Lock your bikes!

[kickstanddpw]

Don't take bikes from the bike piles if they are not yours.

Please do take your bikes though. Last year there were 2200 bikes left behind. We are tired of picking up your moop.

Lock your bikes securely like you would do in any city of 50,000 and take your bikes home. All of them. A bike is a big trace. You are not doing anyone a favor. It is not a donation or gift, no matter how awesome you think it is.

Kickstand
DPW Yellow Bike Project Manager
Black Rock City, NV

[nezden]

Actually, I suspect most of those bikes were stolen. It seems common for someone, once their bike is stolen to steal someone elses. I think the Org Media are to blame for chirping away for years that "bike theft is common at Burning Man". Funny but it wasn't until you told everyone it was. I never locked my bike for 10 years, and then once that CYA BS started showing up here and in JRS, it became an orgy of bike theft.

I'm sure your average idiot says, "hey if its unlocked it must be up for grabs", or "if I don't someone else will." I'm disgusted that the Org has refused to do anything to curb the problem but say "lock your bike, theft is common". My experience with the Org bike program has been nothing but full of frustration and disgust. I have owned bike shops and always put in time doing repair work, but could no longer stomach the sick "what'll you gimme" and "we're too hung over and/or loaded to help you", attitude.

You and your sanctimonious BS disgust me.

[trilobyte]

Giving this a nudge over to the preparation board, since that's a better fit. For what it's worth, I find the 'blame the org' comments to be more annoying - but to each his or her own.

[unjonharley]

Actually, I suspect most of those bikes were stolen. It seems common for someone, once their bike is stolen to steal someone elses.

You and your sanctimonious BS disgust me.

Just how is it that "you" know of this common practice

[maladroit]

It's incredibly unlikely that even a few of those bikes were left intentionally.

I don't even think the majority were stolen. I just believe that the owners were whisked away on an adventure, and had no recollection of their starting point.

I kept mine locked and lighted, but had trouble finding it a few times. It came back home with me, though. If I had room for another bike, I might have taken one more, and put in due diligence to find the owner. Of course I am then the bad guy, stealing a bike...which is the position of most people who could have helped remove these particular items of moop.

Bike registration of some type might help, assuming anyone would be masochistic enough to manage it. If you lose your bike on playa, the serial is traced back to you, and you either pay for transportation or sign it over to whoever collects the bikes now.

I saw a lot of really slick, really expensive brand name and custom rigs out there, seemingly abandoned. They hardly even belong out there in the first place. I realize they are ultimately moop...but they are moop you can possibly sell off for upwards of $400 a piece.

[pink]

There were 5 bikes left at the portopotties at 7:30 & D on Monday morning. Two matching Huffy bikes, one Next, one Decathlon and another Walmart brand bike. All except the Next had broken brakes or other issues. I find it quite hard to believe that matching Huffies were stolen and abandoned together at the same spot. All were still there Tuesday morning.

Last year I came with one bike and left with two. This year I came with two and left with 4. Biggest MOOP I did, but the two extras I tooke home were in better shape than the two I came up with!

[BBadger]

Actually, I suspect most of those bikes were stolen. It seems common for someone, once their bike is stolen to steal someone elses.

You and your sanctimonious BS disgust me.

Just how is it that "you" know of this common practice

Obviously it was codified by the Org Media like all crimes on the playa.

On another note though... put some tape on your bike with your camp name and playa address on it in case it is left unlocked and someone absconds with it while you're shitting.

[Bob]

People who use the word "sanctimonious" invariably are.

[Eric]

I never locked my bike for 10 years, and then once that CYA BS started showing up here and in JRS, it became an orgy of bike theft.

Funny, I remember being told in 2003 (my first year) to lock my bike. I also recall a friend who worked for the Org coming by in 2006 & telling us that there was a rash of "borrowed" bikes before the Gate even opened (we had early entry), so unless you didn't lock your bike from '91-01, your theory doesn't hold water.

[maladroit]

The only solution is a set of public stocks in front of Center Camp for bike "borrowers" to be mocked.

[dragonpilot]

Sorry...I have no sympathy for those who fail to take heed and lock up their rides. Consider your stolen bike a gift to the community and you'll feel all warm and fuzzy about it.

[Shambala]

I offer up locks every year for foolish people who didn't bring them. I would say that 1/3 of the bikes on the playa have no lock on them. It doesn't have to be an expensive lock, or a heavy duty lock---just a cheap cable/lock combination. If someone is going to ride off on a borrowed bike, they are going to take on that is not locked up.

This is all you need:

[gyre]

A cable lock is usually enough, but plenty of people have reported cut locks.

The cheaper cable locks (under $100) cut like butter with a 14" cutter.
The more costly ones may be more resistant.

i do not use a cable lock with my good bike.

[quadraspleen]

On another note though... put some tape on your bike with your camp name and playa address on it in case it is left unlocked and someone absconds with it while you're shitting.

Good idea - Started doing this with all my stuff this year..I lose everything; all the time..

