Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - how long do i have to wait?

how long do i have to wait before i take a hack saw to a lock on the street?

there are several good condition bike frames i have been eying on the streets around here...all of them stripped down and (presumably) abandoned. i say abandoned because they have already had all or most of their parts stolen, but the frames themselves are chained up still, and haven't moved in weeks.

i was thinking that 3-4 weeks is fair. i haven't attempted to get any yet, #1 beacuse i don't want to get arrested, and #2 because i don't want to be a dick and take a frame that hasn't actually been abandoned.

the way i see it, if someone strips everything off the bike then leaves it, and then the owner continues to leave it there for 3-4 weeks, they obviously don't care enough to salvage what they can.

is there some sort of legal time period? i would think so...

Oh no. Please lock this thread. Please.

OP: try searching. This topic has been thoroughly covered here. In detail. More than once.

Also...a hacksaw? Cutting through a good u-lock is not really that easy. Just saying. Even with a special blade you are going to be there awhile if you are using manual labor.

i never said they were locked with U locks...

don't really understand what's wrong with asking this question either. the longer they're there, the more likely they are to get removed by the city or destroyed by drunk idiots.

i never said they were locked with U locks...

don't really understand what's wrong with asking this question either. the longer they're there, the more likely they are to get removed by the city or destroyed by drunk idiots.

Doesn't change anything about dredging up an old topic that has been beaten to death, then bayonetted and set on fire for good measure.

Here ya go: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=363263

I almost responded. Unfortunately, there is no good answer.

ok yeah but the threads i read generally talked about WHOLE bikes...not trashed bikes. i'm talking about bikes that have had their chains cut, seats/bars stolen, smashed in wheels, etc.

the only thing good about the bikes i'm eyeing are their frames, and they've been there for weeks!

i've never stolen anything in my life, and i don't plan on it - but if someone leaves a bike on the street for weeks, and it's already trashed, i just don't see it as stealing if someone removes it #1 to get junk off the street & out of way for pedestrians, #2 to make use of something that will probably end up in a landfill anyway when the city removes it.

big difference here.

Great! Have fun sawing away.

Great! Have fun sawing away.

Did I miss something? When did Manhattan seceded from New York State? Nothing like cityfolk thinking one borough is the epicenter of the entire state...

whenever you say you live in "new york" people always ask what borough. smart ass.

No, they don't. In your limited experience people might ask that. Some people, such as say...an Australian, likely doesn't know that there are boroughs which make up the city.

Don't allow your own sense of propriety to make you forget the fact that there is a lot more to New York State than Manhattan.

Anyway, quit wasting your time name calling and posting on the internet and get busy sawing. Or else I'll steal your Mazda and part it out, since it looks unused so many days when I pass it...

You could always just get a job so you don't have to think about stealing bikes.

You could always just get a job so you don't have to think about stealing bikes.

LOL.

I'm amazed no one has mentioned how much faster the "liberation" would go with a grinder than with a hacksaw.

No, they don't. In your limited experience people might ask that. Some people, such as say...an Australian, likely doesn't know that there are boroughs which make up the city.

Don't allow your own sense of propriety to make you forget the fact that there is a lot more to New York State than Manhattan.

Anyway, quit wasting your time name calling and posting on the internet and get busy sawing. Or else I'll steal your Mazda and part it out, since it looks unused so many days when I pass it...

in three years of living here, everytime i go out of town and i tell people that i live in new york city, they always ask, "in manhattan?". yes, that is my personal experience. even when i'm in the city, if i tell people that i live here they still ask, "what neighborhood?" or "in manhattan?". it's not an uncommon thing dude. i've seen people on the forums with their location set to "manhattan" or "brooklyn" - what's your problem? i don't know what you're trying to prove here...

the forum asked for "LOCATION" not "EXACT CITY & STATE" - so i put manhattan. who the **** cares?

and there is a huge difference between a trashed/stripped bike frame left chained to a pole on a public street for weeks or longer, and a nice clean car which is parked in a driveway on personal property.

seriously if you want to jerk off, go do it privately.


You could always just get a job so you don't have to think about stealing bikes.

got a job, thanks. working right now actually. anyway, i just like building bikes to give away to friends who don't have bikes.


LOL.

I'm amazed no one has mentioned how much faster the "liberation" would go with a grinder than with a hacksaw.

"hacksaw" wias just my way of sayng "cut the lock/chain/whatever". i don't necessecarily mean i am going to specifically use a hacksaw on any locks...





it amazes me how many smartasses are on this forum...

Manhattan is a cocktail. And a right-tasty one too. ;)

got a job, thanks. working right now actually. anyway, i just like building bikes to give away to friends who don't have bikes.

