stories of bike thefts? theft attempts?
- Thread starter skivi
- Start date
Bjorn
Likes Dirt
I had my first ever MTB (a 1990 Shogun Trail Breaker 2) stolen from the back yard of a friends flat at about 7am on a Sunday morning. We were hanging out after working all night at a club; I was only there for a short time and didn't lock up. What I didn't know was the backyard wasn't completely surrounded by walls, there was actually a gate. The swine simply waltzed in, grabbed my bike and hers while a bunch of us were inside. While it was happening I was idly thinking, "What would I do if someone stole my bike?" Trust your instincts; if you don't feel right, go and check. Never saw that one again.
Five or six years later I was on my custom built Cannondale Killer V 900 at a crowded festival by the beach and busting for a piss, so I rode up to the loos and lent my bike against the wall. There were two roadies tag teaming to look after their bikes, so I said to the bloke outside, "Do us a favour mate and keep an eye on this one please." As I was walking in the door I glanced back in time to see some piece of trash walk around the roadie guy, grab my bike and start walking off. Fortunately it was too crowded for him to ride away and I shouted and legged it after him. He dropped the bike and walked into the crowd; as I grabbed my bike and headed after him, a couple of his large mates barged past me in a fairly obvious way. I was intimidated enough not to give chase since I had my bike back. I walked it into the dunny with me and had my piss. I was annoyed that the bloke with the roadies hadn't said anything; not that he was obliged to, but I'd never let some low life walk off with someone else's bike.
The moral there I guess is not all cyclists give a damn about each other and much more importantly, IF IT'S OUT OF YOUR SIGHT, IT'S LOCKED.
Five or six years later I was on my custom built Cannondale Killer V 900 at a crowded festival by the beach and busting for a piss, so I rode up to the loos and lent my bike against the wall. There were two roadies tag teaming to look after their bikes, so I said to the bloke outside, "Do us a favour mate and keep an eye on this one please." As I was walking in the door I glanced back in time to see some piece of trash walk around the roadie guy, grab my bike and start walking off. Fortunately it was too crowded for him to ride away and I shouted and legged it after him. He dropped the bike and walked into the crowd; as I grabbed my bike and headed after him, a couple of his large mates barged past me in a fairly obvious way. I was intimidated enough not to give chase since I had my bike back. I walked it into the dunny with me and had my piss. I was annoyed that the bloke with the roadies hadn't said anything; not that he was obliged to, but I'd never let some low life walk off with someone else's bike.
The moral there I guess is not all cyclists give a damn about each other and much more importantly, IF IT'S OUT OF YOUR SIGHT, IT'S LOCKED.
bak3zz
Likes Bikes
When i was in primary school (Year 6) 2004 i think.. i was riding to school with a couple of mates on our bmx's, we always went through the park because it was faster and had a couple of fun little jumps on the way through, we were riding like we always do, then out of no where a guy jumps out of a bush, grabbed my handlebars and tried to throw me off the bike, my Mate.. thank god hes my mate, kicked him in the knee and the guy fell to the ground and we rode off as fast as we could, Never saw the guy again..
Moral of this story is: dont ride past bushes.
This is a recent one, a mate of mine left his bike at my house, so i was going to his house and he told me to ride his bike(kona stinky 2010) im riding at a consistent pace then i ride past the shops and a gang of no joke probly 40+ yelled at me and started chasing me down the road,they chased me for about 5 minutes i was fuckin shitting myslef, (note this was about 11pm) i got away obviosly, but the next week in the local newspaper there was a bashing that night @ those very shops by a large gang assuming it was the one i saw that night, lucky it wasnt me ay.
Moral of this story: when riding at night be aware of what could be around the corner..
Sorry if i bored everyone.
Bakees!
Moral of this story is: dont ride past bushes.
