pastorbobnlnh 

Not certain about you guys in rural Michigan, but I'm guessing it is not unlike my very small town here in the NH mountains. Is there any need to lock a bike? I know, we are the exception, not the rule, and when I travel with my folding Dahon to an urban area I lock it when I head into a store or place to eat.
At 100 miles north, I have to agree.

So many college students and others who neglect their bikes.

Every time I visit I shed tears for the beat-up, rusting, lube starved waifs chained to lamp posts and railings. Where's the humane society for neglected, abused and abandoned bicycles? Where's the adoption program for unwanted bikes!?!

@smoothness I don't advocate taking something that doesn't belong to you, but this could be the inspiration to start a new movement, a groundswell to really make a difference in the lives of defenseless, taken advantage of, bicycles. The mission is yours to seize! Go for it!

randyjawa 

I am always prepared for just such an event. In a double zip plastic bag, I keep a short piece of string and a note, with my phone number and name written on a piece of paper(actually had paper tag with a hole at one end). I simply attach the sealed bag, card inside and hope for the best. Ensure that you inform the reader that you are interested in acquiring the bicycle. Then...

Go back a few times (three return trips is my limit, over a three day period). If still abandoned, I pick the bike up and take it to the police, ensuring that I fill out the proper paper work and keep my own record of the serial number. I also take a picture or two of the bicycle, just in case. 90 days later, if the bike is unclaimed, it is mine and legally so. It is up to you to count the days and go back to the Cop Shop on your own - they won't call you to come and get the bicycle.

OldsCOOL

IWe really dont have to worry much about bike thieves though I never let mine out of sight. We have MTB's and BMX's on the porch that arent bothered.

We have it good here

Murray Missile 

I have kind of the opposite situation, I came home from work early today and there was an old Schwinn World leaning against my garage door. Covered with grime and 2 flat tires but definitely fixable, both wheels relatively true and it's all there. VERY small frame but in a very interesting Metallic Robin's Egg Blue, I've never seen this color on a Schwinn before, decals aren't so hot but the paint is pretty decent. No note on the bike or my door. My wife came home about a half hour later and asked me where I got the bike, I told her "I have no clue." but I suspect Mr. Haney paid me a visit.

Bikes and Jeeps

My wife found a nice bike abandoned. We waited three days and then I went for a twenty minute walk in the rain and road it home.
I called the sports store where it was bought and they were able to contact the owner through the serial number. We were rewarded with flowers and $50 restaurant coupon

So... a nice bike in a high crime area, I guess I would leave it overnight and go back the next day and take it to the police.
I would hope someone would do that for my bike.

Rcrxjlb

I wouldn't take an unlocked bike. It belongs to somebody, can't tell why it was left. But honestly, if I found a De Rosa or Eddy Merckx it would be hard not to wait for an hour then take it home...

rms13

So if someone leaves their Ferrari parked on my street and doesn't come back for it for a day, then it's mine? Sweet!

jetboy 

its your ferrari if they leave the doors open, keys in it, and the title sitting signed on the seat.

which is pretty much what an unlocked bike is..

Thumpic

Mind your own business and keep moving.

dddd

I know a guy who found a Merckx listed on Craigslist as having been found in their own semi-urban front yard.

After contact with the lister and with the local PD, a week or two went by and the lister sold the bike to the guy for something like $80.

In my 55 years, I've seen things left out and about that I knew would be stolen, perhaps by first nightfall. But while there was a temptation to give the item a better chance at life, the knowledge that I just didn't know what the story was made the decision to leave the property alone pretty easy.
And in this day and age, what with bait-bikes and with people who perhaps might want to make a weird U-tube video, you must not take.

It wouldn't hurt to speak to a local police department about something like this, but I wouldn't expect much to come of it, or expect to gain rightful custody of the property.

smoothness 

it's funny that regardless of the age spread, the number of people for and against trying to find the owner is just about the same. perhaps it's a matter of living in a metropolitan area versus a suburban area, past experiences, economic position...data points would be useful!

the objective is to achieve the greater good. i stand to gain nothing from this; i don't need it, and i don't want it. everyone has a bad day sometimes -- i've found cell phones, wallets, ATM cards (left in the machine...), cameras, and other important things. I always try to return them...except for the random five dollar bill floating down the street (i wanted that burrito.) either i'm a bad luck charm, or i'm secretly captain america.

after a meandering tweed ride today, went back to the area to check with the local bike shop to see if they had any missing bike listings that matched, only to find out that someone lost a merckx (!), and none of the make or model that i found. i'm just going to put it back with one of my extra locks, and a burner number where they can reach me if the owner returns. no harm, no foul.

remember - this was not done with haste, and i was aware of the ramifications of a bait bike, and other possible issues. i chose to do what i would want to happen if i had ever had my bike stolen; that someone would recognize the material and emotional value, and try to do the same.

also: if anyone local to boston sees this bike: Hot pink bike stolen from Star Market in Porter Square 30 minutes ago - Imgur, please give a heads up. it was stolen like two days ago. i believe the dude is a courier, and he is one degree of separation from me.

dddd

One particular kind "find" that I come across is an item that gets lifted from a thrift-store's donation center after hours.

People drop off things when the store is closed, then you have "transients" coming by on foot, dragging the items a considerable distance away, and then leaving them there with who-know's-what intentions.

I kind of imagine that they then go on their usual way, panhandling and such, taking the opportunity to ask those they meet if they want to buy a bike. But that's likely only the case where they somewhat "stash" the item, so with the bike left in the open maybe they just changed their mind about toting the tires-flatted bike around.

Again though, just so much guessing.

RR3

I have never forgotten a firearm but have left knives in the field.

I never lock my bike and if it were ever to be missing upon my return, it will have been stolen or at least deemed to have been taken by a Thief.

When I see an unlocked bike, my last thought would be to take or lock it. In fact, I think nothing of it.

dddd

One more story, I knew a woman who habitually left her bike unlocked, and one day she returned to find it had been rolled toward a stationary object and locked up!

She called the cops, who had her demonstrate that her key fit the lock that she had coiled around her seatpost, not the one the bike was locked with.
So the cop cut the lock right off and she went on her way.
Later she found out that an elderly do-gooder that she knew had locked the bike up as a favor.

End of story.

And one more:

I once found my own R300 road bike left outside of an urban market, after at first driving right by, thinking what an idiot that the bike's owner must have been. But the distinctive metallic green had me going back for a second look.

So there I was, sort of hiding, to see who would come out of the store and ride off on what I suddenly knew was my bike.
Didn't take long, the petite woman who came out and somehow climbed onto my 58cm Cannondale was a new tenant of mine, who had borrowed my road bike to ride to the store on 35psi-aired tires, leave the bike in front and take the chances.

She got a lecture. At least she didn't sell it.

rootboy 

Roger that.

Take it? Sheesh. Then you'd be a thief.
Hope you don't think that's too derogatory.
But....really.

jr59

is this a joke?

It's NOT YOUR BIKE! Leave it alone!

Homebrew01

You could call the Police, tell them you found a bike that looks odd being unlocked, perhaps stolen, or about to be stolen, give them the location, and let them decide.

jetboy 

i think most people saying leave it alone don't live in an urban area with lots of bike theft. unless its a complete beater, the ONLY bikes that are left out unlocked are ones that are already stolen. So taking it and trying to return it to the owner is actually the right moral move 99% of the time.

but the other urban dweller instinct is: why make trouble for yourself.. just keep moving.