Tell your friends to get jobs so they don't have to accept free bikes that you stole.

it amazes me how many smartasses are on this forum...

Has anyone mentioned that this topic has been covered so many times before that the dead horse's bones have been beaten to a fine, particulate dust, which has given everyone involved in beating said dead horse fatal lung cancer?

Also, it's theft no matter how long you wait, jackass.

though i haven't read through the forum link posted above, i would say do it. i have acquired really nice things this way! and sorry, i don't consider it theft, i consider it reclamation. unfortunately not every one has this vision, including the police, so use your best judgement. do it in broad daylight, wear a union suit, put an orange cone out, i don't know....

i figure, if i left something out for that long, i have abandoned it. if someone can grab it and do something with it, by all means, do it. though i would have at least grabbed my lock back! then again, after having been vandalized i could totally see walking away from my property out of total disgust for humanity and never wanting to see it again...

And for every made-up scenario you can imagine where somebody leaves their stripped bike locked up outside because they don't want it any more, I can think up 5 where somebody leaves their stripped bike locked up outside with a mind to reclaim it themselves in the future.

ok so obviously there is a mixed response.

Go on...take it...nobody's looking.

I would still call you a thief because you it’s not yours and you didn't lock it up regardless of its current condition.

call the city and see if you can do them a favor by getting that trash off the streets

You do not know anything about the bike except that it's stripped and has been sitting there for a few weeks...maybe the owner is waiting for a check before he can buy new parts, maybe he's waiting for an Ebay shipment, maybe his new Deep V's are being built, maybe he doesn't want to store the stripped frame in his apt because it reminds him that his ish got jacked, maybe he's so pi$$ed off that he's sitting there staring at his frame waiting for someone to mess with it so he can get a little revenge.

"but they started it your honor...I only took what the others didn't" ...words that will make a judge laugh at you!

Maybe he's in jail for murder...

I wouldn't mess with his bike, man.

Why are you asking us? You, me and everyone else all know its theft. You don't need our help creating a rationalization to justify stealing a fame.

Why are you asking us? You, me and everyone else all know its theft. You don't need our help creating a rationalization to justify stealing a fame.

No, that's the thing, he does need our help. My guess is he can't justify the theft to himself, but he REALLY wants to steal a few frames, so he's turning to us in the hopes that our approval will help him justify his actions.

You do not know anything about the bike except that it's stripped and has been sitting there for a few weeks...maybe the owner is waiting for a check before he can buy new parts, maybe he's waiting for an Ebay shipment, maybe his new Deep V's are being built, maybe he doesn't want to store the stripped frame in his apt because it reminds him that his ish got jacked, maybe he's so pi$$ed off that he's sitting there staring at his frame waiting for someone to mess with it so he can get a little revenge.

i'm sorry but i highly doubt this is the situation with any of the bikes i am eyeing. i am looking at some really ****ty bikes - not even track frames. just older frames that seem decent enough to convert into a beater-fixie. i have plenty of parts (seats, bars, stems, cranks, rings, etc...NOT STOLEN :lol:) but no extra frames.

seriously, if you leave a bike on the street, and it gets stripped, then you continue to leave it there, you are just ASKING for someone to either damage/destroy or completely take whatever is left. it's new york! you can't expect to leave ANYTHING on the street for long periods of time without getting damaged/destroyed/stolen.

for example, the other day i left my apartment and there was a nice looking retail display case/counter on the street. i think it came out of a shop that was getting renovated. the next morning i came home and it was trashed - all the glass was shattered, the brackets are bent, the wooden end pieces were torn off. really, you just can't leave stuff on the street here - people are going to destroy it.

earlier this year i was living in east village and i would see this one stripped bike frame locked up on my street. it had a pretty nice clean frame, but everything else was taken off (except the cranks). i thought about trying to get the frame for the longest time but never did, then just before i moved out of that place went to see about taking the frame and it was completely warped and destroyed. it's like people feel the need to completely destroy something once it's been stripped or damaged. it sat there for months in good condition (but stripped) and the owner never claimed it, and it ended up destroyed. i could have used that abandoned frame to make a good beater bike for someone, but instead it got trashed and probably removed/landfill'd

if i left my bike on the street, and someone stole the wheels off it, i would immediately take it and find a more safe place to store it (my place, a friend's place, etc). there is absolutely NO reason to leave a chained up, stripped bike frame locked up on a public street, in new york city, for several weeks or even longer. anyone who does this is either abandoning whatever is left in my opinion. fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me - right?

whenever you say you live in "new york" people always ask what borough. smart ass.


in three years of living here, everytime i go out of town and i tell people that i live in new york city, they always ask, "in manhattan?".

