There was a local news item about a year ago, a VW van got stolen 24 years ago... it was found in a container bound for export, fully restored too... it went back to the original owner who reported it stolen.

I had a rare bike that got stolen decades ago, with ebay I figure it will show up sometime... its that unique.

Four-wheeled vehicles with VIN numbers are treated with more care than bicycles. Same thing happened with a '68 Vette, IIRC.

FYI, Allstate paid out on that VW van. The original owner, far as I know, would have to purchase it at auction from Allstate.

-Kurt

You can't sell something you don't own. Title remains with the op.
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in Texas report in it to the police has nothing to do with limitations. Maybe you are confusing that with issuing a warrant.

A bike is no different from a couch, watch, TV. Someone steals your TV, it's covered. Someone steals your bike, it's covered. Prove the value, for ACV, and you'll get paid. RCV, you'll get the price of a new one, less deductible. Any adjuster can google, CL, eBay, site mash, etc. Half of them will get it wrong, not being bike folks, but you can educate him/her, help the file documentation with your own evidence of value, and get paid. Deductibles are deductibles; they are there and part of the settlement.

Correct. The police department where the theft report was filed can simply notifiy the police where the bike is offered for sale and game over. The bike gets picked up, returned to the owner (at his cost, most likely).

Ask the guy if you could see the bike before the auction ends. Find out where the bike is, take the police and the original police report, and numbers that were recorded and as many picture as you can bring.

Mike

Thats funny, aparrently you havent been on eBay lately, the buyer can do what ever the truck they want to, even pay for it, complain to paypal, keep the item and get their money back.

Conversely, I had a seller claim the group I won was broken, refund my money, then relist with better keywords. Complained to eBay, but they were only too happy to get another listing and final value fee.

This is actually incorrect and there is some variance with state laws.

In general, it depends on WHERE and how the person purchased it. I feel loathe to explain it all as it could end up a tutorial for prospective thieves and fences. Basically, there is an automatic assumption of good faith when buying at a retail establishment. That assumption is necessary to conduct business on a day to day basis. Buying retail automatically conveys good title. If the item is stolen, the store/seller could be held liable, but the item is now property of the buyer. Where this gets tricky is things like flea markets, which are generally considered to provide good title, but where it is unlikely the buyer would have a receipt. Gray areas like this (and ebay falls into this category) are usually considered to have good title. Even pawn shops convey good title to a buyer. The seller's title and right to sell is going to depend on how he acquired it. Let's say the original thief abandoned the bike, it went to police and was eventually auctioned after not being claimed...the buyer probably has good title, as does the seller. Similarly if it went through an estate sale, it would probably be found that he had good title.

Maybe,maybe not on Fathers day 07 I had a motorcycle stolen from a so called friends house he was to buy the bike but tried to sell it for a profit before he paid for it,he left it outside unchained when it was stolen. So called friend is gone and I lost $3000 then last year I posted a stolen and still missing ad on CL and had a guy respond in 2 days saying he had that bike a few months ago and resold it on CL. Now I did all the work tracking it down to the new owner and called the Police as well as contacting my local Police where the report was filled and told them that I found out a bunch of info as where the bike may be, the Police in the area would not do anything about it and told me that my department must do all the leg work because that's where the crime took place 60-70 miles away and they don't have the man power to do that. So to this day I never got my bike back because the Police were to lazy to do their job, even though they found out where the bike was and who the new owner was they would not tell me and my Police department wouldn't either ( which I understand why ) but they did feel for me because of the other departments lazyness. My department did everything they could for me and told me if the bike was only a few towns over I would have it back but they can't afford the man power and cost involved in traveling that far over stolen property,nice huh. I still post ads looking for it because if I find out where or who has it I will go there then call the Police after I see it I do have friends in the area where it is at to help and have them keeping a eye out when their out riding.

i came here to post this.

i dont know if this is the same bus but i guy i know got his bus back after it was stolen over twenty years ago. a cop went to see it for sale, ran the vin and saw that it was stolen. the bus is now in much better condition than it was stolen and is worth much more.

good luck getting your bike back. and post pics.

A fair reward? Jack *****. It may not be his/her fault for receiving stolen property, but it's a risk you assume when you purchase/acquire a used bicycle. You don't owe 'em anything.

I respectfully disagree...in fact, as I stated above, in many cases the property is legally the buyers/sellers and taking a hardline approach is not the correct way to proceed, negotiation is and fair dealing is. Your comment that "it's a risk you assume when you purchase/acquire a used bicycle" is incorrect in many cases, at least legally speaking. If you purchase it from a guy in a back alley...you are correct. Purchasing it from ebay is much more of a gray area.

In this case...we don't even know if it's US law or international...so these comments are mostly meaningless. The simple truth is that the person who can advise is a lawyer familiar with this subject. Generally speaking, it's always better to negotiate...if you're going to court, you've already lost in terms of time wasted and legal fees.

yep, i know a guy who got his car back with thousands in upgrades.

both homeowners and renters insurance policies will cover bicycles. this is one of the reasons police will not do more than file a report for stolen bikes "you got insurance, right? what are you whining about?"

UPDATE

Well I just got confirmation that the bike is now in the hands of the police and I have spoken to the seller after the police picked it up and he is without a doubt innocent in this whole matter and he will do everything that he needs to do to ensure that the bike gets returned to me ASAP. I will also make sure he does not get harmed.

Now for some more information. The bike was stolen from my garage while I was living in Italy and it is not possible to insure bikes left in garages in Italy. The bike was offered on ebay.com in other words US Ebay and not on Ebay Italy.

The bike is a late 1980's De Rosa that was custom-built for me when I was working for the German distributor of De Rosa bikes (with custom geometry). Ugo took my measurements and then built the frame. It was built up with mostly C-record components, including large flange sheriff's star hubs (virtually unheard of in the late 80's), delta brakes, Campagnolo alloy freewheel. It also had a special fork crown and special non-standard paint. I'm not sure how long it will take for the bike to actually be returned to me, or what it will cost to get it back, but that will be seen. The bike was stolen just over 10 years ago.

The gods of vintage bicycles have been looking down upon me with favor!

That's just wonderful. I bet you missed that bike terribly for all these years.

The red one?
https://cgi.ebay.com/Bici-corsa-Rosa-...item2a09f11075

Just saw the auction, with the police involved. I can't tell you how happy I am for you. Truly, congrats, CdM.

Edit: I was curious to see what the auction would end at, in this economy and all. Especially knowing you would outbid the craziest bid out there

Congratulations! Personally, I would reward the seller in some way. Not as reimbursement, but as a token of gratitude.

Yes, that is the bike and the seller tried to cancel the auction but was not able to. He did cancel the existing bids and noted that this is due to the police undertaking verification of the stolen nature of teh bike. The seller is super-honest.

so did you just happen upon this auction or have you been looking for your bike for 10 years?

wow, glad it worked out for you

Honesty is so refreshing to encounter these days. Glad to see the bike heading home. Congratulations.

Only $1350 for a custom de rosa with delta brakes and sherriff's star hubs? Dude, you got a deal!

Seriously, though, aside from your original loss, this thread joins the C&V Feelgood Pantheon.

What a great story, and by all means reward the seller.

HEY!!! I was the high bidder on that one!!



















Just kidding.