Thanks for stealing my bike

The BBQ Pit
1

On Friday I finally got my bike out of the shop back in perfect condition. It’s one of those vintage Schwinn beach cruiser replica bikes. Big and round.

The handle bars are a few feet wide and I had no room in the garage to put it. I left in my back yard thinking it would be safe since you can only see in from the neighboor’s houses on either side. I left town friday night and when I came home on Sunday it was gone. My sister thought I was keeping it at a friends place so she didn’t realize it was gone until I did. I have a pretty good idea who took it too. There is a group of kids who hang out next door all the time. Since you can only see into my yard from other yards it doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to figure out what happened.

I filed a theft report with the cops today and when I see the people next door I will ask them to keep an eye out for it( the adults not the kids). I really hope that I find the bike myself and the person who took it.

2

I know I should of locked it up put I really thought it would be safe. I guess I should stop believing in the decency of others.

3

It only takes one indecent person to steal your bike. Bikes practically steal themselves, in that they provide the means for the getaway as well as the stolen goods. I will not leave any of my bikes out of my sight for one minute unless they are secured against theft.

4

This reminds me, I just saw the great Italian film The Bicycle Thief for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

It sucks that you lost what sounds like a really fantastic bike, but also remember to be glad that you don’t need it to earn a paycheck.

Er, you don’t, do you?

5

Sumbitch. That’s on deck in my Netflix queue. So you dug it?

6

No I can walk to work but it was really great being able to get there in five minutes instead of twenty.

7

Yes, I really liked it. I really empathized with the main characters, and enjoyed the depiction of postwar Italy. There are some beautifully framed shots, and the story itself is quite simple, but very compelling.

Sorry for the hijack, Al Transom; I hope you get your bike back.

8

Yeah, unfortunately if you don’t have it locked up, even on your own property, it’s likely to get stolen. Hope that it will be found. Sounds like a nice bike.

I have to say that that’s one of the reasons why I ride a piece of shit that I got for $20 at a garage sale. It rides just fine, but looks like hell. Bike thieves are usually looking for something nice. And even if some desperate jerk took it, I’d just shrug and go find another hunkajunk.

9

Yeah, I thought that too in college. My “beater” looked like crap, but I’d worked hard to get it to ride nice, lubing the bearings, replacing the brakes and brake cables, etc.
I was really pissed off when somebody stole it.

More recently, I had a nice bike locked to a bike rack inside a parking deck at my old apartment. I went to pick it up 4 days later, and somebody had cut the cable lock. Welcome to Chicago.

So Al, I feel your pain. Did you have the serial number written down?

10

Some people will steal anything not nailed down. At our old house, someone stole a lawn mower from the carport. Mr. SCL came in to tell me about it being gone with tears of laughter running down his face, because the damn thing hadn’t run in years and he didn’t want to put the greasy thing in the station wagon to haul it to the dump. So whoever took it: thanks!

11

Bwahaha! Now there’s just desserts.

Some months ago I read a news article about a thief who had held up a well-dressed lady who was walking her dog, demanding that she hand over the bag she had. She gave it to him immediately. He must have been awfully disappointed when he discovered later on that the bag was full of nothing but her dog’s turds! :smiley:

12

My first ever car was a 1977 Chevy Impala with an AM Radio in it that, well, sucked. A lot. I took to leaving the car unlocked wherever I went hoping someone would steal it (the radio, not the car) so I could get a new one. No one ever did though. :wink:

13

sorry to hear some scumbag stole your bike, cruisers are definitely cool bikes, i’d imagine since it’s distinctive looking, it’d be easier to recover than the generic mountain/road bikes popular now

here’s a couple of hints i’d try to keep your next bike safe…

first, shove a laminated and folded up business card inside the seatpost with your name and phone #, if the bike is stolen and the police find the suspect, have them pull the seatpost to check for the business card, it won’t prevent theft, but it may make it easier for your bike to be returned to you

locks, get good locks, multiple different style locks, a minimum of two

the two i use are;

the Master Street Links security chain similar to the Kryptonite New York Chain and “Fughettaboutit” lock, resistant to 30,000 pounds of cutting force, this chain is a serious deterrent, often called a “F**k Off” chain, i call it the “Jedi Chain”, because it tells the would be thief “this is not the bike you’re looking for, you can go about your business, move along”, this chain should make the potential thief move on to an easier target

the lock uses a standard flat key, rendering it immune to the “Bic Trick”, but it’s still (in theory) pickable by normal lockpick tools, the lock itself is shrouded, protecting the lock bar, and the chain is secured by passing the small link thru the big link and passing the lock bar thru the protruding half of the small link, this reduces “pryable” surface area

only drawback, it’s heavy

i also use a Quantum 15 cable lock to secure the quick-release front wheel to the frame, the Q15 uses a tubular cylinder lock, it’s slightly larger diameter than the “Bic-able” locks, still, it is a tubular lock and they are vulnerable to being “Bic-ed”, however, it’s only job is to keep the front wheel on the bike

so far, i’ve been lucky, and no one has attempted to steal my bike, as it’d take too long to get thru the chain (takes about 20-30 minutes to cut thru)

and, another side benefit of the chain is that it could be used as a bludgeoning device on bike thieves…