Aged Bike Fixer

You may recall seeing this pic posted a couple weeks ago:

monkeymoto..jpg

My wife rides it to the metro here in Silver Spring, and then commutes downtown. She returned this afternoon to find it missing...

It's a late 70s, early 80s Moto Le Champion. I'm sure that if it's ridden in DC it will be altered, but it has a Mickey sticker on the downtube.

If anyone happens to see this bike, please shoot me a note.

This really sucks.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tom Stormcrowe

I'll stick this thread. like I did the last stolen Bike thread.

Tom Stormcrowe

I also just posted a thread for you in Northeast, linking back to this thread

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...9#post11047939

Keep it up to date with updates to keep it on top of the page. Good luck recoverinbg the bike.

Aged Bike Fixer

Thanks Tom.

Detailed pics of the frame are here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...5310&highlight=

JohnDThompson 

Ouch. I hope she gets it back. A Le Champion is much too nice to be leaving outside all day, though...

ichitz

I'm far from MD but.. getting a bike stole sucks. I hope you'll find it.

TeddyVarious

all the luck to you in finding the bike.
i wish i could help

equusbynature

That sucks. Just curious, what kind of lock does/did she use?

Aged Bike Fixer

Yep, it sucks. My wife (a she, see OP) used a kryptonite cable lock... obv. not enough. She'd been locking a beater there for more than a year with no problems. The moral of the story is don't lock a bike you care about at a metro.

To anyone who's had a bike stolen. Do you ever think that the thief could be a lurker here? It's obv. a great place to learn about bikes, and then to take that knowledge and do some bike "shopping". The fact that of all the bikes locked up, this bike was the target. The bastard knew what kind of bike it was. Lugged, Reynolds 531...an old bike but a nice ride. It def. had some style points.

I'm still steaming.

I'll check a couple pawn shops later today, but unless I see the thief riding around Sil Spring, it's probably long gone.

ichitz

It's hard to say if they know a lot about bikes or not. Before I got into bike or know anything about them I distinctly remember looking at a bike at a 2nd real ghetto small bike place. Only reason I'm there is coz I passed by. There was a Ciocc in my size. I asked the guy how much it was and he told me $80. I said i'll think about it and come back later.

Now that I think about it, obviously stolen. But do they know it's good value? I don't think so coz they offered me a Ciocc for $80.

acpeeps

so sorry to hear, Love my old Moto.....I have had two bikes lifted before, the sinking feeling you have when you realize it's gone is EPIC. the first one was a late '70's redline, that my dad put some Skyway II's on.....found it in a field months later rimless, and the other was my '83 Schwinn Preditor 7X.......i still pine for that bike.
I hope you find it, and then shove the Ass's hand in a meat grinder.....(I'm not still bitter at all, all these years later)

powers2b

Keep your hopes up.
My friend got her bike stolen a couple years ago and about 6 months later she saw a teenager riding it.
She stopped her car, got out, stopped the rider and grabbed the handlebars.
Called the cops (make a police report with SN & identifying marks) and the teen called his parents.
Turns out they bought the bike for $50 from a crackhead.
The teen gave up the bike.

Enjoy

oldfixguy

Well, I hear you but I'm not a fan of this mentality at all. Basically, it equals if you have the audacity to actually own something nice then it would behoove you to never use it. Your statement is reality and there is no debating that. I just don't like the taste.

This is exactly why I am a huge fan of bicycle registration systems. Here, you register your bike (with all the pertinent information), put an admittedly ugly yellow sticker on your bike and you're done. $5. If you don't register your bike then don't bother going to the police if something happens. They won't care. If you have, they actively look for your bike. My son had a very nice mountain bike stolen from a train station (locked). He called me, I reported it and 3 hours later we were at a koban (sort of a corner police station where a few policemen are assigned) being asked if we wanted to press charges against the piece of dirt found riding the bike. We did. Not much happened to be honest. It was never taken to court for example. But, official paperwork was done. The individual is on record as being a bike thief (well, as being found riding a bike that was stolen hours before) and my son got his bike back. I believe the lost time, embarrassment, official paperwork and all around pain in the backside factor will make the person think twice before stealing a registered bike, again.