[theCryptofishist]

If you want, you can also use "polyshrink plastic" (which they advertised as "Shrinky Dinks" in my childhood). You get a small, riged thing and, if you were smart enough to punch a hole in it, you can use a string or wire to attach. I don't know that it's better than tape, but I firmly believe in having options and picking a solution that works best with the parameters.

[unjonharley]

If you want, you can also use "polyshrink plastic" (which they advertised as "Shrinky Dinks" in my childhood). You get a small, riged thing and, if you were smart enough to punch a hole in it, you can use a string or wire to attach. I don't know that it's better than tape, but I firmly believe in having options and picking a solution that works best with the parameters.

A Sharpy pen can go a long way in marking your playa stuff also

My underwear at summer camp

[theCryptofishist]

Indeed.

[maladroit]

Take the seat with you.

If they still want to ride it, they can have it.

[9ah]

I took an extra bike from the playa, donated it and my bike to a nice guy that ran a car wash in Reno. A camp mate of mine took three extra hunks of MOOP. It was Tuesday evening and there were more bikes on the playa at that point than people.

[trilobyte]

Do not take bikes from the playa that do not belong to you, even after the end of the event. If you want to help, take abandoned bikes left at your camp to Center Camp. Bikes that are lost on the playa stand a chance of getting reconnected with their owners through lost and found, unless you steal them.

[maryanimal]

What happens to all those bikes that are left behind?

[Savannah]

LOST AND FOUND BIKES

There's this saying on playa that there's no such thing as a lost bike until after the event is over. And while that sometimes ruffles people's feathers who are looking for their lost (or misplaced) bike, it's unfortunately true.

See, people leave their bikes around all the time, and may eventually come back to them. It doesn't mean they're lost. Or somebody accidentally (or not so accidentally) borrows a bike they see laying around (we call this stealing), uses it, and then either brings it back (unlikely) or abandons it somewhere (more likely). How can you tell that bike is really lost? Right, you can't.

So it's nearly impossible at any given moment during the event to determine what might have happened to a particular bike, and so it's pretty futile to assume anything until the proverbial dust settles.

At the end of the event, lost bikes (e.g. abandoned ones that have been gathered up) can be recovered at Playa Info. Unclaimed bikes are donated to Reno-based non-profits that fix them up and provide them to underprivileged kids.

That said, DO NOT ABANDON YOUR BIKE ON PLAYA. Leave No Trace, people. Take it home with you, just like you take everything else you've brought.

http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/ ... found.html

[TT120]

When I was leaving on Tuesday last year, there were bikes laying around all over the place. I considered picking up a couple of them and taking them home with me to use for next year. Would that be stealing or mooping?

[TT120]

never mind, I somehow missed Trilo's post above. No bike stealing for me.

[Dr. Pyro]

My problem is that I didn't abandon my bike in the middle of the playa, rather I did not lock it and somebody swiped it from Barbie Death Camp. They likely dumped it somewhere rather than bothering to "take it home". I suspect that is a bigger problem (let's face it, thieves make really lousy burners) than some poor guy just leaving it on the playa.

[trilobyte]

It might be worth hitting up the lostbikes@burningman.com address (if you haven't already), if a bike thief just rode it off and ditched it someplace there's a chance it was collected at the end of the event (that is, unless decidida74 or one of her campmates grabbed it).

[Dr. Pyro]

For a lousy $20, which is what it cost me at a garage sale, I'll just get another one. Probably overpaid the first time.

[bandaloops_M&L]

Yes locking your bike is important because bikes were being taken accidentally or stolen a lot. I always tried to remember to lock it...however, the one time I left it laying on the ground at robot heart it was patiently waiting for me when I returned during the day two girls helped me recover it and I have since gifted it to my friend who had two of his bikes go missing. I would not consider a lot of the bikes moop just because taking other people's bikes always happens and therefore if no one brings it home to the rightful owner it is lost until the end of the event. I know I would have been choked if someone took my bike thinking it was moop if it was taken from my camp.
Thankfully luck was on my side...just don't steal people's bikes! And don't bring your super expensive bike to BM because it is such a common occurance. Plus the playa dust eats at them for sure.

[9ah]

It might be worth hitting up the lostbikes@burningman.com address (if you haven't already), if a bike thief just rode it off and ditched it someplace there's a chance it was collected at the end of the event (that is, unless decidida74 or one of her campmates grabbed it).

Very true... very true... I did cart a few bikes off to center camp. If the red, beat up bike was anyones on here I can point ya to the car wash that it was dropped off at.

Is there a protocol when you see people pack out their camp and leave a pile of metal and rubber? Or see them riding their bikes to the corner before walking back to their camp? Tap on their window and tell them they forgot their bikes. TRUST me, I'm not planning on stealing any bikes this year. I barely used my own bike, which at 20", almost nobody other than a 12 year old girl would want to borrow.

[pink]

I stayed until Tuesday this year and there were at least ten bikes abandoned by the potties at 7:30 & D. Most were broken or damaged in some way; missing pedals, brakes, etc. most were cheap Walmart bikes (described as such by the bike fixer camp also next to the potties), including a matched pair. None were decorated. I called them as abandoned and brought two home.

Ugh, now I gotta list 'em on found. And I thought I was being a good moop nazi.