Bike Thieves beware

[MrSimmo]

May help with the current spait of thefts ?

 

[steve_sordy]

A few years ago there was an outbreak of videos about vigilante action against bike thieves. This ranged from observation, ambush and then violent retribution with baseball bats at one end of the scale, to sabotage of the bike and videoing the humorous consequences for display on YouTube at the other end of the scale. These all appeared to be of USA origin.

The funniest one was where the brakes were disabled and the headset loosened. The bike was left in a prime spot. It was quite funny to watch the thief walk back and forth pretending to be an innocent passer-by while he checked out the bike (always a he, never saw a female thief). He could not believe that it was just sat there and without a lock! Eventually they would leap on the bike and pedal away furiously. The resultant crash within seconds was always funny, especially when they didn't get up straight away. Harsh I know, but I have wished worse on bike thieves.

Warning: As satisfying as it may sound, vigilante action against bike thieves is definitely a bad thing. You only have to Google it to see that it can go seriously wrong for the ones doing the vigilantism. Who wants to be done for murder in defence of your bike?

 

[apac]

Since having my Levo stolen from my garage a couple of months ago i have set an ambush trap.

 

[Kernow]

i Used to have quite vivid dreams about catching the thief in France that stole my bike on from outside my tent when I was touring . a baseball bat was my weapon of choice .
I liked that vid where the bike is left for the thief on a slope with a long rope tied to it so they get up speed then suddenly rope stops bike

 

[R120]

In a past life and as a member of another forum, there was a member on there who used to put out "booby trapped" bikes round London - the booby trap was that he smeared the saddle and grips in dog poo.

 

[apac]

A bear trap would be fucking awesome.

Or a naked Welshman with a 4 foot iron bar (not meaning to boast.. ?

 

[steve_sordy]

............at least in America if your garage is attached to your house you could set up a shotgun to fire at an area around your bike and then adjust the story so that cops get the story that protects you.
I personally have zero issue with removing someone from the planet if they’re breaking in to your house.

Neither do I, but unfortunately, there are different rules in the UK. You are likely to get arrested for having fitted barbed wire to your fence if the thief hurts himself on it. Because a home invasion was repelled by force and the homeowner got done because he shot them when they were fleeing (and therefore no longer a threat) the sentiment has changed and slowly the law is changing with it. I'm not sure it is as favourable to the homeowner as in the USA, but it is improving. At least you are allowed to defend yourself now without being arrested. Setting an ambush might be a different kettle of fish though.

I have previously told the story of my ex special forces mate with 4 sons all trained in martial arts, and two enormous Akita dogs. They were burgled by two men. It didn't end well for the burglars (a stretcher was involved) and the police were as nice as pie.

 

[jungblud]

So I was in NYC post undergrad out with a good friend from Ithaca threading about the city on an early summer day. The best city for the summer and in Central Park which is where you wanted to be back then, at least, before they shut down the park to bikes except for the roads.

We were finishing a bite for lunch at the South end of the Great Lawn when we both noticed someone yelling and running on the wide sidewalk. We both thought 'another crazy person in NYC...how unique!' Then we realized at about the same time that there was a guy riding a bike just ahead of him and simultaneously hear 'my bike!!!' I didn't think just reacted, jumped on my Diamond Back (hey it was the 80s ok?) and began to haul ass toward the corner to attempt to intercept. We were sitting in the middle of the width of the Lawn so there was no way to make it for intercept but I made a hard left right about time the victim was exhausted from the chase.

The adrenaline rush of several run ins with thieves over my life was life changing as the thief cut through the softball fields headed toward the South end of the park toward 57th Street at it's border. I found myself out of gears which was surprising to me as I looked down and found my chain on the big ring of the triple and the small on in the back! The red mist is some good good stuff!

I was gaining almost on the POS as we exited the last field and as the grassy rise on the other end met us he came off the bike, breathless, saying 'Ok...I...it's...all...yours...' with heavy gasps between. I told him to get the f**k on the ground and I had to grab his sleeve to keep him.

Now here is the amazing part of the story; as begin to circle him to detain, I expected to see the victim, my buddy or somebody with a friendly face. Instead I turned to see something amazing.

There were about 50 cyclists right behind me! In the flurry of the chase more and more had joined in. They dropped their bikes and poured around me and the thief and were less than understanding than me in the moment. The mob, surrounded him and just swept him away from me, with a few of the the inner core throwing punches on occasion. Everyone calling this poor guy names. Yes I felt sorry for him as this was an angry angry mob. About a minute later a cop on a horse had seen the mob, I suppose, and swooped in to 'rescue the guy' and put him in cuffs. Everyone left slowly as the victim and the cop talked over the guy on the ground in handcuffs.

