Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)
  • (stolen bikes) Where do they go?
  • packer
    Free Member

    What I don’t understand is why frame numbers of new bikes are not added to the Immobilise website (or some other centralised database) at the point of sale – i.e. by the shops that sell them.

    Surely that would solve the problem of police not being able to trace stolen bikes once and for all?

    Scamper
    Free Member

    Must admit, i’ve never thought of the idea of being followed home with my Stumpy on the roof, but know its been mentioned i think i’ll be sticking it in the boot. Also having my car vaguely parked outside my house with roof bars and a “chase trails” sticker on the window is a bit of a give away too. Bikes locked in a brick shed, but pretty easy to get into with a crow bar although a locked 9ft high access gate would slow them down. Think its time to keep the bikes in doors me thinks.

    GHill
    Full Member

    What I don’t understand is why frame numbers of new bikes are not added to the Immobilise website (or some other centralised database) at the point of sale – i.e. by the shops that sell them.

    Surely that would solve the problem of police not being able to trace stolen bikes once and for all?

    Frame number is often filed off. Or at least it had been on the couple of “bought in the pub” bikes I’ve seen.

    MrSalmon
    Free Member

    Folk who lock their bikes up in sheds under the thinking ‘they are insured’ are also helping to fuel the trade and subsequent continuing income for thieves and their families.

    What do you want people to do though? Not everyone can keep them in their house, and if they’re not in the house (or even if they are) there’s a chance they can be nicked. You’re basically saying that people that own bikes that other people could steal are fuelling the ‘trade’.

    Scamper
    Free Member

    My shed insurance covers bikes up to £500 with no xs. I can cope with that for the Wife’s bike, but not my Stumpjumper. My present insurer won’t cover me for any bike over £500 and i refuse to pay £250 to cover the Stumpjumper from `specialist’ bike insurers.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    What I don’t understand is why frame numbers of new bikes are not added to the Immobilise website (or some other centralised database) at the point of sale – i.e. by the shops that sell them.

    Surely that would solve the problem of police not being able to trace stolen bikes once and for all?

    Yes and no.
    Years ago when I worked in a shop we (initially) had a triplicate paper receipt for bike sales, it did later all become EPOS-based but it wasn’t compulsory to record frame numbers until an incident when we had a customer phone up saying that the bike he’d bought 3 weeks ago had been nicked, could we tell him the frame number. No, we didn’t keep any records like that. He read off some code from his receipt which was just the EPOS code and asked if that was any use. No.

    He then became really irate asking why we didn’t have records, we told him it was his responsibility, he said he’d never been told etc etc, it just went back and forth.
    So after that it became company policy to record the frame number at point of sale and inform the customer about keeping a record of it.

    It’s not like selling a car though where there is a central database of everything. Bike (or frame) sales are so common that such a record is largely irrelevent, bits get changed all the time. You might trace a frame back to it’s original owner but who is there keeping a record of all of that? It boils down to a national database of bicycles similar to car registration, not impossible by any means but time consuming and expensive to enforce.

    I ensure that I have recent photos and lists of my bike specs, inc frame numbers, if the worst happens I can give that to the police or local bike shops etc.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    But then all I would need to do is look at the frame number on your bike, report it to the police as stolen then wait for them to call

    well, when I prove that I own the bike you presumably get done for wasting police time, or fraud or something 😕

    StumpyBlurRider
    Free Member

    dickinson’s real deal ?

    CharlieMungus
    Free Member

    well, when I prove that I own the bike you presumably get done for wasting police time, or fraud or something

    Yeah, I can see that, but i’d be surprised if most folks have proof of ownership of the bike. What with second hand bikes, frames, kit etc.

    Also What would conclusively prove it? A shop receipt? we can see cases where that would mean little.

Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)

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