STOLEN BIKES....HOW TO GET THEM BACK

[timber]

i JUST had mine stolen..they cut the cable.....now what would you guys do to get it back

thanks

 

[swbluto]

Is that the one with the POS battery? Why would you want it back?

 

[Anonymous]

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[spinningmagnets]

Sorry to hear about the theft. Check twice a day on Craigslist, Ebay, and the local pawns (as NAV said). If found, call the police immediately. If there's a local college, swing by and ask where bulletin boards might be with stuff for sale (thief might be avoiding Cragslist).

If you don't get your bike back, and assuming you want another E-bike....what would you get different (or the same) based on your experience?

 

[mud2005]

don't know about getting stolen bikes back, but have to say for future prevention

NEVER use a cable lock, they are easily cut with a tool that fits in a pocket. I don't know why bike shops sell them except they probably sell more bikes because of theft.

 

[swbluto]

I don't know why bike shops sell them except they probably sell more bikes because of theft.

Plain and simple, people buy them. As far as a consumer is concerned, they're cheaper than a u-lock, it's far more flexible and can be locked in a greater variety of locations, and it's lighter than a u-lock. What more could you ask of bike security? Oh, yeah, security.

 

[jerryt]

Sorry your bike was stolen.
I Originally filed a police report which was a big help getting my stolen bike back. I also posted a stolen report on craigs list and posted some flyers in the neighborhood. Mine was recovered incidentally when the police served a warrant on the thief for a different crime.

 

[Anonymous]

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[Cackalacka]

Sucks. Good luck.

Only advice I have is for the future: ditto the cable lock; I've got one of those, but it is in tandem with a U-lock. I view both as keeping the honest thieves at bay.

Added layer of deterrence is the registry, serial number, and to top it of: a photo of myself standing next to the bike that I've got crammed in the seat post. That way, if the unthinkable happens, and I spot it in a pawn shop, I can pull the proprietor over and ask him why he's selling my stolen bike. If he gets indignant, pop out the seat post: TA-DA!

 

[jerryt]

My neighbor who also got his two stolen bikes back also filed a police report, and that helped him get his bikes back too. Most importantly make sure you have a good description of the bike on record. When my neighbor found his two bikes at a local pawn shop, he called the police, and they already had the exact descriptions of the bikes on record. Good thing to have it on police record yes. The pawn shop owner had no choice but to hand over the bikes.

Probably best advice given. In my city, bikes can/should be registered ($2.00). That way, police have absolute identity when they find it.

 

[amberwolf]

That used to be required in Phoenix (still is, according to the city code) but the police department refuses to do it now, saying they have no idea what you're talking about, if you ask about it.

I think they must make too much revenue from re-selling all those stolen bikes (dozens each month, at $10 minimum each up to whatever is bid at auction) and that's why they won't do it, because it makes them more money than registering them does.

 

[1of3]

Knew a guy that used a switch activated positive ground coil. Of course that could hurt/kill the poor slob touching your property. Idea for chastity belt....huummmmm.....

 

[317537]

I thought of buying a cheap cattle electric fence inverter that runs on a car battery, cutting the power to it so nobody gets hurt including me, and secure mounting it on the bike with a sign "touch and prepare to be shocked".