This is a recent one, a mate of mine left his bike at my house, so i was going to his house and he told me to ride his bike(kona stinky 2010) im riding at a consistent pace then i ride past the shops and a gang of no joke probly 40+ yelled at me and started chasing me down the road,they chased me for about 5 minutes i was fuckin shitting myslef, (note this was about 11pm) i got away obviosly, but the next week in the local newspaper there was a bashing that night @ those very shops by a large gang assuming it was the one i saw that night, lucky it wasnt me ay.
Moral of this story: when riding at night be aware of what could be around the corner..
Sorry if i bored everyone.
Bakees!
downhillar
Likes Dirt
a mate of mine was riding through fred caterson (castle hill) a few years ago when we were like 16, 3 guys stopped him, held a knife to his throat and took his bike.
it was a piece of shit bike, and the guys got caught about 6 hours later. not sure what happened to them though.
my bighit got stolen out of my garage last year. they came through the gate, around the back of my yard, broke into the rear roller shutter of my garage, took my bike and left.
i had a motorbike and a bunch of expensive power tools just laying around but they didnt take anything else. (except for a bunch of old work boots that i had sprayed with glow in the dark paint????)
needless to say i've stepped up security considerably since then, i would love to see them try that again! i've got a few surprises waiting for them if they ever do hehehe
it was a piece of shit bike, and the guys got caught about 6 hours later. not sure what happened to them though.
my bighit got stolen out of my garage last year. they came through the gate, around the back of my yard, broke into the rear roller shutter of my garage, took my bike and left.
i had a motorbike and a bunch of expensive power tools just laying around but they didnt take anything else. (except for a bunch of old work boots that i had sprayed with glow in the dark paint????)
needless to say i've stepped up security considerably since then, i would love to see them try that again! i've got a few surprises waiting for them if they ever do hehehe
I've discovered that not all bike theifs are dole bludging crack heads either. Many years ago I had my Trek 98 stolen out of my car but nothing else, CD's, money, a bag. All the trouble of breaking into a car and all they took was the bike. Also never leave your bike in plain sight, mine was in the back seat, which I thought would be fine. Locked car, good neighbourhood, it would only be there a few hours and it's not the flashiest looking bike unless you know what you're looking at. Someone obviously did.
funny drug dealer story
I have a great story of my stolen 6k$ downhill bike !
Back in France i had a unique Ancillotti Tomaso (bike is quite unique in Europe)
http://img.kijiji.it/1c/7e/1c7e409ebc712b6ed3269cc221c1d3f2_big.jpg
I had just worked an hour on my suspension and needed to test them... Went for a ride and drop some books in a library on my way. That means that i attached my back with a heavy U lock and run in the shop... 2min after no more bike.... gone... call the cops and fell on a cop hows rides cross country... he mobilized all the cops of Paris to look around...
the bike was gone...
A month after, a call from the cops, they founded my bike after braking down the door of a cocaine drug dealer ! cops told me that the bike was next to bags of cocaine...i tried to tell them that the bags were also mine...
so i got back my bike... + 1000euros because the bike had some starches on it!
I have a great story of my stolen 6k$ downhill bike !
Back in France i had a unique Ancillotti Tomaso (bike is quite unique in Europe)
http://img.kijiji.it/1c/7e/1c7e409ebc712b6ed3269cc221c1d3f2_big.jpg
I had just worked an hour on my suspension and needed to test them... Went for a ride and drop some books in a library on my way. That means that i attached my back with a heavy U lock and run in the shop... 2min after no more bike.... gone... call the cops and fell on a cop hows rides cross country... he mobilized all the cops of Paris to look around...
the bike was gone...
A month after, a call from the cops, they founded my bike after braking down the door of a cocaine drug dealer ! cops told me that the bike was next to bags of cocaine...i tried to tell them that the bags were also mine...
so i got back my bike... + 1000euros because the bike had some starches on it!
Live2DieTrying
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Dig Dig.
I'm dredging up this old thread because my bike was stolen and then recovered today.
