Originally Posted by Aeroplane
You left your bike unattended, presumably outside, for upwards of two months and it was still there when you got back? This is both naïve and incredibly lucky. Taking a "found" bike is an ethical gray area, and craigery felt justified. How long would you wait until you took it home? A month? A year? Does that make it less or more justified?
I work at a marina that has 10-15 bike racks. Some of the rusted "abandoned" bikes are simply left there by seasonal boaters who pump up the tires, spray some WD-40 on the chain and ride them around in the summer.
We have a strict policy regarding taking anything, including bicycles, home. If it's trash, it goes into a dumpster. If it's salvageable, we haul it to the police property yard so it can be auctioned off.