BM-Commissioned License Plates Made by Local Artists!

[xtine2]

I was SUPER PISSED when someone stole my precious $200 TREK bike on the last day in 2004.

Perhaps BM could start registering bikes at the greeting stations (or even in advance, by mail!)

They could ssue cool BM license plates (of course, not the ugly metal ones) as part of the ticket price.

Perhaps an organized PUBLIC and AMINISTRATIVE way to LINK BIKE TO OWNERS would deter some of the theft!

After all, BM has never rejected the idea of private property for individuals.

I'm sure people would LOVE to volunteer to help in this effort.

BM could even commission several worthy artist(s) and craftspeople to make something super groovy for us to hang on our bikes year-round!

(And also to help others remember that someone may own and love that particular bike!)

[Chai Guy]

1. Lock your bike.
2. Leave the expensive bikes at home. (cheap unlocked bikes get stolen too, but you'll only be out $40 instead of $200 and you don't need 27 gears and front shocks on the playa anyway).
3. Lock your bike.
4. We need the LLC to start doing LESS not more.
5. Lock your bike
6. By the power of vested in me by the state of confusion, I hereby grant you the authority to create license plates and to begin to register bikes on the playa and implement any ideas that you feel would deter bike thefts so long as such ideas are not illegal nor do they interfere with anyone's immediate experience.
7. And lock your bike.

[HughMungus]

How about a registration system at one of the bike camps? You simply go there, give them the serial number off your bike (I'm assuming all bikes have a serial # on them; if not, they could easily etch your name/phone/email into the frame or something) and then if your bike is borrowed/whatever and you don't get it back while you're there, you get an email from the camp saying, "We have your bike at X location, come get it." If it's expensive enough you could even pay to have it shipped back to you wherever you are.

[Kinetic IV]

So do you advocate a boost in ticket prices to pay for the basics the volunteer minions would need to administer such a program? Who pays for the licenses themselves? What if the license won't fit on my bike? Or if it's a sticker will it mar the finish of my new bike?

Meanwhile even Wally-world in some places carries basic Kryptonite locks for under $20....which might be cheaper than the cost of those proposed licenses in the grand scheme of things.

Of course having a cool license plate or sticker on my bike for each year of attendance would be nice.

[xtine2]

I agree, locking your bike is NOW a basic step (although it used to be a different story) but IN THE SPIRIT OF SHARING, I had let a friend borrow my bike and HE didn't lock it. So THERE GOES THAT BRILLIANT IDEA! He was actually helping tear down a theme camp at the time. AND HE WASN"T EVEN PARTYING!

PLUS, we all know that BM gives away THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS worth of GRANTS to artists to create BM projects every year.

Why can't this be one of them...for the sake of the community????

As for registering bikes, that could EASILY be done ONLINE if BM really gave a crap. AND IT MIGHT ACTUALLY HELP REUNITE BIKES WITH THEIR OWNERS AT THE END OF THE EVENT ....(THUS helping to alleviate the logisitical nightmare of abandoned bikes).....I even wanted to adopt one of those abandoned bikes 3 days after the Temple Burn last year, but wasn't allowed to because they didn't know who belonged to what. AND ALL THAT ADMINISTRATIVE CRAP HAD TO BE MANAGED BY THE POOR BM STAFF & VOLUNTEERS AT THE END OF THE EVENT ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (AS WELL AS BY GERLACH, etc)! and at the end of it all, NO ONE WAS HAPPY EXCEPT FOR THE PEOPLE WITH NEW BIKES!

Let's have some PRO-ACTIVE, rather than RE-ACTIVE THINKING HERE for a change!

As for me taking on the burden myself, I personally don't have access to the funds that BM has...and I'm not an artist...Just because I have a general idea doesn't mean I have the means to implement it..

One would think that personal and private safety would be an important goal of community building at BM.....or is it simply EVERY PERSON FOR THEMSELVES....which is the vibe I'm starting to get. Is BM about self-reliance, or just selfishness?

Hey, if BM ARTS council wants to give me the grant funds to locate and manage artists and buy materials for this project, bring it on! I'm sure a quadrillion people would be interested in helping.

P.S. NAY-SAYERS SUCK!

[HughMungus]

Let's have some PRO-ACTIVE, rather than RE-ACTIVE THINKING HERE for a change!

So make it happen. Next year, run a bike registration setup at your camp.