I was riding my local skatepark today when I went to buy a drink from Foodworks down the road. I was in there for no more than 1 minute, and from security footage the bike was taken as soon as I walked in the door.
Now this was a horrible feeling, having my pride and joy taken away, the bike I ride every day and have poured so much time, money and energy into. And it would take me forever to save enough money to buy the same parts again.
I quickly asked the shop to check their footage and ran back to the park where some of the skaters said they had seen a guy hightailing it up the hill past them on my bike.
So I got in my car and drove all around the area checking every street in the direction he was heading, with no results.
One of the guys at the park said he knew where this guys mate lived, but wasn't keen to take me there.
So after visiting the police and reporting the bike stolen, printing up some posters and putting them in shops in the main street I went back to the park to find my bmx mates riding. They were keen to help me get it back and wanted to go to this house to see what was up.
I knocked on the door a few times, and after no answer one of the guys spotted my bike behind the side fence! so we quickly grabbed it and got out of there.
We got super lucky that the bike was actualy at the house we were told the theif might have gone, that they weren't there, and that they hadn't taken it inside or elsewhere.
+ nothing had be done to the bike, it was just the way it was earlier today.
I am so glad that it worked out, and I have my bike back. This could have been me posting up that my bike was lost, but instead reporting the story of a really lucky recovery.
The bike: Custom built Deity Streetsweeper. So happy it's back home. Locked up to something really heavy.
I'm dredging up this old thread because my bike was stolen and then recovered today.
I was riding my local skatepark today when I went to buy a drink from Foodworks down the road. I was in there for no more than 1 minute, and from security footage the bike was taken as soon as I walked in the door.
Now this was a horrible feeling, having my pride and joy taken away, the bike I ride every day and have poured so much time, money and energy into. And it would take me forever to save enough money to buy the same parts again.
I quickly asked the shop to check their footage and ran back to the park where some of the skaters said they had seen a guy hightailing it up the hill past them on my bike.
So I got in my car and drove all around the area checking every street in the direction he was heading, with no results.
One of the guys at the park said he knew where this guys mate lived, but wasn't keen to take me there.
So after visiting the police and reporting the bike stolen, printing up some posters and putting them in shops in the main street I went back to the park to find my bmx mates riding. They were keen to help me get it back and wanted to go to this house to see what was up.
I knocked on the door a few times, and after no answer one of the guys spotted my bike behind the side fence! so we quickly grabbed it and got out of there.
We got super lucky that the bike was actualy at the house we were told the theif might have gone, that they weren't there, and that they hadn't taken it inside or elsewhere.
+ nothing had be done to the bike, it was just the way it was earlier today.
I am so glad that it worked out, and I have my bike back. This could have been me posting up that my bike was lost, but instead reporting the story of a really lucky recovery.
The bike: Custom built Deity Streetsweeper. So happy it's back home. Locked up to something really heavy.
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knob scortcher
Likes Dirt
i had a bike stollen a about 2 years ago. i was down at the river having a swim i went over to my bike which was about 10m away from the tree we were jumping from.
i walked over to the tree continued swimming i seen three teenage boys about 15-16 yr old they started walking towards us so i watched them.
two of them rode a bike and one was being doubled on the bars. the one hoped on my bike and took off down a dirt track along the river.
i ran home which was about 800m away and grabbed my old dunga of a bike and started to follow wher they went i looked through streets and didnt find them:mmph:
any bodyes bike can get stolen as easy as that so just lock them up even if staying within sight of your bike.
i walked over to the tree continued swimming i seen three teenage boys about 15-16 yr old they started walking towards us so i watched them.
two of them rode a bike and one was being doubled on the bars. the one hoped on my bike and took off down a dirt track along the river.
i ran home which was about 800m away and grabbed my old dunga of a bike and started to follow wher they went i looked through streets and didnt find them:mmph:
any bodyes bike can get stolen as easy as that so just lock them up even if staying within sight of your bike.
wilddemon
Likes Dirt
solid thread reading
Just finished reading this thread, which was a great read. Thanks to all contributors and post starter. Interesting to see the banter, then calls of racist back and forth, and noticing that stirrers were banned, prob from those posts.
