abandoned bike

[lip03]

There is a bike near my work that has been clearly abandoned, its been there since before Christmas tucked between some railings and a wall in full view of the public, it has no lock, flat tyres and buckled wheels, all the brakes are disconected and its in a bitof a state to be fair.... now I suppose my qquestion is when do I say right its been there ages and take it haha! my moral compas tells me not to! It could have been stolen so was thinking of putting a few ads here and there on the web,and mamaybe on a few lamp posts and see if anyone claims it.

 

[Ganymede]

Why not ask the local old bill what they think. They might be glad of you taking it away.

Or I suppose they might ship it to the nearest NEETS-do-up-bicycles charity...

 

[helston90]

It's a long shot but the law says you need to make 'every attempt to contact the owner' or words to that affect- maybe pop a note on it giving 7 days to be removed/ get in touch else assumed abandoned?

 

[lip03]

Yeah I did think about that, its a very grey area... it must be somebody's bike but who would leave it like that?? Perhaps its a trap! Haha

 

[Mr Peps]

If you don't do anything to find the owner it's tehnically theft by finding. The note idea sounds good.

A few years ago I had 3 bikes, 2 decent ones and a knackered Dawes Ultra road bike that had been ridden in to the ground but had a sound frame. No room to keep all 3 and wasn't worth much so I just left it against some railings as i was easiest way to get rid of it. Could be someone doing the same.

I had it for years and was a bit upset that it took more than three hours for someone to take it! It wan't that bad. This was New Cross South London

 

[lip03]

If you don't do anything to find the owner it's tehnically theft by finding. The note idea sounds good.

A few years ago I had 3 bikes, 2 decent ones and a knackered Dawes Ultra road bike that had been ridden in to the ground but had a sound frame. No room to keep all 3 and wasn't worth much so I just left it against some railings as i was easiest way to get rid of it. Could be someone doing the same.

I had it for years and was a bit upset that it took more than three hours for someone to take it! It wan't that bad. This was New Cross South London

Yeah think I am going to put a not on it for the next week, take a few photos during the week to prove I had left it in place with the note and if noone claims it then I shal be having it away!

 

[lip03]

Desolate?

Is this some kind of joke I clearly dont understand? Lol

 

[Ern1e]

Report it to local nick and tell them you have put it in your shed/garage for safe keeping put note on railings and if memeory serves me correctly 21 days no claim then I think it's yours, check it with your local C.A.B. just to be sure.Also I think @Smeggers II is maybe taking the mick a little lol.

 

[midliferider]

There is very good discussion on legality (not the morality) of taking unattended items with regard to that recent case of "theft" from Iceland supermarket. That tells you everything you need to know.

 

[Globalti]

The owner clearly doesn't want it or has forgotten about it or gone back to Poland or whatever; just take it and leave a note if it bothers you.

 

[Dave 123]

Is this some kind of joke I clearly dont understand? Lol

It's a lyric from the hymn sung at the beginning of every WI meeting.

 

[Mugshot]

It's a lyric from the hymn sung at the beginning of every WI meeting.

Now that's something I'd like to see.

 

[Mugshot]

There was a bike which appeared to have been abandoned on my local shared use before Christmas, saw it one day whilst riding home, it was leaning against a gate not locked or slung. Can't remember what it was now exactly but it was an older road bike and looked in resonable condition, nothing obviously wrong with it although I didn't try riding the thing. The odd thing was that there is only one way on and one way off this particular section of path and we were about a mile from either of them, so whoever left it there must have made a bit of effort to do so. I had a quick look about to make sure somebody wasn't lying in a field nearby, (didn't look too hard in case they were enjoying some alone time) It was there for around a week before it disappeared.

 

[Brandane]

Take it, and hand it in at the nearest Police station as "found property", explaining the circumstances.
If it's not claimed within 6 weeks, then it becomes yours. This is the procedure in Scotland, anyway.
Best to do it before anyone else helps themselves?

If you take it without handing it to the Police, it is technically theft by finding.

 

[Globalti]

Four weeks here. I found my first carbon road bike thrown off a bridge into a river. The Police clerk laboriously filled in a report in a big ledger and tore a bit off to give me and I thought: "There's no way that is going to get matched up with any theft report on a computer." It wasn't and a month later I had my almost unridden stolen-recovered bike. I had phoned around a few local shops and posted on some web fora so my conscience was clean.