[QUOTE=theorie;7388353]

seriously, if you leave a bike on the street, and it gets stripped, then you continue to leave it there, you are just ASKING for someone to either damage/destroy or completely take whatever is left. it's new york! you can't expect to leave ANYTHING on the street for long periods of time without getting damaged/destroyed/stolen.

Hmm, you seem to be making the point I was trying to emphasize. New York is a state. New York City is one part of that state. It makes you come off as a bit pompous if you say, "I live in New York!" when you really mean, "I live in New York City, Manhattan to be exact." If you say you live in "New York" some people might ask, "Oh, where, what region?" You could tell them western New York, the Adirondacks....something along the lines of the Empire State Games regional breakdown. Or you could say, "Oh, near Lake George."

Now, if you tell people you live in New York City, I would say an honest follow-up would be, "Oh, what borough?" That makes sense.

But then again you confuse the city you live in as the entire state...there are plenty of places in New York State where people don't steal anything that isn't u-locked down:rolleyes:

"but your honor...it's New York!?!"

It seems that you are looking for someone to validate what you are thinking of doing.
I see these bikes all the time as well...they bikes are NOT MINE...they are NOT YOURS, leave them alone and mind your own business.
Seriously, is it worth the stress? Per your words, they are $#!++y bikes...it would suck getting your ***** kicked over it...no? Stop scheming and pay for your $#!+.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=363263&page=5

Maybe look into the city's ordinance on abandoned bikes to see if there is a way to take possession of it legally. Abandoned bikes in Chicago go to a co-op, but only after they are deemed abandoned, the owner is given the opportunity to recover the bike, etc. etc.

regarding abandoned property, this is what wikipedia says:


Property is generally deemed to have been abandoned if it is found in a place where the true owner likely intended to leave it, but is in such a condition that it is apparent that the true owner has no intention of returning to claim the item. Abandoned property generally becomes the property of whoever should find it and take possession of it first, although some states have enacted statutes under which certain kinds of abandoned property — usually cars and wrecked ships and aircraft — become the property of the state. See Eads v. Brazelton, 22 Ark. 499 (Ark. 1861).i dont know if this holds true in new york city...i've been trying to get a hold of the 1st Precinct of the NYPD to find out, but the number keeps coming up busy...hmmm

---edit---

ok called up my local Precinct of the NYPD and they said that it is illegal to chain bikes to city owned property (meters, traffic signs, lamp posts) anyway. they said that the department of sanitation is responsible for removing bikes, and that i should contact them. unfortunately, they don't have a phone number.

i also called NYC's 311 number (212-NEW-YORK) and they told me the same thing.

whats annoying though is that NYC law states "The police department shall establish by rule the time within which bicycles which are not redeemed may be deemed abandoned and the procedures for disposal." however the police department had no clue.

---edit---

found some more information:



§4. Section 16-122 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding new subdivisions k, l, m, n, o and p to read as follows:


k. It shall be unlawful for any person or such person’s agent or employee to abandon, or to suffer or permit to be abandoned, any bicycle, whether or not owned by such person, in any public place. The owner or operator of a bicycle shall be allowed a reasonable time, not less than thirty-six hours, within which to remove such abandoned bicycle from the public place.

36 hours and then it's considered abandoned?!? that's all?!

Get off the internet and go take em.


****, take some nicer ones with all the parts still on em. Who cares. Do whatever you want.

"but your honor, the guys on BikeForums said...."
You better learn how to do laundry in a small sink.

Maybe he's in jail for murder...

I wouldn't mess with his bike, man.

that's always the first thing I think of when I see an abandoned frame locked to a post.

If its not yours and you take it, its theft. The end.

Where i live, there is a protocol for dealing with abandoned bikes. first you report it to the police, they tag it. if it stays there tagged for a while, they cut the lock, and either auction it off, or let you keep it.

seen on Haight =(

http://a421.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/52/l_2a154ba4e79ffc9f77ef34e000834b04.jpg

seen on Haight =(

http://a421.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/52/l_2a154ba4e79ffc9f77ef34e000834b04.jpg

Maybe he's playing it extra safe...he took his wheels, seat, stem & bars...it's possible!?!:innocent:

Go on...take it...nobody's looking.

http://420.thrashbarg.net/chris_hansen_dateline_nbc.jpg

http://420.thrashbarg.net/chris_hansen_dateline_nbc.jpg

you don't wanna meet that guy. i had a date with his daughter and as soon as she went upstairs to change her top, her dad comes out and was all condescending and in my face. jerk.

Why did she need to change her top? Were your handprints all over it? 8 )))))