Always been pretty good with locking up or maybe just lucky so don't really have much to contribute. Except that I've heard that in Rome you can yell "stop thief" at a pedestrian with bike and 9 in 10 they dump the bike and run (prob yell in Italian helps). And I don't wanna open the can but there are few if any aboriginals there.
Just finished reading this thread, which was a great read. Thanks to all contributors and post starter. Interesting to see the banter, then calls of racist back and forth, and noticing that stirrers were banned, prob from those posts.
Always been pretty good with locking up or maybe just lucky so don't really have much to contribute. Except that I've heard that in Rome you can yell "stop thief" at a pedestrian with bike and 9 in 10 they dump the bike and run (prob yell in Italian helps). And I don't wanna open the can but there are few if any aboriginals there.
jonny the boy
Likes Dirt
A fellow local got his bmx stolen by one of the local junkies at the safeway across the road from the skatepark yesterday, common sense would tell you not to leave it out the front of a shop unlocked... but it still sucks. We went looking for him/ them and got a look at the guy and a couple of ladies walking past (one was an off duty cop) saw the guy load the bike into a station wagon.. we saw that car parked in front of a local junkies house just round the corner. So my mate went to the cops and thats it, he might get it back, i hope he does, but its probably wise to just get on to the blue straight away rather than go kicking down doors and risk getting yourself in shit. Its hard to resist though. I HATE THIEVES, especially junky thieves
This is quiet a funny story. I got into mtb in year 10 and got myself a haro shift r5, paid 1.3k for it. I then got my friend into it and he bought an $800 merida. We used to lock them up in full view of the schools cameras in the bike shed with massive (he had code I had key) locks. anyway about 4 months after he bought it we went out there at lunch and his bike was gone. We went to the office and they said the "cameras" never actually worked just there for show. He was pretty damn angry and it was even worse as Merida had just left the country so he couldnt contact them at all.
After a few weeks we were joking around cause his dual had a tri link rear setup. We agreed that whoever stole it had no idea about bikes because his looked way more fancy than my single pivot and they stole his. He ended up buying a giant hardtail and then something really funny happened. We had told our local bike shop about what happened and we were really good friends with the guy who owned it. Anyway one day he was bringing bikes inside and a guy riding my friends merida (pretty hard to not see it as meridas arent very common, well not back then anyway) rode past. He got in his ute and followed the guy until he got home. Rang the cops, they came and my friend got it back.
I got another real quick one aswell. My dad used to ride bmx a lot and when he i was younger he spent about 2 years slowly building his 'perfect' bmx. Him and his mate finally finished it and went to the skatepark and rode around etc. On the way home they stopped at the supermarket. They chained there bikes to a stop sign with one of he biggest padlocks i had ever seen. They came out and the only thing left was his mates bike, chain bike and stopsign were no were to be seen. He stopped riding that day.
Going on 10 years later that same friend who helped him build it was driving down a main road southland area. He actually spots my dads bike and the guy riding it. Pretty unmissable as it was completely custom, even individual spokes. so he pulled up a few blocks infront of the guy. dived him as he rode passed, threw the bike in the ute and bought it around to our house. makes me laugh to this day. 10 years later...
After a few weeks we were joking around cause his dual had a tri link rear setup. We agreed that whoever stole it had no idea about bikes because his looked way more fancy than my single pivot and they stole his. He ended up buying a giant hardtail and then something really funny happened. We had told our local bike shop about what happened and we were really good friends with the guy who owned it. Anyway one day he was bringing bikes inside and a guy riding my friends merida (pretty hard to not see it as meridas arent very common, well not back then anyway) rode past. He got in his ute and followed the guy until he got home. Rang the cops, they came and my friend got it back.
