My wife and I have been having a problem...we love when folks get interested in the triplet, take photos and ask questions about it, but I've noticed that on several occasions when we leave it locked up people will come up to it, touch it, sit on it in a pose, put their legs on it...etc. I am a tight boundary person and think touching someone else's property like that is wrong. My wife thinks I'm too uptight. I get that it's a weird and cool bike - and we like that people look...but is it out of line when they actually sit on it without permission, blow the horn, etc.?

I have the same thing happen with my motorcycles. People that would never think about climbing into a car, and taking pictures of their kids or whatever, seem to have no problem whatsoever with putting their kids on my motorcycle, having them hang all over it, kick it, etc., etc. Or they don't put their kids on it, but they don't stop them when they decide to climb all over it. Ticks me off big time.

and I thought my tandems got attention, but a triplet!

If it does bother you, leave a note on it saying please dont sit on the bike?

Your totaly in your rights to get uptight. I used to drive a 63 Ford 300 as a teen(late ninetys), fairly rareish Galaxy body with no chrome package, two door. I was always coming out of work and finding guys in thier sixtys with the hood up, looking it over. Pissed me off to no end, and no one understood. Now that Im a bike guy, people I know are used to me dashing out of a cafe to keep people off my bike.

I tend to think that it's not terribly reasonable to just walk up and sit on someone else's bike, or anything similarly intrusive, without asking. Brushing one's fingers over a seat or top tube, longingly, in passing, in a moment of weakness...might be forgivable. But it sounds like folks are crossing a line. As much as I despise automobiles in general (28 and never had a license), I'd say that a bike is more like someone's car than their dog. It's ok to pat or play with the latter out front of a restaurant or if you happen to be strolling past in a public park. The former you don't intentionally come into physical contact with* (or get into and start fiddling with the controls, should you find the door unlocked) unless it's explicitly OK with the owner. Just my 2cents.

* Other than during the course of the utilitarian business of locking up on a busy stand (where it's obviously kosher to jostle a little, especially if it's in the interests of keeping everyone upright and ding-free).

I'm with you. It's totally out of line. What really gets me is when people put bags over my saddle on rainy days!

Btw, don't you hate it when you see a beautiful vintage bike locked up so the drive side is obscured and no good camera angles are possible without having to first break through the lock and reposition the bike?

That's almost as bad as putting a saddle cover on somebody else's Brooks..

Kidding, I agree with you though. Posing with it is fine but touching it and sitting on it without asking is enough to get me riled up.

Edit. ahh dammit I checked this thread, went to stir my pasta sauce and came back to post that and gaucho beat me to it!

I actually did the saddle bag a few weeks ago - I had some left overs in a plastic bag and took them out - using the bag for a Brooks getting doused.

DUDE - seriously...have some courtesy! We want to take photos and see the derailleur man!

Speaking of - saw this Bruce Gordon locked up to a gate in Denver:









LOL - I did have the Brooks saddle thing coming!

man those chaincases on the triplet are so damn cool.

I've had plenty of people ogle my bikes but there is a fine line between looking and touching.

Especially if its kids. damn rugrats.

I voted option #3 though because I have little faith in humanity.

It doesn't bother me if it's kids without parents around...they're expected to lack judgement. I'm talking about adults, families, teen agers, college kids...etc.

+1

We have a c/f tandem and it gets lots of lookers/comments/attention. But then we've been tandeming since 1975 when those kind of bikes were even rarer.
Kids are gadget oriented and love to mess with the computer (just push that button!) or mess with the shift levers. Probably no malice intended, but it can be annoying.
Solution: don't ride your triple if you will be leaving it parked somewhere or unattended.

I don't really see how it's a solution if I have to stop riding it because of incorrect behavior on the part of others. We love using it as a town bike. I think the real solution is to just get annoyed, suck it in and keep having fun with it (and blowing off steam about it with a poll here).

Just hand it to the valet. Sheesh, I can't stand nagging 99%'ers.

Seriously - anyone can be born extremely wealthy if they work at it!

Heck I'd load them up on the torpedo and go for a ride... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0

Everyone should know that to handle other peoples property first without asking is wrong. And the parents should be around to stop the kids. It's common sense and good manners.

Don't ask me about the kid smashing my mint Rolling Rock cruiser with a stick. His parents left him alone at a parade and dissapeared. ????

I have neighbors who take oranges off the tree in my front yard. Somehow they think if they're available without climbing a fence or something then they're public property.

I've never had the problem with people touching my bikes, at least that I know of. If someone scratched my Davidson tandem, I'd probably be homicidal, but with the Burley I'd be much less concerned. For me, it largely depends on the bike I suppose, but my vote is still "yes" because it is nonetheless inappropriate to mess with someone's stuff. When I'm done building my Hercules Kestrel, ain't nobody touchin' that baby!

My kids have been raised going to car shows and spending weekends at the track and have learned you never, ever touch someone elses car, bike, motorcycle.

I have no patience for people that feel they have the right to fool around with things that don't belong to them.

That's what jeebus did right? Given us rights to the planet and everything in and on it, as long as we keep gays and unwed teens from humping?

Cool. USS Olympia.

As for the touchy feely on the bike. Don't mind a pose standing by it, but handling it, sitting on it, etc is over the line. How would they like it if I came over and sat or leaned on their car? Or used their front porch for a photo op?

Man, you act like it is some sort of private property.
I don't think you are over-reacting. What do they think, this is Holland?

I was at a motorcycle rally once, just a shop BBQ really, but a lot of Harley guys, as well as other "brand owners" were there. It was near the University, and a group of foreign students came down the street, saw the bikes in the parking lot, pulled out their cameras, and started snapping away as their buddies sat on the bikes, twisting the throttles, and acting like it was their little playground.
Man some of those "1%'ers can be pretty possessive about their property. It was quite a show.

For me it depends on whether damage (no matter how minor) could come from the "touch".

Light brush with a finger doesn't bother me. Doing anything that could cause my bike to rub against something and get a scratch would.

That's why they invented flame throwers!
Damn kids. I can't even get my own to keep their paws off my stuff.


I had the same problem with motorcycles as Thrifty Bill. Parked in Manhattan once, and a couple of homeboys with bottles of malt liquor thought it would be cool to jump onto my bike and make vroom vroom sounds. A blast from the siren startled one off and the rest laughed at him. It could've gotten ugly if I took it to that end. But I gave him a smirk and he apologized.
Only times I didn't mind is when the ladies wanted to throw a lovely leg over and straddle it.