Found my stolen bicycle on Craigslist. What are my options? (2024)

OP, that utterly sucks about your stolen bike, and I hope you get it back.

But thank you for starting this discussion, because it's making me think about what I want to do to ID my own bikes, and some useful suggestions have come out.

you have no documents? shouldn't you have your DMV registration for the bike or proof of insurance? or if it was paid off, a clean title for the bike? you must have something to show that the bike belongs to you????

opps, my bad! you were talking about a bicycle and all this time i was thinking in my head you were talking about a motorcycle. kekeek...

ok good luck at getting your bike back.

Uh, show up with 10 guys on sportsbikes to his house.

I'm pretty sure he will part with it real quick.

...or just bring Budman with you.

Cinco said:

^^^ Yeah, what's the guy going to say? He stole his bike back?

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Ask O.J. how that worked out.

If you want your bike back, it's definitely worth 4 hours of driving.

1. Arrange to meet the guy, have a friend drive you there.
2. Jump on the bike and ride away.
3. Meet your friend and take your bike home.

But if you do this, DON'T tell the cops about it or expect them to back you. They'll end up treating you as the bad guy.

You could also do this:

Show up at the house, tell him that you're lawful owner of the bike and that he has two options;

1. Give you the bike, you walk away, no questions asked.
2. Call the cops. Let them decide.

I'm guessing the guy will pick option #1

(no need to give him the backstory or let him know that you're bluffing. - Might help to have a legal envelope that "appears" to have receipts and photos of the bike "proving" that it's yours).

Ray said:

You could also do this:

Show up at the house, tell him that you're lawful owner of the bike and that he has two options;

1. Give you the bike, you walk away, no questions asked.
2. Call the cops. Let them decide.

I'm guessing the guy will pick option #1

(no need to give him the backstory or let him know that you're bluffing. - Might help to have a legal envelope that "appears" to have receipts and photos of the bike "proving" that it's yours).

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Ding ding ding!
That is at least worth a try.
Get a manilla envelope and write on it, the brand of your bike.

I agree with the others, you should definitely go down there with a friend, and with "proof" in an envelope. I hope you get it back!

Good luck

dude,

whats this bike worth now? $300 or $3k?

You have to spend 4 hours of gas to go get it + time. Plus, criminals in Salinas kill people....srsly.

If it were one of my bikes, Id try and get it. If it were my college campus commuter I wouldnt risk anything, but maybe try to get some info/photo and post it on every Bayarea website you can find..jsut for fun.

BTW, I don't why I didn't think of this right away:

[youtube]tUUooufIfC0[/youtube]

that video is sweet!

I love how the girl jumps in front of her license plate so they can't film it "I had nothing to do with this!"

right, you know your boy is riding dirty, that's why you're freaked out. If someone accused my friend of stealing, I'd be like "call the cops!, let's get 'em down here" but she and bike thief haul ass outta there.

Srsly OP, go get your bike.

theAmazingKickstand said:

Plus, criminals in Salinas kill people....srsly.

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Drove through Salinas last Friday and we thought we were in an episode of "Cops" or something. We were on John St, about 2 blocks before making the turn onto 68 to go to Laguna Seca when some yahoo comes off the sidewalk running like hell, with two cops on his tail. He trips off the curb and lands face-down on the road right in front of our friends' truck and trailer and the cops jump on top of him. After a brief struggle he gets tased and moved out of the way so our friend can continue driving - all the while I'm spending as much time looking in the rear-view mirror as I am watching traffic. Sure made for some fun conversation at the campground that afternoon!

I went with a friend to meet the seller yesterday at a public place halfway between our locations. Middle aged dude and he had his young kids with him, who stayed in the car. Before I told him that the bike was mine, I asked him where and when he got the bike. He did not lie, saying that he bought the bike at a garage sale three months ago, which is about the time my bike was stolen. Because of that, I figured that this guy was not the actual thief. Whether or not he knew that the bike was stolen when he bought it is another issue.

So I let him know that the bike was stolen from me and that I had the papers to prove it. He seemed to believe me right away. I bluffed and told him that if I called the police, they would eventually rule in my favor and he would be left with nothing. He said that he understood and started pleading his case that it was unfair to him because he would be out the money that he paid to the thief. I felt bad for the guy and I didn't want to ACTUALLY call the police so we eventually settled on a sum of $175, which is half of what I believe is market value (I know he probably bought the bike for less than market value, but honestly, it looked like he needed the money more than I did). He says that he will try to go after the guy who sold it to him but the chances of him recovering his original money are probably slim to none.

So that's that. Given the bad situation, I am content with the outcome. I paid money to buy my own bike back, but I'll just chalk it up to one of those life lessons that you get every now and then. U-locks only from now on! Document the serial number of your bikes and take pictures!

Thanks to everyone for your help.