that is why bikes belong in the house...

My "stolen bike" story does not end happily, I'm afraid. It does start out with me being on the victim end of a hit-and-run car fender bender though. The next morning I woke up to call the insurance company, which is when I found out I had been given false information - and then I walked outside to see my bike had been stolen. The following visit to the police station was, as you can imagine, rather upsetting.

Is this the first time you experienced that something of yours was stolen ?
Bad feeling I know it, You will proberly get a lot of replies here, how cruel thieves are behave and undermine everything "we" belive.
But that's the sad thing about it, it will soon become advises about putting a better lock on it, paint it so no one would rob it, -- and soon we are there that partly it's your own foult as you shuld have known.
------ And the thief will say the same ; that it's your own foult, you shuld have known better ; realy there are thives who has their own moral that say they are in their right to steal and rob, what's common about thives though are, that they most often need an "exchouse".

Now I am sorry ths happened for you, -- thives are scum right, in all circumstancesthey are, and those who laugh about someone being robbed even vorse scumbags right ? Then it's nice that among people here, there are a genuine and high etics, a moral that forbid you to steal someones property, -- you went to the police staation and that was not a plesant experience, I went to Archinect -- what sort of experience would you emagine that to be.

Sorry to hear that, A.R.ch. Per is right, thieves are scumbags.

I can't yet recall a stolen item that was returned, though I did locate a ring I thought I had lost recently.

my nearly-new honda 250 was stolen in the late 80s. i reported it stolen, only to find out my limited insurance policy didn't cover theft.

the police found it and it came back spray painted black and totally trashed - totalled, really. i called insurance and tried to report it totalled, but they had a note that it had been stolen.

if i had wrecked it, it would have been covered but apparently if it's totalled WHILE stolen, there's still no coverage.

i sold it for scrap: $25.

Not to extend faint hope.
But one of my three bikes that was stolen over the years did make it's way back to me.

But not the other two.

About locks ; do not invest in a wire lock, find a mean looking chain, best one that looks as stainless steel as that destroy the thives cutter, lock to something or dismantle -- remove seat or a wheel --- hope the thives don't get angry and bend the remaining wheel.

Wow, Per talking good sense ;o)

I wish I'd thought of painting some day-glo stripes on my bike. A theif spent 7 minutes chewing through my cable lock behind the cover of a temporarily parked delivery van. That's the problem with these loong dark evenings in the Northern hemisphere, plenty of opportunity to do naughty things undetected.

But to be honest, leaving a new bike locked up outside at a student campus over the holidays, that is just an invitation for theft. I twice caught a young scally taking his chance with someone's bike outside our college building. College bike racks are an easy and regular target.

While the details of the loss are hazy - I was 1/2 way across the country in Denver, my friend rode my bicycle, someone swiped it from the front of the house - the details of the recovery are awesome and clear.

I was walking (in lieu of having a bike) just a day after returning down to the grocery store to get some staples (read: beer) for a visiting friend. There, right in front of the store, was my bike. I was kind of in shock (to say the least), so I actually wheeled the bike into the store. I kind of wanted to catch the perpetrator, but I wouldn't let go of my bike. When the store employees questioned me on why I was inside with a bike, I asked them to call the cops, but then quickly recanted. I mean, hey, I had the bike already, so I simply got on and, without buying my stuff at the store, rode it home.

I actually think I saw someone spinning about, looking around for something in front of the store (who was of the proper height for the adjustment made to the seat in my stead) as I wheeled around to exit, but that could have just been more wishful thinking in my state of euphoria.

The only bad news was that any and all identifying stickers had been scraped off and there was some damage to one of the rims. But the repair costs were minimal compared to the cost of a new bike. Good luck recovering yours, A.R.Ch!

Back in college, a roommate of mine who had a history of excessive drinking and lack of common sense (first red flag) borrowed my other roommate's bike to meet some friends. That bike was stolen, but in his guilt, he came back to our house, and took my bike (with out asking) to find the other. He then lost my bike.

A while after I used it as an excuse to buy a nicer, newer bike. My roommates and I fixed up our shed so we could store them securely with locked doors. But a few months later someone busted the lock and stole all of our bikes.

The moral of the story is, get a Segway.

odd, my schwinn traveler (blue) was stolen from the UNM dorm bike rack in 1988. the rack was right outside my window, to add insult...

that's what happened when someone tried to steal my bike in college - they couldn't break the lock and then bent the wheels.

skateboards or more versatile

I had a friend whose car was stolen during his first week of work at a new firm. I guess after handling the police report and stuff, he calls a someone to borrow their old truck so he can get into the office as quickly as possible. Once he’s on his way, while out on the interstate, the engine shuts off, so he coasts off the highway down an exit ramp and turns into a McDonald’s. Gets out of the truck, and sitting in that exact parking lot is his own stolen car. The police arrived after he figured out who the thief was, and they were so amazed by the coincidence that they thought it was a scam that my friend was in on.

