I stole my bike back today!!!

A bit less than a year ago I had a nice specialized sequoia road bike stolen from the hallway in my apartment. It was my fault for being a dumbass and leaving it in the hall on a regular bassis, but a travesty all the same. I was pretty sure it was someone in my building or at least a friend of a tenant. I went to every unit and politely told them that if they knew who took it they should tell them to get it out of Boston or throw it in the Charles river because if I ever saw it I would recognize it and there would be a problem.

So I got off work today, broke as usual and decided to go to the king of burgers and consult the dollar menu. Leaning up in the entrance was a grey specialized sequoia with the drop bars chopped and flipped into bullhorns just like I had them, and a few other things like the security seatpost clamp I had put on there and a defunct bike pump holder. A few things had changed, like the crank arms and the rear wheel which coincidentally was about to go before it got jacked. I sat outside the bk thinking of what to do. I was going to wait for whoever was riding it to leave and tail them home or wherever, then come back with the tools to liberate my prodigal bike. Then I noticed that there was no one but employees left in the place. So I psyched myself up and hid the bike I was riding in an alley a block away and changed my clothes a bit and came back. Opened the door, grabbed it and rode away. I could see a patron run after me a bit but I was gone on my way. I wasn't going to stop and explain, I had no proof exept knowing for a fact it was indeed my stolen bike.

As soon as I was riding it I started to notice more things that were unique about it from my working on it over the years, like the mismatching clamp on the stem from when I lost the part and had to replace it. And after getting it home saw the chipped paint from my huge bike chain only in the places where I didn't have it wrapped in black and yellow electrical tape. Also the telltale grinding marks where the bars were chopped that was definitely my work.

The taste of victory is sweet, only to be tainted by the not knowing if the bastard riding my bike payed someone for it. If that was the case they will probably look back and think about what a good deal they got on a $1000+ road bike with a carbon fork.
HUZZAH!!!!

Good for you!
Glad you address the possibility of the present owner being an "innocent". If people left the world of self denial and did a little due diligence when they see a deal too good to be true, there would be no market for stolen bikes and :. fewer thefts.

Score one for the home team I say!

Good for you!

Isn't it ironic that stealing back is about the only option for a stolen bike?

Yeah, I thought about confronting the user or even calling the cops. But with no way to prove it was mine aside from my knowledge about some of the parts that would surely been dismissed by the police I had nothing. I thought I was never going to see it again, the user was either not the one who stole it in the first place or a grade "A" idiot for riding it around my town. I own these streets.

SamTexas said:

Good for you!
Isn't it ironic that stealing back is about the only option for a stolen bike?

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Lol.... yes it is.
In most jurisdictions, police won't even bother even dealing with a lost bicycle case unless you're lance armstrong or someone else with high status in the community. They'll tell you they'll look for it and go back to do whatever they're doing..

Our local cops don't give a shit at all. They'll tell you to their face that they're not even going to look for it.

So good going on the cowboy justice, glad to hear you got your back bike gestalt. Now are you going to start putting your bike inside? .... i recommend it.. having 3 bikes stolen from me in my life time.

Yes!

Now send a friend in to find who the original thief was, or even go back yourself, since you can't get in trouble riding off on your own bike.

Yeah, but there is video of me casing and "stealing" the bike. I have no proof of ownership other than my complete knowing that it is mine. Imaging to walk to a payphone right now and call the place, since I know it's an employee or associate of the establishment I'll just ask if someone lost a grey bike and get them on the line, explain the situation and apologize for the neccesarry inconvienience if they payed for it and a big they can fvck themselves if they stole it.

I'll be back in a few.

If nothing else this thread reminds me to dig out the engraver and figure out a good "brand" for a couple places...

I wonder how expensive or not an RFID tag you can code with your personal info and then hide in the bike are?

