Abandoned (?) M-Trax, North London

[Captain Stupido]

Spotted and snapped this last Thursday, walked past today and it's still there (which is pretty amazing given the puny lock). I feel sorry for it... Does it belong to anyone on here I wonder?

 

[legrandefromage]

Re-home it.

When I lived in Brighton, I rebuilt frame with loads of nicer bits from abandoned student bikes - they were clearly abandoned and rusty as feck but salvageable

 

[Captain Stupido]

Re-home it.

The thought hadn't occurred to me.

 

[tintin40]

yes i bet it does. From my experience leave well alone.

 

[Gerard]

Council will come along and clear it, then scrap it or give it to a bike recycling charity. They often have a policy on their website. They need the racks clear cor others. Sometimes they put stickers on them warning of impending clearance.

 

[WWC]

Re:

Though it’s clearly theft I’d be very surprised if anyone cared if you ‘re-homed’ it.

Though I’d imagine it’d feel weird cutting a lock and walking off with it?

Maybe stick a note on it?

 

[Captain Stupido]

Re: Re:

Though it’s clearly theft I’d be very surprised if anyone cared if you ‘re-homed’ it.

Though I’d imagine it’d feel weird cutting a lock and walking off with it?

Maybe stick a note on it?

Pretty much my thoughts... the thought of taking away someone's pride and joy breaks my heart, but at the same time would be a shame if it got scrapped or was just left to rust. I think it's likely that the owner has given up on it though to be honest.

But whatever, not really my style to cut a lock in public...

Maybe I'll put a note on it... I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it.

 

[mk one]

I doubt the owner will be doing regular checks to see if anyone has left a note

The police often leave bikes locked up and regardless of your good intentions of rehoming the bike, it is still theft. If you really want it pop into the council offices and/or police station and see if you can remove it for them, free of charge

 

[Captain Stupido]

I doubt the owner will be doing regular checks to see if anyone has left a note

The police often leave bikes locked up and regardless of your good intentions of rehoming the bike, it is still theft. If you really want it pop into the council offices and/or police station and see if you can remove it for them, free of charge

Regarding the issue of whether it would be theft or not, I think it's actually not as clear cut as it seems. Last time I found (and took) an abandoned bike I posted on here, lots of people questioned the legality of my actions so I contacted the police. Their response was as follows:

"As it has not been reported [stolen] and has been left abandoned, there would be no issue over ownership, you have not obtained with any criminal intent...so go ahead if you can make use of it. "

In that case the bike was not locked, so it was clearer (to me at least) that it had been abandoned. I think that "criminal intent" would be the thing that interested the police (or not). And I think that given the context (a relatively high crime urban area) a non-roadworthy bike chained up with a pound shop lock could reasonably be considered abandoned, especially after an extended period of time.

I don't have any criminal intent and I would only want to take it if I felt it was the right thing to do. At this stage I'm not about to get the bolt-cutters out, although to be honest at some point I suspect that someone else may do just that... Shame, I could have it riding lovely in an afternoon.

 

[RadNomad]

Re:

Better leave it alone, it isn’t your property or your right to declare it ‘abandoned’.
Imagine the following scenario: the rightful owner locked it there, removed the wheels to prevent thieves from riding off with it. Then his/her plans changed because got drunk over xmas, got injured and went to hospital, or just intends locking it for several days but will come back soon.
If you break the lock and take it, you’ve stolen it.
If you want it i suggest reporting it to the police and expressing interest in salvaging it. Not much else you can (should) do.