborhood and somebody yelled out "they stole my bike" but I just keep riding when strange people yell things at me. I don't know if she was telling me somebody stole her bike or she thought I stole her bike. I think she was telling me why she wasn't riding.