The only thing better than sex ? is targeting revenge and be Happy!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas thetas whats its Alla abbots

i want the bike back too that was-en stolen from me about 9 years ago when i walked outta the bar a 3 oarlock in the morn in drunk and wanted to ride home 20 Miles and me baby was Stillman...

yet I'm still live and drunk and happily and building for the new year !!!!
We re all fine ,healthy and avive and buildings and dreaming

Well, I walked my dog to the nearest payphone and called and I wasn't able to get on the line with the bike "owner". The lady on the line did say there was someone there who lost their bike. I said I had it on some random corner in the other end of town. When they realize it was the killer who called they might find out the call was placed from a payphone. If it was the thief he might put it together.

What a fun evening. Out of four bikes I've had stolen and always hoped I'd come across again finally one makes it back home. I like the brand idea and I think every bike I have from now on will get one.... I have the technology. An RFID or some sort of tracking device would be great as well. I need to get an ebike together to warrant something like that. Yeah, still have tons of parts and no working bike. Getting close though doing it the hard way, and I think this has lifted my spirits more than they were sunk when the bike was jacked. Net gain for sure.

motorino magnet said:

The only thing better than sex ? is targeting revenge and be Happy!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas thetas whats its Alla abbots

i want the bike back too that was-en stolen from me about 9 years ago when i walked outta the bar a 3 oarlock in the morn in drunk and wanted to ride home 20 Miles and me baby was Stillman...

yet I'm still live and drunk and happily and building for the new year !!!!
We re all fine ,healthy and avive and buildings and dreaming

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Fvck yeah brother.

:lol: There are no thiefs on the Sphere, just people getting there shit back. :lol:

Good point whether the guy bought it or was the one who stole it.

I still to this day look for my bike that was stolen a year ago. Also kinda my fault. I left it overnight cable locked to a fence on a main street next to a questionable trailer home area :lol: I came back the next day and the bastards had cut out the area of the fence my bike was locked to :lol: I only paid $100 for the bike but still, the pinciple.

http://www.actionpkg.com/pages/rfid_labels.html

.

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not going to apologize for being drunk and dissembled on Christmases,,,


any more than Claude,,,


right hook Clyde !!!

f000KKK Eng's hate Right hooks thy hurt!!!!!!



Hey Bed-do,, didn't think you boys could read.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHeRaAy3cWQ

...


grateful and happy

makes me feel fine ya got yours back!!!!!!!

Had anybody here seen "Snatch"??? :lol: :lol: If you haven't go ahead and watch some Pikey fights on YouTube after you drink a couple dozen pints, this guy might begin to make sense.

Congrats Gestault, what a way to end the year bro! Great job in thinking the whole process through before getting emotional and reckless. What about just a note stuck in a waterproof pack with a magnet stuck to it for retrieval?? Stuff it down the seatpost and forget about it.

Nice work Gestalt. Damn, that must have felt good.

In general, I don't hold cops in high regard. But I do have to share a happy tale about one of Delano, California's finest. Delano is a sh_thole little town in the Central Valley. No offense to anybody who lives or grew up (like me) in such a place. It's just a sh_thole, that's all. Anyway, my mom was driving through Delano last summer after a tough couple of weeks. She had her Trek touring bike on the rear rack, and I was helping her by remote control with directions and places to stay. Like I said, she'd had a tough couple of weeks. Also, my mom is cheap. Hates to spend money. So I plugged "Delano" and "Roach Hotel" into the Google and called her with directions to the nicest-looking hotel in her price range.

She checks in, goes to sleep. In the morning I get a call. "My bike was stolen last night." She sounds anguished. Totally deflated.

First of all, I feel awful, 'cause I told her where to go. Next, I'm thinking, why in the hell did you leave your bike outside a cheap hotel in a sh_thole town in the central valley? But I don't say anything, 'cause, like I said, she'd had a hard couple of weeks. So I tell her maybe she should file a police report.

"No I just want to get out of this place."

Okay, I say, but don't get on the highway without getting breakfast first. I do some stuff with the Google, and find a cool sounding restaurant, Perko's cafe. I tell her to go there and eat. I mean, she was in bad shape before and now some lowlife had stolen her bike. She really loved that bike. It almost killed her to buy it, because as I mentioned she's a cheapskate.