Corwings

California registers bikes with 2 stickers at 0 cost! But they seem pretty easy to take off

nutcase

My sons nice Trek 4300 got ripped off while he was in school on the 1st of July. Strange thing about it is, I finally watched the movie the Bicycle Thief a few days before that. Bad karma man.

oldfixguy

The ones here you basically need a hair drier to get off. By no means an impossible task. But, if the police care you should still have an honest chance based on the description and of course the serial on the BB shell will be the final word. While free is good I kind of like the idea of paying something because it turns me into a client. It gives me a certain amount of weight.

Corwings

Mostly it's free because they only implemented it about a year or two ago I think. It was mostly done as a 'if you care your bike might get stolen, you should probably do this.' I don't think I know really anyone else except for myself (family included) in CA that has their bike registered..

Aged Bike Fixer

I remember registering bikes when I was a kid. The local police would host a bike "rodeo", basically a skills and safety day at the end of which, they'd slap a sticker on the bike. I'll check to see if my current police dept. has a similar program. I doubt it will deter many thieves, but having the description on file def. makes it easier to claim ownership if it's actually spotted/recovered.

T_R_O_N

I live in the dc area, and im going to let you know now, bike theft in this general area is on the rise as fixed gear/SS are becoming quite the hot commodity. I hope you find your bike, but the bike thieves out here are ruthless. nine times out of ten your bike is being sold on craigslist or some crackhead stole your bike to score some rocks. Once saw a man take a nice fuji right in front of me, then try to sell it to me. If i do see someone on the bike though, i'll make sure to see what I can do.

good luck

PS. NEVER LOCK YOUR BIKE AT THE METRO! (at least in dc) kids are quick to steal a bike on these hot summer days.

Aged Bike Fixer

Thanks TRON. Yea, my wife is trying to get a bike locker now--no more locking a decent bike unattended. I did some searching yesterday, but couldn't find any theft reports from those boxes.

fuji86

A friend had his $ 650 Electra stolen, it's exactly why I bought the Vilano, though the Vilano is still new enough looking that someone would steal it. But your's, a kryptonite cable lock is just as easy to compromise as a $ 10-15 Bell u-lock. I'm convinced bike locks only deter honest people from the temptation to become a bike thieves. You Tube is full of tutorials on defeating kryptonite bike locks. Thief had all day and with a little practice even the more difficult degrees of lock picks can be done in a matter of seconds. There are people that can solve a rubik's cube in around 7 seconds, so you can imagine what it would take them to defeat a bike lock ?

fuji86

I often wonder whether some police officers aren't in on it in the larger metro areas. There's no way, the way the cutbacks are happening in law enforcement, that should your bike ever be recovered, would anyone contact you before the big police unclaimed stolen article auction happens every year. Go to one of those and you might come out better than what you lost ?

KDNYC

That just sucks. I had an old cheap bike stolen when someone cut through a very thick abu or pitbull (can't remember) cable, and a front wheel stolen when my krypto cable loop was cut. No more cables, period. Hopefully, your wife will find another bike soon.

I don't think cops benefit per se, but I know that stolen goods of all kinds (including burglaries) are a low priority for them, period. Doesn't matter if the bike has a lic. number. Bet bet are local forums and the local rider community (CL). Post a pic and the serial number.

I'm amazed at how many people don't even bother to record the serial number on their bikes. I always check bike registries before buying a used bike.

stryper

I passed out in my friends back yard one night with my bike in his driveway along the side of the house. Woke up at 8am to leave and it was gone. Strange cause there were other bikes right in front of the house until like 6am. I was heart broken though since i'd only had it less then 2 months and spent $1500 on it, money I wouldn't have again for a long time.

Six weeks later though, on the 4th of July my best friend was driving down the road to get some groceries for a BBQ and he saw somebody riding it down the road. Stopped the guy (50ish year old fat homeless guy) and he said he'd just found it in the dumpster 2 blocks from where it was stolen and was using it to ride to some fireworks show. He offered it back no problem and my friend gave the guy a ride the rest of the way there.

Only thing wrong was the carbon seat post I got off ebay for $28 and the knock off $15 seat were gone, and my beautiful blue rims and spokes had been spray bombed gray and gold. i didn't care though, I got my bike back after I had fully given up any hope. Was seriously the best 4th I've ever had.

Anyways, hope you get lucky like I did and find the bike or somebody here manages to spot it for you