I got another real quick one aswell. My dad used to ride bmx a lot and when he i was younger he spent about 2 years slowly building his 'perfect' bmx. Him and his mate finally finished it and went to the skatepark and rode around etc. On the way home they stopped at the supermarket. They chained there bikes to a stop sign with one of he biggest padlocks i had ever seen. They came out and the only thing left was his mates bike, chain bike and stopsign were no were to be seen. He stopped riding that day.
Going on 10 years later that same friend who helped him build it was driving down a main road southland area. He actually spots my dads bike and the guy riding it. Pretty unmissable as it was completely custom, even individual spokes. so he pulled up a few blocks infront of the guy. dived him as he rode passed, threw the bike in the ute and bought it around to our house. makes me laugh to this day. 10 years later...
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paragraph (ˈpærəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf)
— n 1. (in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc
The only time I EVER write structurely is if the recipient is appropriate to the response. I assumed this being a forum that correct structure wasn't needed. I note I am incorrect and apologise.
foxpuppet
Eats Squid
Grammar Nazi
paragraph (ˈpærəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf)
— n 1. (in a piece of writing) one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, increased interlinear space, etc
Someone who believes it's their duty to attempt to correct any grammar and/or spelling mistakes they observe. Usually found hanging around Irc chatrooms hounding "n00bs".
Got a happy story to post that kinda reinstalled my hope in humanity (well just a little bit).
Couple of hours ago I rode down to the main street to get some lunch. I left my bike on the footpath of the main street locked to post coming out of a brick wall. When I got off my bike I put my sunnies ($160 Oakleys) on the brick wall to take my helmet off and do the lock up and fish my wallet out of my bag etc. But I accidentally forgot to pick up my sunnies again. Anyway, I walked into the shop and ordered my food and waited like 10mins. The street was fairly busy and there was a bunch of people walking past even as I walked out of the shops. When I got back to my bike and realised I'd left my sunnies there I was like ahhh thank F*** and then my hope in humanity was restored. I also forgot to lock my helmet up and had left it on the wall as well so I guess it was the double whammy.
Couple of hours ago I rode down to the main street to get some lunch. I left my bike on the footpath of the main street locked to post coming out of a brick wall. When I got off my bike I put my sunnies ($160 Oakleys) on the brick wall to take my helmet off and do the lock up and fish my wallet out of my bag etc. But I accidentally forgot to pick up my sunnies again. Anyway, I walked into the shop and ordered my food and waited like 10mins. The street was fairly busy and there was a bunch of people walking past even as I walked out of the shops. When I got back to my bike and realised I'd left my sunnies there I was like ahhh thank F*** and then my hope in humanity was restored. I also forgot to lock my helmet up and had left it on the wall as well so I guess it was the double whammy.
knob scortcher
Likes Dirt
someone tried to steal my bmx from my sister today she went into IGA and when she came out it was gone some people said to her someone stole it and went down to the park by the river where it was retrieved. she got it home and and the bars where pushed down so i had to straighten them. if they stole it off me i would of smashed them theiving basterds.
After reading through all 44 pages of this thread, I've realised that bike thefts seem to happen to the best of people, the most unlucky people ever and I have to admit with the long bow story I had a quiet chuckle to myself.
The only real stories of bike theft attempts that I've had was:
1. Myself and a couple mates were at our local skatepark, the weather wasn't the best and it was quite slippy. We were just sitting around when a group of abo's (again, not trying to play the race card) turned up and started questioning us about our bikes, asking which one was the best and how much each one costed. We didn't pay much attention, and just kept riding around. I was sitting on top of this quarter pipe thing, while watching my mate do a hip when all 4 of them (They were only around 12 or younger) came up and started trying to push me off my bike, I turned around and kicked one of the kids in the shins and he fell to the ground, which just enraged his friends, I proceeded to fly fists at all of them while holding onto my bike, just for long enough for my mates to come over at which point the kids pinned it home with a volley of abuse.