She goes to Perko's and I call the cops in Delano, tell them what's up. I figure, a little crapbox town like that can't have more than two or three bike thieves, and the cops probably know who they are. The dispatcher says my mom can make a statement.

I say, "Great, she's at Perko's. You know where that is?"

"Oh, yeah," she says. "The officer will meet her there."

So now I figure I've done all I can, so I go out surfing. I'm sitting in the lineup thinking about how bad my mom must feel right now, and I decide what the hell. I'm gonna buy her a new Trek. $1,400 bucks I don't have but she's my mom for Chrissakes, and she loved that bike and can't afford a new one.

I get out of the water, and my mom calls right then. "I got my bike back!" she says.

A Delano police officer, bless his heart, went up to Perko's, took my mom's statement and had a cuppa joe, then went and pulled the security tape from the the lot next to the hotel. The thief was on the tape, and the cop knew who he was. Delano only has two or three bike thieves. The cop went straight to the lowlife and got the bike back.

So, the moral of the story is that yeah, most cops don't give two sh_ts about you and your stolen bike. But there's at least one cop in Delano California who helped an old lady out when she was down. And that makes me feel pretty good about people out in Delano paying their taxes. And if your bike gets jacked, what the hell. Report it. Because we can't all count on getting the chance to steal our bike back at a burger joint a year after it was stolen.

motorino magnet said:

YEh brother....

makes me feel fine ya got yours back!!!!!!!

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glad you feel it and merry christmas to you too and pass me some of that christmas cheer while you're at it looks like you have your hands on the good shit.

I'm going to take great pleasure in restoring the bike to just how it looked before it got stolen. that way if the jerk ever sees me riding it he'll know...he'll know that it was I, the rightful owner of that steed who had defeated him. the ramifications of that knowing will collide inside his mind with cosmic proportions, rending the very fabric of his universe in twain.

I'll need some black and yellow electrical tape, the black and yellow tires, some new grip tape and get rid of the crappy pedals on it now. ugh, and the rear wheel is absolute garbage....and the saddle! don't get me started, it had such a slick specialized saddle on it. the bike looked like a lean mean street hornet ready to sting someone in the ass, now it looks like crap, gears grind and all kinds of other crap different. what have they done to my baby?

etard said:

Had anybody here seen "Snatch"??? :lol: :lol: If you haven't go ahead and watch some Pikey fights on YouTube after you drink a couple dozen pints, this guy might begin to make sense.

Congrats Gestault, what a way to end the year bro! Great job in thinking the whole process through before getting emotional and reckless. What about just a note stuck in a waterproof pack with a magnet stuck to it for retrieval?? Stuff it down the seatpost and forget about it.

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that's a great idea, something no one on earth would think to look for and remove.

you have to keep a cool head most of the time I would say, and more so in situations like this. if the person didn't steal it and bothered with the police, or checking the security cams they will find a good three minutes of me looking at the bike and another 15 or so right outside in front of the big camera before leaving to come right back for the bike.if they think I'm the thief they have to be wondering what kind of crazy dude I am.

the craziest that's what, they're tearing down my shop in two months and I don't give a fvck. this has really brought me out of the dumper. giving me a bit of hope for the future of my creative endevors, call it a good omen.

The actual thief is likely to have sold it for cheap, so the poor shmuck at the burger joint loses out. Chances are, he knows it was stolen but couldn't afford new. Lifes a bitch.

Still great to steal your bike back, no question who is the owner of that bike. YOU ARE! Only thing that would top it would have been catching the first thief in the act, and stomping his ass.

Awsome man.... it was yours in the first place.. screw the rest of'em... if BK buddy has a problem with it he can take it up with the thief he got it from imo.. ( assuming he is not the thief ).

Merry Christmas to you my friend !

.. I have had 2 bikes stolen.. one i purchased used from a cop of all people.. the 2nd one i gave to a co-worker who is a hard core broke father of 3 boys with a good heart and loves to pedal .. it got jacked from work grrr..

It might be interesting to talk to the local cop shop to ask what they would consider proof of ownership. Registered with the serial number of course, but what else? Would digital pictures of distinguishing marks suffice?