I can't remember if charges were ever brought against the other guy.

That's a great story, Edgewood!

is there more?

like how did he figure out who the thief was and how did the cops apprehend the person.

Anti's right. Like, how much did the stolen car weigh?

"Wow, Per talking good sense ;o)"
As you know I value words very low compared what make the real impac even change our vocabulary . Words are spoken then forgotten, guess it's becaurse they has so little substance. But true ; my two bikes are tried stolen by average once a day so I know what work and what only looks as it work.

did he wait for the guy to leave the store follow him, did he call the cops first and have the cops pull them over for fictitious tags. did he confront him then call the cops. that type of stuff

nothing about car weight that is just your irrelevant way of bitterly trolling Antisthenes.

Per--Corell how do you do this? Defy the rules of grammar so much and with such consistency?

Anti: "Per--Corell how do you do this? Defy the rules of grammar so much and with such consistency?..."

Yeah, try to write more like Anti.

no try to write in ways that are clear and understandable.

what ever you do watch out for KURT he is negative in his approach to everything i have read of him so far. just saying. don't let him tell you what to do.

Eh, -- you ever thought about if it could be that english language that fail ? I has no trouble painting nice paintings, build beautifull boats, promote obvious new and workable direct link building methods, invent and make seven mile steps just grapping a paint brush for the first time, get NASA to realise 3dh work and profit everyone who meet me with a positive mind. I belive english language is the problem, it anchor itself by conforming everything esp. the ones speaking it, so I don't want to be to good with it -- ever seen my ArtWanted profile ?
This is just the beginning of it ;

"Ny name is Per Corell , I live in Copenhagen , Denmark --

I will not bore you with a C.V. but I had my years in the architect acadamy, had my four projects in the workshops for arts and crafts, are a boatsbulider and licenced software develober on the AutoCAD platform, a skilled carpenter and progress a splendid new construction method I develobed many years ago, a method NASA say has only one foult, that it is 20 years ahead it's time. I love life and intend to be perfecting my works by learning and studying to master everything but english spelling. "

So don't say I hasn't told you.

3dh?

I had my bike stolen in college. The bastard(s) broke through two locks and ruined my car's bike rack to get to it. Her name was Pearl and she was a beautimos mountain bike. RIP Pearl.

One of my friends in high school received for his birthday a brand new Nissan Xterra. It was the first year the model was out and, needless to say, and it was the car to have in high school. He has it for about one week before it was stolen. The car disappeared for about 2.5 weeks. One morning he woke up and it was left exactly where they stole had stolen it from 2.5 weeks prior. He opened the door and the interior smelt like mildew and there were a few beach towels, bathing suits, and left over In-and-Out wrappers left in it. The car has also accumulated about 5,000 miles in those two weeks. The police officers figured somebody stole it, drove it to the beaches in California for their Spring Break, and returned it when they were finished 'borrowing' his car.

That's good story, too, n_!

I had a friend in college who put his new bike on his new car roof rack and forgot about it. Drove home and right into his garage. Messed up the bike, the car roof, and the garage door opening. Score!

I remember the first time I went to New Haven. I got off the Metro North from NY and needed to use the bathroom. So I went into the train station bathroom and there's this dude standing there with his pants half down holding a pair of handcuffs and talking to himself in the mirror. I went about my business and when I tried to use the sink, he really got weird and in my space. So I dodged him and thought, "New Haven (and Yale) is strange." I thought about it for a minute and since the dude lunged at me with handcuffs, I decided to call the police. I found a phone and waited for them outside. Once outside, there were a few bicycles locked up. There's this guy, not the same one, wearing a ski mask trying to clip the lock on this bike. He has these huge snips with handles about 3 feet long. He got one and then was struggling with another. He didn't see me nor did he see the police pull up. I meet the police by the door and we went inside. They asked me what happened. I explained. The officer said, " Did he say he wanted to.." Sure. They went in the bathroom, brought him out and asked me if he was the guy. That's affirmative and they arrested him. I then added,"There's this guy out in front stealing a bike." They asked where and one ran out a side door. I looked out the window and watched the thief struggle with snipping the bike lock. The policeman was laughing as hid behind parked cars and slowly approached the thief. GOT HIM!!!!

It was surreal and was my first time at Yale to see my brilliant, hardworking friend from high school, eat some pizza, size up some girls from Connecticut college and goto a football game. And then there was Louis Kahn... That was a religious experience!

well about roommates and thieves, I had a roomie back in college who stole a lot of stuff from me but never admitted he did. But one time while we were in the calculus class a classmate of mine returned this technical pen to him and I noticed the pen was mine with all the markings I made, so I said out loud, "this is mine!". The look on his face was my ultimate redemption, it was the greatest revenge, to be caught in the act, damn that felt good...now that was a fulfilling reclamation!