2. I had to ride my brand new 2009 Norco Atomik to school one day, it was all good all day locked up in the bike racks (we don't get many bike thefts at our school or our city so I wasn't really worried). On the ride home, riding past a bus shelter where a kid (about 12) haulted me and started asking question about my bike, he had my brakes pulled in, so I wasn't going anywhere, he then signalled for his other, much bigger friends (about 20 or so) to come over, which was when I decided to high tail it out of there so I pushed the kid over onto his arse and got out of there!
That's really the only time I've come close to having my bike stolen. I feel bad for everyone else out there that wasn't as lucky as me and didn't get away!
The only real stories of bike theft attempts that I've had was:
1. Myself and a couple mates were at our local skatepark, the weather wasn't the best and it was quite slippy. We were just sitting around when a group of abo's (again, not trying to play the race card) turned up and started questioning us about our bikes, asking which one was the best and how much each one costed. We didn't pay much attention, and just kept riding around. I was sitting on top of this quarter pipe thing, while watching my mate do a hip when all 4 of them (They were only around 12 or younger) came up and started trying to push me off my bike, I turned around and kicked one of the kids in the shins and he fell to the ground, which just enraged his friends, I proceeded to fly fists at all of them while holding onto my bike, just for long enough for my mates to come over at which point the kids pinned it home with a volley of abuse.
2. I had to ride my brand new 2009 Norco Atomik to school one day, it was all good all day locked up in the bike racks (we don't get many bike thefts at our school or our city so I wasn't really worried). On the ride home, riding past a bus shelter where a kid (about 12) haulted me and started asking question about my bike, he had my brakes pulled in, so I wasn't going anywhere, he then signalled for his other, much bigger friends (about 20 or so) to come over, which was when I decided to high tail it out of there so I pushed the kid over onto his arse and got out of there!
That's really the only time I've come close to having my bike stolen. I feel bad for everyone else out there that wasn't as lucky as me and didn't get away!
bike stolen from street bike rack, Perth CBD, Wednesday, broad daylight!
I used to commute to work and lock my Giant TCR road bike in front of the QV1 building, Perth CBD. Used a very decent cable lock.
Finished work in the afternoon of 1/2/2012, and the bike was gone.
This happened in broad daylight, in front of people, in bike racks for 20 or so bikes.
My bike was visible used (not like new) . But replacing it will cost $$$. Person who stole won't get more than 50$ at cash converters.
Very unfortunate.
:angry:
I used to commute to work and lock my Giant TCR road bike in front of the QV1 building, Perth CBD. Used a very decent cable lock.
Finished work in the afternoon of 1/2/2012, and the bike was gone.
This happened in broad daylight, in front of people, in bike racks for 20 or so bikes.
My bike was visible used (not like new) . But replacing it will cost $$$. Person who stole won't get more than 50$ at cash converters.
Very unfortunate.
:angry:
Hamsta
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Not good at all. I have read on another forum that there was a spate of bicycle thefts in and around the Perth CBD last year, and that the thief was eventually caught and prosecuted. I used to occasionally ride into the Perth CBD for work, however, when thieves are able to steal locked bikes from secured carparks, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence when leaving a bike unattended.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wes...-end-bike-thefts/story-e6frg143-1226242425277
Does QV1 have a CCTV system overlooking the bike parking area? Might be worth still checking out Cash Converters if you have a serial number etc.
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freddofrog
Likes Dirt
There was a lockup bike cage in an underground carpark for bikes, complete with fencing, big bars and a big padlock. One day a new very flash bike turned up, by morning tea it had been stolen. To access the cage the thieves simply cut away the steel holding the padlock rather than the padlock itself. I guess they figured (correctly) that steel is only mild steel where as the lock is hardened. At the time I was using my kick ar$e motorcycle lock but after that I took my bike into my office.