theorie

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...

nayr497

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.

theorie

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.

kyselad

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: https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/363263-ethics-bike-liberation.html

SingleSpeeDemon

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

theorie

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.

nayr497

Great! Have fun sawing away.

theorie

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

nayr497

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...

crushkilldstroy

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

uke

LOL.

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

theorie

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.

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

"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...

SingleSpeeDemon

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

crushkilldstroy

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

Jabba Degrassi

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.

this1time

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...

Jabba Degrassi

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.

theorie

ok so obviously there is a mixed response.

SingleSpeeDemon

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

1fluffhead

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.

jdr365

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

eMwolB

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!

middy

Maybe he's in jail for murder...

I wouldn't mess with his bike, man.

clink83

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.

Jabba Degrassi

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.