As for me taking on the burden myself, I personally don't have access to the funds that BM has...and I'm not an artist...Just because I have a general idea doesn't mean I have the means to implement it..

Seems to me that all you need is a notebook to put names and serial numbers in. If you want to get really fancy and have photos of each bike registered and each bike found, use a digital camera. Cost = $2.00 for a notebook.

One would think that personal and private safety would be an important goal of community building at BM.....or is it simply EVERY PERSON FOR THEMSELVES....which is the vibe I'm starting to get. Is BM about self-reliance, or just selfishness?

It's important. If you don't want it to be "EVERY PERSON FOR THEMSELVES" then do something for others and setup the registration system. I'd bet that if you approached one of the bike camps that they would let you run it from their camp location.

P.S. NAY-SAYERS SUCK!

NAY!!!

[Chai Guy]

Ok, here you go:

1. 20,000 vinyl stickers from thestickerguy.com = $2,000
2. 5 engraving tools from Harbor Frieght = $35.00
3. 5 old used Laptop computers with Filemaker Pro on on Craigslist = $1,000 (I reccomend the Toshiba Sattelites, they kick ass).
4. One used Honda EU2000 Generator= $800
5. Two six foot long tables from Amazon.com = $120
6. One ezup shade structure 10X10 = $400

Let's just call it $5,000 when you add in costs like fuel for the genny, extension cords, I'd throw in a UPS backup for the laptops too.

So all you need to do is find 5 friends willing to kick in $1,000 each for this project, or 10 friends willing to kick in $500 each, and well, you get the picture.

Or, indeed, you could write an art grant for this.

Of course you might have some of this stuff already in your garage (or your friend's garages) so you could probably bring the cost way down too.

(Oh, and the idea being that you would engrave a serial # or other identifying info into each bike with the engraver and you can write stuff on the vinyl stickers too like that number or the person's camp name/address and stick that on the bike, all the data gets entered into the computer and you're all set).

[xtine2]

Now that's more like it!

Love to hear the ideas!!!! To me, that's what makes a forum great...an exchange of ideas...no need to bicker amongst ourselves (we can reserve that for normal life)....

And, Maybe I WILL take it on, if I can even get my shit together enough to make it to the playa next year!

Like I said, it was only a suggestion.
Who cares how fancy it is!!

I'm cool with the Sticker Guy!

Peace.

[scampi]

2005 was my first Burn - I had a problem in that the bike I bought was from a politically incorrect mass retailer, and it was one of 500 identical bikes I saw on the playa, most likely because at $50 a pop, they were cheap and easy to get hold of.

One day I actually had real difficulty locating my bike - I'm pretty certain someone took mine - but then I find one that was the same model, the seat was at the right height, it made the right clicking noise because the break cables were badly built and were hitting the back wheel... so I guess if anything I'm saying I'm pretty certain it was my bike, but who knows for sure? In my defence, I circled around centre camp ten times carefully checking each row of bikes - the thing that confounded me was that the bike that seemed to be mine just didn't seem to be in the right place as I remembered it, but I guess I could have gotten confused.

Anyway, I realised that it made sense to mark my bike - so I simply stuck white gaffer tape all the way around one of the frame erm... bits and wrote my playa name, my camp name and my BRC address. More to dissuade people from 'helping themselves' (which may well be why my bike changed positions at centre camp, i was in there for a couple of hours), but also so that if it did get lost, borrowed or stolen or otherwise moved, it should find its way back to me.

Just thought it worth mentioning as once I'd done it, it seemed so obvious - and much more simple than a number plating system - and lots of people in my camp followed suit, so maybe my simple idea is a good middle-ground solution?

Agree that people should lock their bikes up if they don't want others to take them, but I bought a lock when in Reno, but I didn't use it as I just felt a bit wrong lashing my bike to the stands at centre camp or wherever. Just didn't seem very Burning Man, plus with no other bikes locked up there, I felt like I'd look like a prick to be locking up.

Scampi

[HughMungus]

This last post made me think: people should just write their name, email and phone on their bikes. Then if it's lost/borrowed/stolen and turns up later, it can easily be returned. Now that I think about it, it seems retarded that most people DO NOT do this already (even here in the RW).

[AntiM]

One of the gifties left on my HFWA was a small ziplock bag, inside it were a ziptie, a tag with places to fill out playa and default world info, and stick-on laminate sheets cut to size to laminate the tag. Instructions asked that after you made your tag to use the bag for MOOP collecting.

