Abandoned bikes - what are the laws?

[twain]

This has been on my mind ever since i moved to Brighton. I see abandoned bikes EVERYWHERE and sometimes it breaks my heart to see what gets orphaned out on the streets, not to mention the trampled ones as time goes by....

being a member of the public, i cant just take it. thats stealing apparently. but is there a way of getting hold of these? i see council notes attached to them sometimes, but what happens to them when they are taken away? bike heaven? or a warehouse and eventual auction...???
anyone? :?

 

[silverclaws]

As far as I know, abandoned bikes are just skipped, as the council makes money on recovered materials.

With this in mind, I got a neighbour who works for the refuse department looking out for useful stuff.

You see, once they have gone through the notification process and the bike is still not moved, it is treated as refuse and there treated accordingly. But no doubt the oppo's concerned complete with bolt cutters and disc cutter know there is a market for old junk, and no doubt much of that junk ends up on fleabay. There is always a perk to be found in every form of occupation.

 

[orange71]

re-use is better than recycle - but the govt (or law) doesn't see it that way

 

[silverclaws]

Well, depends on one's thoughts, if you know the council is coming to take the thing, it is obvious it is abandoned, so do your local council a favour, save them money in these cash strapped times and get it yourself. What is anyone to say beyond the notice has worked and the wreck has been removed.

Student town, bikes bought cheaply, or even bikes from pre college days used as a commuter for college, when graduation happens things from the past get forgotten as they move on with their new life. I know, as I have left two bikes like that, a Raleigh racer thing and a Dawes racer thing.

But if you live in a town with a high population of students, there exists a small business opportunity; liase with the council to remove the wrecks yourself after the notice has expired and recycle the machines on the premise that you are providing safe, legal and reliable cheap bikes for students, with a repair and buy back or recovery option ( thus keeping wrecks from littering the streets). That way, interesting bits can be recovered and you are providing a service to the young. Councils like to hear about recycling schemes and schemes that save them money and provide a service to those who come to their town to study and spend money.

 

[marin man]

Simple,there was a kili flyer,with some remnants of an m900 groupset chained up in my town for about four weeks,slowly got more delapidated,after about ten days the council put a note on it saying if it was not removed in two weeks they would take it for recycling,I looked at the date and on the morning they were meant to collect it it was still there on my way to work,so I took the mechs as they were easy to get off,the council must have turned up at lunchtime as it was gone when I went home at 14:00 hours,the mechs went on fleabay and made me about 30 quid,some one is using these quite happily where as they would have been put in the crusher at the tip later that day......

 

[legrandefromage]

This has been on my mind ever since i moved to Brighton. I see abandoned bikes EVERYWHERE and sometimes it breaks my heart to see what gets orphaned out on the streets, not to mention the trampled ones as time goes by....

being a member of the public, i cant just take it. thats stealing apparently. but is there a way of getting hold of these? i see council notes attached to them sometimes, but what happens to them when they are taken away? bike heaven? or a warehouse and eventual auction...???
anyone? :?

I built a whole bike out of abandoned student bikes in Hove and Brighton when I lived there.

 

[twain]

This has been on my mind ever since i moved to Brighton. I see abandoned bikes EVERYWHERE and sometimes it breaks my heart to see what gets orphaned out on the streets, not to mention the trampled ones as time goes by....

being a member of the public, i cant just take it. thats stealing apparently. but is there a way of getting hold of these? i see council notes attached to them sometimes, but what happens to them when they are taken away? bike heaven? or a warehouse and eventual auction...???
anyone? :?

I built a whole bike out of abandoned student bikes in Hove and Brighton when I lived there.

I used to do circuit walks around certain areas knowing people throw this kind of stuff out all the time. i even came across a Raleigh Maverick, flat tyres and no brakes. 10 quid later and i had a summer ride which i sold on for £35 a few months later

it is a bit of a gold mine. I even used to find whole frames left outside peoples houses and on drunken stumbles home. those were the days!!!

and to add to Silverclaws comment, there is definately a business opportunity there. i think a few more episodes of the Apprentice and i'll have the impetus to get out there and enquire about it! there are a few good second hand bike stores around (one i visit regularly) but most of the others are run by hicks and i don't like them TBH :x

 

[silverclaws]

Well, if you like building bikes in your part time, a part time business perhaps.

I am all in favour of free enterprise, and recycling is this rather wastful society we have become.

But if you have any qualms about liberating bits off clearly abandoned bikes, just think of what you might be buying on ebay.

 

[marin man]

I have often thought that when buying stuff from there :? but considering that sainsburys dont care if the money they take comes from drugs etc.Then equally I dont really care where the bargains come from,I would not KNOWINGLY buy stuff if it was dodgy,but if I dont know,I dont do any soul searching about it........

 

[Ycawsfach]

In some cities these days dumped bikes are not scrapped but, where possible, are refurbished at joint charity/council run re-cycling workshops and sold off cheaply to the community e.g. in Cardiff.
You can always check with your council. Otherwise there's nothing wrong with making use of something that's going to be scrapped.