[Yak] Stolen bike comments

[John S. Allen]

At 10:38 PM 8/13/2005, Richard B. Clarke wrote:
>Chuck wrote
>"In my experience, I would not leave a bike outside in
>  ANY city overnight, I don't care how well secured."
>
>David, I am truly sorry about the theft of your bike. It makes me angry that
>people will steal. I consider it an invasion of rights.
>
>I  however, agree with Chuck. I don't have a bike lock, nor will I, because
>I will not leave any of my bikes unattended for any reason.
>
>Richard Clarke
>SRD (03)
>NWT (00)

Practical advice: DO have a lock, because you will probably need to leave 
your bike unattended sooner or later. I mean, for example, you don't want 
to leave the door of the porta-potty open so you can monitor your bike, do 
you? And also, it can be useful to lock a bike even inside your own motor 
vehicle, garage or home. I have foiled an attempt at theft from a motor 
vehicle because I did that. I lost a bike I had stored in my basement 
because I didn't.

Use the folding feature of the Friday to advantage. A bike that is locked 
*and* folded, especially if you have taken one or more parts -- say, the 
saddle and seatpost -- is not an attractive prospect for a thief. I have 
left my Raleigh Twenty locked all day, and once for several days, in this 
condition and always found it just as I left it. See 
http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/mytwenty.htm , third photo down the page.

Also, the Twenty is ugly and beat-up looking. That's a virtue in an urban 
utility bicycle. I don't think many people will go for the drippy 
splash-paint job and unattended scrapes and scratches on a Friday, but it's 
a thought, and an opportunity to display your individuality ;-)

Put your identification in on the bike, both on the outside and where it 
will be hidden until the bike is serviced. I recovered one stolen bike 
after a couple of years because I had magic markered my contact information 
inside the tires, and the person who had the bike (who claimed not to have 
been the thief and maybe wasn't) took it in to a bike shop to have a flat 
tire repaired.

John S. Allen

jsallen *at* bikexprt.com (replace " *at* " with "@")

http://www.bikexprt.com/