DIY ebike spare parts - Abandoned bicycles

calab

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What are your thoughts on taking what you want off clearly abandoned bicycles with various states of repair needed, hence why it was dumped.
 
I think that a bicycle put out with the garbage in front of a house is likely someone cleaning out their garage, but an abandoned bicycle on the street could have been stolen and dumped by a thief.
 
Also, some police departments put bait bikes out to catch thieves...you might not want to be snared by accident in one of those nets.
 
Potential for "bait" bikes is real. Cops don't need to be anywhere in the vicinity - think candid camera.

I would NOT touch an "abandoned" bike. Not worth it. There isn't one part on a bike like that worth the potential trouble.
 
Some police departments have piles of unclaimed bikes they can't get rid of. You might check there if you really need cheap parts.

I'm reminded of pictures of abandoned bikes in china. Thousands of them in big piles.

Chinese bike graveyard.jpg
 
calab said:
...clearly abandoned bicycles...
That description is probably a matter of individual opinion, but my rules are:

  • Bike in a prominent location (curb, corner, front of building, alleyway, against dumpster, etc.) with a "FREE" sign taped to it.

    Next to dumpster day after Xmas.

    Abandoned in a field.

    Always check bikeindex.org database.

    Post photo of bike with description and location on local neighborhood blog as potentially abandoned bike, giving owner chance to claim it as it may have been stolen and abandoned (happens A LOT here).

I have many times fixed up "clearly abandoned bicycles" and given them to neighborhood kids or even sold them, after fixing them up (usually tire/tube, lube chain, make adjustments).

Usually they are low-quality BSO type bikes or one step up from that. So mostly the parts do not interest me.

Other times I just take them to the local bike co-op donation corral, trying to keep it out of the landfill.
 
I won't touch an abandoned bike unless its a day or two till the trash pickup, and its on the curb. In my city, they pick up big stuff monthly. You can tell in other neighborhoods by the piles of stuff on the curb when its freecycle day.
 
Where did all the jump bikes end up at?

Asside
... Around here
Some of the less savory folks were stealing batteries out of Jump Bikes and Scooters to DIY with.

IIRC
Jump bikes was building with weird parts to make them less desirable in the aftermarket.

-methods
 
Yeah. A bike that is chained to a pole, rusty and key parts missing might still be wanted. I saw some guy cussing out because he'd chained his bike up a few hours ago and someone had just nicked his wheels. He thought being in the CBD it was safe.

At least he got the rest of his frame back. Had anyone assumed it was an abandoned bike and felt free to the rest, he would have got nothing.

Like someone else said, my city hold twice a year auctions for bikes abandoned, lost, or seized with the owner never found by both police and state transit. A mate of mine bought them in bulk, repaired them and sold them on ebay when he was unemployed for 6 months. It was something like $150 for 10 bikes. In some lots, a single bike would have sold for that with nothing more than a wipe down and a new chain.
 
I need a dedicated space, which I do right now which is a corner of the garage, but I want to expand my horizons and get into home mechanics. Throw a vw 1.8l diesel in a yj or xj that has a kickass custom bicycle rack hitch on it. Some bums threw out a flip flop wheel into a bear proof pathway dumpster that I took home which turned out to be useless to me. Flip flop wheels are even on both sides, a geared rear needs to be offset. I got two piles of wheels I need to go through and throw out most of them. I like to have a set of spares.
 
methods said:
Where did all the jump bikes end up at?
This thread might have some answers for you:

https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=115628
 
Guess it depends on what you consider 'clearly abandoned'. Just a few weeks ago we had a news story where some local tweakers thought an electric scooter was 'clearly abandoned' and took off with it. Turns out a kid had just ridden it to a shop and left it parked at a bike rack outside. So one person's 'clearly abandoned' can pretty easily be another persons 'theft'.
 
I am a pack rat. I curb surf but am at least now in a program.
1) make SURE it's not stolen or just parked
2) Ask if there are folks around
3) Don't be part of the bike theft chain. Bad Karma
4) Make sure stuff gets to a nice home
 
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