Very nice.

[xtine2]

To follow up on earlier suggestions, how about including not only Name, Phone, e-mail, but also

Ta Da!

......PLAYA ADDRESS and/or THEME CAMP NAME!!!
(to be written in Sharpie on the sticker after you arrive!)

That way, perhaps some nice person might even bring it back to its owner BEFORE the event ended!

If I happened to see a neighbor's bike on the playa -- I'd probably contribute to the cause and bring it back to them.

However, I do still think it would be nice if some internet/computer whiz set up a simple form on the BM website where people could SELF-REGISTER their serial # and description (just like The National Bike Registry http://www.nationalbikeregistry.com -- but without the fees).

This way, BM would at have some sort of head-start in dealing with the leftover bikes at then end (and maybe even track down the MOOPERS, if desired)...

Also, it would be some sort of proof of ownership when all was said and done.

[Chai Guy]

However, I do still think it would be nice if some internet/computer whiz set up a simple form on the BM website where people could SELF-REGISTER their serial # and description (just like The National Bike Registry http://www.nationalbikeregistry.com -- but without the fees).

Once again, welcome to the DO-ocracy, I empower you to do this!

(and really, I've been waiting for almost a year just to get the archive back up, and I'm guessing I'll be saying the same thing after the event next year)

[Kinetic IV]

Do-ocracy? Meet the bureaucracy. The result? Welcome to Stalemate-ville, where nothing gets done due to egos, apathy, and red tape.

[Chai Guy]

Embrace "Radical Self Reliance" and you don't have to worry about red tape.

I also find it interesting that when someone's bike gets stolen the want to complain to the Rangers or the LLC, how about filing a police report with the BLM or Sheriff's Dept.??

[HughMungus]

Do-ocracy? Meet the bureaucracy. The result? Welcome to Stalemate-ville, where nothing gets done due to egos, apathy, and red tape.

What we're trying to get this person to do is do it herself without BORG support which might or might not happen. Why wait for BORG when this idea could be EASILY implemented? Shit, I might do it myself as an adjunct to my other camp functions.

[xtine2]

Come on guys!

Give me a break!

I never said I WOULDN'T or COULDN"T do it!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I'M GOING TO BURNING MAN NEXT YEAR! so why should I make it a priority. IT'S JUST AN IDEA!!!!

And out of this discussion we EVEN CAME UP WITH A DIY WAY TO HANDLE THIS THING! So, what do ya know!

You guys NAG and REPEAT more than my mother!

As someone who has organized tons of events (politcal, social, etc) and started my own busines, all on my own steam, I don't think I should have to be chastised by a bunch of bulletin board people who have nothing better to do than to post patronizing messages about obvious conclusions.

SO SUE ME FOR SHARING AN IDEA!

JEEZ!!!!!!

[Chai Guy]

Xtine, I'll make a deal with you, stop suggesting that other people do things and I'll stop chastising you for it.

[EB]

SO SUE ME FOR SHARING AN IDEA!

JEEZ!!!!!!

You're very sensitive about your bad idea. Why? Let it go, friend.

EB

[xtine2]

So, what is the point of this forum anyway?

Obviously, not for discussion...

It seems more like a pissing contest to me.

I guess there aren't enough trees at BM so you have to spew it all over the e-playa.

Congratulations. You guys piss longer and harder.
Just like real men.

Over and Out!!!!!


Oh, & By the way, I found this in the dictionary
- "Forum" - n., A public place or medium for open discussion.

You guys are fighting the wrong fight.

Good Luck!

[EB]

"Forum" - n., A public place or medium for open discussion

Let's have some PRO-ACTIVE, rather than RE-ACTIVE THINKING HERE for a change!

P.S. NAY-SAYERS SUCK!

You guys NAG and REPEAT more than my mother!

SO SUE ME FOR SHARING AN IDEA! JEEZ!!!!!!

Congratulations. You guys piss longer and harder.
Just like real men. Over and Out!!!!!

Don't let the door hit ya' where the good lord split ya'.

EB

[Chai Guy]

If you would like to discuss an idea that YOU might want to do some day, I'm all ears, I'll offer advice, encouragement and support. Ask anyone on this board. At worst I'll ignore you if I don't like your idea. (and by the way, I like your idea, which is why I offered some advice).

If you want to suggest that someone else do something for you, then I'm going to call bullshit.

