A moral question about an abandoned bike.....

[TornadoDave]

OK..... since we all know you guys are the paragons of virtue when it comes to bikes, I need to get an opinion from you.

Everyday on my way to work I pass a bike that is locked to a street sign with one of those U shaped locks. It's wheels are missing.... as are the seat, handlebars, and most of the other components. It's been there for at least three months.

It looks to me like somebody locked it up, only to come back and find that it had been stripped.... and so he abandoned it.

Anyway... still on the bike is a very nice set RST Forks that would work FINE on one of my bikes..... and I'm tempted to take a wench and get them. BUT if I do so, aren't I just as guilty of bike-part theft as the first guy who stole the wheels off of it? OR does the fact that it has sat there for 3 months somehow counter-act the whole guilt thing? I mean.... since it is apparently abandoned, is it now Public Domain, and free for the taking?

 

[Rat Rod]

I'd suggest calling the Police and telling them about the situation and offer to buy the bike from them since they will probably impound it anyway.

 

[Buck Masterson]

I second that. If you just took them, it would be just as bad as the rest of it getting stripped. Good chances are, the Police do not want to be bothered by the bike to begin with, so they may just tell you to take it, to save them time to do actual police work.

 

[karfer67]

i agree too. if that was your bike even if you left it and walked by it one day seeing someone pulling stuff off it i think you would still be angry. i would call the police too. now if you find something in a junk pile that was thrown away that is different.

 

[CCR]

if it was mine i would have at least taken my bike lock, its been abandoned. but stealing is stealing.

 

[Firewalker]

the police or even the city works dept...Im sure they would love to see it gone.... :mrgreen:

 

[slow64vw]

as the good book says "an eye for an eye" i would have to agree call the city and explain whats going on. i'm sure if its been there that long its been an eye sore so they will probally be willing to work something out