Stolen/Abandoned Bike?

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:55 am

In another thread I mentioned a ratted out KLR parked near my house. It's actually in the parking lot of the Hospital around the corner, still parked there, and upon closer examination it has a bunch of aftermarket stuff on it that has all been rattlebombed black and gold.
It also has no license plate or inspection sticker on it.

What's the protocol for acquiring an abandoned bike?
Talk to the Hospital?
Ask a Cop?
Any suggestions?

dozer · Post by **dozer** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:02 am

step one: delete this post

step two: take that bike

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:31 am

I love you Mang!

rolly · Post by **rolly** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:02 am

Wait, something doesn't add up. Free parking at hospital?

Pattio · Post by **Pattio** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:00 am

A bike on someone else's private property? Kinda hard to pursue an abandonment angle on that one. I've certainly enjoyed a life of scanning and prowling for under-appreciated motorcycles while out walking in any city. Sometimes you certainly do get a feeling that a bike needs your custody, if you pass by often enough and see it piled in snow or furring up with rust. Stuff like the missing plate gets the mind spinning with what-ifs.

If your gut instincts tell you that there may be bit of an ownership vacuum, hypothetically a person might be able to surreptitiously collect the VIN, then make friendly inquiry of local law enforcement as if they are shopping for a bike on craigslist, etc. That way you're just researching, not actually touching the bike. Unless research suggests you can.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:19 am

I'll take some pics, then call a cop friend of mine see what he says.

"Ownership vacuum", I like that.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:11 pm

Don't know about NY, but in PA when you drop coverage you have to send them your plates. Bike might belong to someone who dropped coverage for whatever reason and has noplace safe to park it and happens to work at the hospital. IF that's the case, ask at the hospital desk and the person might offer to sell it to you.

ONe never knows. Keep us posted, though. I love abandoned stuff stories. Houses, factories, cars, bikes, babies. Whatever, there's always a story behind them.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:08 pm

I meant the person, should he/she work at said hospital, would get word you were looking, and offer to sell it. Not the hospital itself.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:11 pm

DO NOTCONTACT THE HOSPITAL DESK the hospital doesnt own it and cant sell it to you, and you dont want to bring it to their attention and have them tow it before you can figure it out.

Too late.
I just walked over and chatted up the parking lot attendant/security guy.
At first he said the owner was in for "surgery" that I think might really be "rehab" 28day surgery? He told me the guy was a ringer for Tommy Lee, and that he was barely able to walk across the parking lot.
"Last Ride" was the term he used.
It's got a bunch of bags and a helmet strapped onto it, so I'm just gonna leave him a note. My guess is he'll be outside the hospital smoking smokes in a day or two.

rolly · Post by **rolly** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:34 pm

Alright, now it won't torment you anymore. Maybe he took the plate off so he wouldn't get ticketed, or maybe somebody stole it.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:23 pm

Maybe it 's more of a "tweaker "paint job, rather than a "stolen bike" paint job.

MATPOC · Post by **MATPOC** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:42 pm

GOLDFINGER!

rc26 · Post by **rc26** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Get your cop friend to run the VIN on it. If it comes back clean, have him put it in the trunk of his cruiser and drop it off at your place.

Bigshankhank · Post by **Bigshankhank** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:38 am

rc26 wrote:Get your cop friend to run the VIN on it. If it comes back clean, have him put it in the trunk of his cruiser and drop it off at your place.

Careful with this idea. From the few officers that I have known and spent time with, I have asked this very same question. Any search they do can be traced, and if (a rare possibility) the person they are inadvertently searching for is on an FBI suspect list, the FBI will contact them post haste to find out what they known about suspect John Doe. In short, none of the officers I know will do a random search, and my local DMV will only tell you IF the bike is registered or stolen, but not WHO owns it.

rc26 · Post by **rc26** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:43 am

Slide some shady character a $20 bill to push it to your property...then after a few days report it as an abandoned vehicle and apply for an abandoned vehicle title.
Not sure how it works in NY, but...here in VA someone can apply for an abandoned vehicle title if said vehicle is left on your property for XX amount of time.
The only problem is...part of that process is an attempt to make contact with the previously registered owner to see if they want to lay claim to it. If someone did...you're screwed.

Better off just doing something legit...at least in this case.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:55 am

I'm not gonna go steal some guy's bike while he's in the Hospital.
Maybe I'll try to buy this thing off him for cheap, just look at the thing. What normal person would want it?
I'll leave him a note later today.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:03 am

Yeah. He'll need the money to score.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:39 am

Sisyphus wrote:Yeah. He'll need the money to score.

The world is a cold, cruel place.

SomeMook · Post by **SomeMook** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:09 am

MATPOC wrote:GOLDTHUMPER!

Fixt.

Zim · Post by **Zim** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:21 am

There's a lesson to be learned here.

Never park your bike near piccini9's house. He might eminent domain your ride.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 7:05 am

And there is no Santa Claus.

Pattio · Post by **Pattio** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 7:35 am

The pictures changed everything for me. From the description of spray-painted-and-no-plates I had imagined a scenario of neglect, possibly stolen & abandoned. The bike in the picture does not have an ownership vacuum. That is somebody's ride.

I'm trying to imagine a scenario where you're inside the hospital long enough to want to pull the plate off your bike and bring it in, but that you feel able to ride home afterwards. That's not how you park a bike when you know you'll be away from it for any length of time. Perhaps the person's plate has been stolen, or perhaps they bring it with them as a matter of habit, along with fresh aluminum foil to line their helmet. Maybe they are participating in sleep-effects studies or donating plasma, or, with careful scheduling, both.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:30 am

The simplest explanation is usually the more correct.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:53 am

Take a close look at the switchgear and the gauges.
It may indeed be someone's ride, but even I wouldn't paint something that badly.

It just looked a lot like the stolen bicycles I see rolling around Nyack.

I'm trying to imagine a scenario where you're inside the hospital long enough to want to pull the plate off your bike and bring it in, but that you feel able to ride home afterwards.

Rehab.

piccini9 · Post by **piccini9** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:21 pm

There doesn't even appear to be a place to mount a plate.
My guess is that it was removed as a weight saving measure in the depths of a meth binge. Along with the fairings, gas cap, and all those annoying gauges, and buttons, and switches.*
I can't wait to meet this guy after talking so much shit.

Gauges, buttons, and switches painted over for expediency.

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Stolen/Abandoned Bike?

Stolen/Abandoned Bike?