Sorry if that bugs you.

[Jesus]

Ok, here you go:

1. 20,000 vinyl stickers from thestickerguy.com = $2,000
2. 5 engraving tools from Harbor Frieght = $35.00
3. 5 old used Laptop computers with Filemaker Pro on on Craigslist = $1,000 (I reccomend the Toshiba Sattelites, they kick ass).
4. One used Honda EU2000 Generator= $800
5. Two six foot long tables from Amazon.com = $120
6. One ezup shade structure 10X10 = $400

Let's just call it $5,000 when you add in costs like fuel for the genny, extension cords, I'd throw in a UPS backup for the laptops too.

So all you need to do is find 5 friends willing to kick in $1,000 each for this project, or 10 friends willing to kick in $500 each, and well, you get the picture.

Or, indeed, you could write an art grant for this.

Of course you might have some of this stuff already in your garage (or your friend's garages) so you could probably bring the cost way down too.

(Oh, and the idea being that you would engrave a serial # or other identifying info into each bike with the engraver and you can write stuff on the vinyl stickers too like that number or the person's camp name/address and stick that on the bike, all the data gets entered into the computer and you're all set).

Ok, I've implemented this! (Well...)
Everyone post the info to this forum next year. Done. ePlaya is available from the playa, and is searchable. I think all new bikes have serial numbers on them. Mine does, but it's on the underside of the pedal axle.
My iBook was stolen in SF, so I posted the S/N to the web (on a wiki) in addition to filing a police report (which means if someone pawns it, I should get it back). If anyone googles the S/N, my contact info will come up.

[xtine2]

Excellent Job!

I will also post the DIY alternative in the "Preparation section" of the Forum.

As suggested earlier, people can also take it upon themselves to LABEL THEIR OWN BIKES with their NAME and BM CAMP LOCATION + Other Worldly Phone #, put it in a PLASTIC BAG & TAPE it to the underside of the bke frame.

This way, perhaps we could cut down on the amount of "mistakenly borrowed" bikes, even if not the intentional stealing.

Also, a Laminating Machine with recycled paper may be another CHEAPER Alternative to the Sticker Guy (although more labor intensive)....Perhaps people could go to the camp and do their own???..and post to E-Playa at the same time....

Good goin...

xtine

[diane o'thirst]

6. One ezup shade structure 10X10 = $400

Dude, where have you been shopping??
Correction:
6. One Costco canopy structure 10x20 = $180.

[Desert Duck]

Was it chai guy that said it's a DO-ocracy? That's completely right. I've been faceman for recycle for five years, and I'm tired of people expecting to just take one of our bikes, or parts, or whatever, just because they're unprepared. I suggest that all the people who wanted something done volunteer with Victor of bike guild. Bring all your ideas, and whatever, and DO what you're talking about. You want the BORG to pay for it? Write a grant proposal. I've seen and done. BRC Rickshaw fleet last year was one of the projects I helped with last year. BORG funded that. Want it done? you guys should all get together and form bike registry camp. How many ways can I say this? You got nine different ways to do this, and they're all RIGHT! Pick one and run with it.
Oh, and I bring my $400 chopper that I built out to the playa every year, and yes I lock it. To itself, so it can't be ridden is usually sufficient. If I'm out with a group, we lock our bikes to each other. No stand, no tag, no theft.

[xtine2]

Thanks for adding not a single new thought to the discussion.....SIX MONTHS LATER!

[Desert Duck]

I'm not responsible for when you post, and I wasn't TRYING to add anything if you hadn't noticed. I was only reinforcing what others had said. I didn't realize that I would end up making you cry, or that there was any kind of time limit on responding. For that matter, I couldn't even tell when anything was posted due to it showing up as an incongruous numberstring. You want real advice? QUIT WHINING!!

[Desert Duck]

Oh, and there was one new thought, VOLUNTEER. If you read the whole post, as well as the entire thread, I was actually the first to mention VOLUNTEERING with bike guild. I did actually manage, through Victor and Bike Guild, to reunite someone with their lost or stolen bike. At the end of the event, we ended up sorting literally HUNDREDS of bikes, most of which were crap, and probably abandoned. If you VOLUNTEER, you too can make a difference. I know I did.

[xtine2]

Boy, you sure do get your panties in a bunch, don't you???

No one is whining or crying but you.....

Take another hit, why don't you.

Seems like you need it ....BADLY!!!