My beloved blue Schwinn stingray was stolen from my front yard in 1969. I still have hope that the bastard who stole it (a) will return it, or (b) drop dead of heart disease.

in these troubled economic times, i have resorted to stealing bikes and then selling them. it's true.

i stole A.R.Ch.'s bike while he was on winter break. i also stole citizen's blue schwinn back in 1969. times are so tough that i'll travel BACKWARDS in time to steal a bike if i think it's worth it.

i've been trying for days to steal Per's bikes, but he's got these stainless steel chains, real mean looking, and they mess with my cutters.

i'm going back to get Per's bikes tomorrow with a torch.

sorry, but you know, times are tough. they got this recession on and everything.

property as violence

forced sharing

damn thas ghetto

I agree with Antihistamine.
None of you morons actually owned any of that stuff.
So just get the rest of your possessions (or should I say violence containers) out on the front lawn, that means everything, and he and I will be around there shortly with my pickup to enlighten you.

speaking of stolen property, here's a fascinating story of a stolen Sidekick that was eventually returned.

FYI - it's totally compelling, two years old, and maybe not great if you're at work because it's time-consuming. though definitely worth a read.

i just started reading Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody and this story was told in the beginning: Stolen Sidekick

fear not, unless i find a buyer for your bike in the next few hours, you may still get it back.

good luck.

My friend had his bike stolen in Edinburgh. It was locked at the time, but with one of those standard £10 locks you can get from any bike shop. The thief must have had the same lock because neither bike nor lock were to be seen.

Cut to 2 weeks later, my friend coming home from a late night clubbing. He stops into a 24 hour shop for something to eat on the long walk home. As he goes to walk in, he sees his bike sitting outside, locked to the fence with the same lock. He still had his old key so he simply unlocked it and rode it home, stealing it back. I wish I could have seen the thief's face.

I once woke up one morning and couldn't remember where I had parked my new porsche I had no business buying in the first place. I found it parked up the street with the top down behind some trash cans. Damn beer. Luckily it was alright. I traded it in the next week.

I told you how once a night I hear the noise when someone try to take one of my two bikes, -- each has a rugid steel bar lock but beside that they are both locked together and onto a steel tube mortered into the outher wall jyst outside my windows. --- Guess what, the other day I again see they has been tossed around and what do I see, I see the wire lock holding them together and locked to the tube been cut,. Happily as I said, they also carry rach theie own lock.
We has this huge tock concert hall nearby, every time particular groups been playing you can count the wire locks been cut during the night, Last time there was a concert I counted 9 wire locks been cut the same way down the street some 300 meter. on the way from the concert hall into town.

O what a trend, who need a bike when all you need to do your friends a favior, is a pocket wire cutter.

Things are bad in the music business when pop groups steal bikes for a living!!

At least Copenhagen actually has a reasonable bike-sharing scheme (though doesn't it cease during the winter months?)

man i feel you A.R.Ch,
i had my first seriously customized bike stolen my second semester of undergrad in 2000.

She was a hodgepodge beauty: Mongoose (before they sold out to W**Mart) with custom everything. A respectable portion of my income from construction work over the previous summer went into a new fork, wheels, seat, cranks, derailleurs,... everything but the frame was basically retrofitted with the lightest, stronges, and greatest of the time allowing me to wholeheartedly apply my locomotive legs and 190lb frame over the river and through the woods and city and suburbia and to the pub :)

... so i go out for an urban ride in the afternoon of an abnormally warm April, I'm finally spent so swing the bike back onto my house/apartment porch while i run inside to get a quick drink of water to hopefully stave off the oncoming muscle cramps that the ride (and not stretching nor eating right) generated. No more than 15.... that's right .... 15 goddamn seconds later, I walk back out onto my porch and see my bike missing.

oh,... but there's a catch....

... not only did someone stole my precious set of wheels to which I built-out everything i could so as to have the perfect ride for my style...

..the schmucks left some hopalong, CHAINLESS, used-to-be-chrome, no brakes, grips, or seat, 20" piece of shit in my yard, not 10' from my front door and 5' from where my bike was... and not 20' from where i stood chugging water...

...asshats got one hell of a trade-in.

f***ing assholes... i'd still skin the bastards if i ever got a hold of them.

"At least Copenhagen actually has a reasonable bike-sharing scheme "

Bikes ? The vorse bike design ever, clumpsy heavy, top speed a little more than walking, no lights, Realy bad bikes, but a good project. -- though only the turist uses them guess why.

nobody better ever steal my bike! it is priceless e-bike 50mph disc break prototype Machine-X Burro


sure it ain't a PI but still