That was a good day when we took one back from the bad guys. Seems like yesterday in my mind.

A friendly reminder that you can't really lock your bike and leave it alone in NYC or any other major city right now given the scarcity of bikes. No bike lock is undefeatable. Bring your bike with you at all times and make the stores kick you out. You can take your business elsewhere.

 

[Bontee]

Many many years ago in a land far away,when I was 18 and doing an apprenticeship for british leyland,when they made austin allegros,a good mate of mine and myself were doing a day course at the local technical college.
We both had motorbikes ,he had a kawasaki kh250 And I had a honda 350 twin.
We finished class and came down to the bike sheds to find a little shit trying to nick my mates bike ,he had already taken my handlebar mirrors.
So my mate (John) calmly walked up behind him and full on slammed the guy on top of his head with his crash helmet,the guy was a bit groggy but then a few more lads had turned up to discover that Mr scumbag had all our wingmirrors in his bag.
So.................sacrificing a couple of heavy duty chains ( we used to get the chains from the factories we worked at,so no great loss) we locked him solid to the bike shed,then wrote a note for anyone else saying,
”You might find your wing mirrors in this bag,and this is the C&€t who stole them”
We heard from one of our lecturers that he took a bit of a kicking before the fire brigade were called to cut him free.
This happened and it is the only time I have ever ,with the help of a mate,caught a thief

 

[CBSTD]

Many many years ago in a land far away,when I was 18 and doing an apprenticeship for british leyland,when they made austin allegros,a good mate of mine and myself were doing a day course at the local technical college.
We both had motorbikes ,he had a kawasaki kh250 And I had a honda 350 twin.
We finished class and came down to the bike sheds to find a little shit trying to nick my mates bike ,he had already taken my handlebar mirrors.
So my mate (John) calmly walked up behind him and full on slammed the guy on top of his head with his crash helmet,the guy was a bit groggy but then a few more lads had turned up to discover that Mr scumbag had all our wingmirrors in his bag.
So.................sacrificing a couple of heavy duty chains ( we used to get the chains from the factories we worked at,so no great loss) we locked him solid to the bike shed,then wrote a note for anyone else saying,
”You might find your wing mirrors in this bag,and this is the C&€t who stole them”
We heard from one of our lecturers that he took a bit of a kicking before the fire brigade were called to cut him free.
This happened and it is the only time I have ever ,with the help of a mate,caught a thief

You deserve a kicking for making Austin Allegros ????

 

[Bontee]

You deserve a kicking for making Austin Allegros ????

You know,after carefull consideration I think you are right....we made morris marinas too ?

 

[Nicho]

You know,after carefull consideration I think you are right....we made morris marinas too ?

My parents bought an Allegro just after I passed my driving test and I was allowed to drive it to school sometimes as I was in the sixth form.
I found it to be a very nice car to drive and particularly liked the feel of the squarish steering wheel.
Their next car was a Metro which was very uncomfortable to drive and I can honestly say that I enjoyed driving the Allegro more than any of the others they bought before or after it, and with its rounded body shape and flame orange colour it looked better than a lot of cars around at the time.
I could never understand why people hated them - probably mostly the people who had never driven one.

 

[Zimmerframe]

My parents bought an Allegro just after I passed my driving test and I was allowed to drive it to school sometimes as I was in the sixth form.
I found it to be a very nice car to drive and particularly liked the feel of the squarish steering wheel.
Their next car was a Metro which was very uncomfortable to drive and I can honestly say that I enjoyed driving the Allegro more than any of the others they bought before or after it, and with its rounded body shape and flame orange colour it looked better than a lot of cars around at the time.
I could never understand why people hated them - probably mostly the people who had never driven one.

Let me help you ...

Not to mention that you had to drive it really really really fast so you got the most out of it before it fell apart .

In fairness to you. Placed in a situation where you had to compare Allegro with Metro, really did very little for assisting young Nicho in differentiating "better" ...

But but ..... they seem as good as each other ...

 

[Bontee]

Nicho ,they were very comfy but they were truly awful,They leaked water badly even when new,the rear wheel bearings were about 1 inch diameter,I reckon the bearings in my hope hubs are bigger and they did like a drink,mainly because the pistons didn’t quite fit the bores.
They did have some very good ideas but they executed them very badly at BL so sad.