Bike Stealing needs to Stop

[motionvideo]

Taking what is not yours is wrong. After four years of problem free biking at the burn, my Son and his buddy had their bikes stolen from Center Camp on Friday 2005. Not having any system to support victims at the burn reflects poorly on the community. I suggest that bikes left at the burn or recovered but no owner found, should be available for use at the next burn when people become victims of having their bike stolen. Having to go to Gerlech to rent one of these bikes is insult for the victim. Without a bike, getting around is not fun. There needs to be a solution for Stolen Bikes beyond reporting it on Monday when the burn is over. [b][/b]

[Chai Guy]

I've never heard of a bike being stolen that had any kind of lock on it. Locking your bike is advocated by the community and that information appears in numerous places.

It would be great to live in a utopian community where locking your bike or other valuables was not needed, unfortunately this is not the case.

It's not the LLC's job to make sure everyone has a bike.

There are several bike repair camps, you might want to join one next year and offer a free bike service to those who have their bikes stolen. It sounds like a project that you would be passionate about.

[HughMungus]

Taking what is not yours is wrong. After four years of problem free biking at the burn, my Son and his buddy had their bikes stolen from Center Camp on Friday 2005.

People who steal bikes and those who borrow them are cut from the same cloth -- they don't care about you and telling them "stealing is wrong" is about as effective as shouting at a hurricane.

Not having any system to support victims at the burn reflects poorly on the community.

Burning Man is what you make it. What's your plan for implementing such a system?

I suggest that bikes left at the burn or recovered but no owner found, should be available for use at the next burn when people become victims of having their bike stolen.

Cool. Make it happen.

Having to go to Gerlech to rent one of these bikes is insult for the victim.

The bikes that are left behind are a huge logistical nightmare and I think the money that's made benefits the local community. Be glad that you *can* "rent" a bike in Gerlach. That kind of service used to not be available.

Without a bike, getting around is not fun.

Been to Burning Man 6 times. Never had a bike. No complaints.

There needs to be a solution for Stolen Bikes beyond reporting it on Monday when the burn is over.

Make it happen.

[Chai Guy]

The bikes that are left behind are a huge logistical nightmare and I think the money that's made benefits the local community. Be glad that you *can* "rent" a bike in Gerlach. That kind of service used to not be available.

And it might not be available next year, or if it is they may have run out of bikes. Be prepared, bring a lock, bring tools, bring extra tubes.

[allanon2]

Taking what is not yours is wrong. After four years of problem free biking at the burn, my Son and his buddy had their bikes stolen from Center Camp on Friday 2005. Not having any system to support victims at the burn reflects poorly on the community. I suggest that bikes left at the burn or recovered but no owner found, should be available for use at the next burn when people become victims of having their bike stolen. Having to go to Gerlech to rent one of these bikes is insult for the victim. Without a bike, getting around is not fun. There needs to be a solution for Stolen Bikes beyond reporting it on Monday when the burn is over.

so did he have a lock or not? do not bash him until you find all the answers? please do not treat him the way you guys treat me.

ttyl
allanon

www.stopburningman.org

[DavidLieb]

I had my bike stolen this year, and it certainly was locked up! I got a flat at night and left it by the side of a theme camp. Next day, gone. I asked the camp folks, but they hadn't seen it either...

[Martiansky]

It was locked up and it had a flat?
Was the lock/chain/cable cut?

[EB]

Taking what is not yours is wrong. After four years of problem free biking at the burn, my Son and his buddy had their bikes stolen from Center Camp on Friday 2005.

That's unfortunate. I had a bike with a detailed el-wire basket so I made sure to lock my bike up at every turn. I noticed at the Center Camp that maybe 3 bikes in a row of 20 (30?) had locks on them. Did your son or son's buddy have their bikes locked?

Not having any system to support victims at the burn reflects poorly on the community.

But it does reflect well on the concept of radical self-reliance.

I suggest that bikes left at the burn or recovered but no owner found, should be available for use at the next burn when people become victims of having their bike stolen.

Again, I'm sorry your bikes were stolen, but this doesn't make any practical sense and sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare. The BMorg isn't FEMA. It's hard enough to get volunteers for the "fun" jobs, why would anyone want to spend their time on the playa dealing with people who (most likely) didn't lock their bikes up last year?

Having to go to Gerlech to rent one of these bikes is insult for the victim.

If you say so, but that still doesn't make it the BMorg's problem. Your attitude of entitlement is puzzling. This is a camping trip not Knott's Berry Farm.

Without a bike, getting around is not fun.

Here, we agree.

EB

[Martiansky]

It was locked up and it had a flat?
Was the lock/chain/cable cut?

I just reread that and DUH, it sounds stoopid...sorry.
I guess flats are not a deterant to bike theft.

I rode over to Center Camp and locked up my bike in the rack. Went in and when I came out I saw a guy looking really confused, look at a bike, put his cup in the holder, pull the bike out of the rack, look at it again, put the bike back, grab his cup and then wander towards a different bike. I thought this was odd......but how are you to know what really was going on......It's like going to a big shopping mall, parking your car, going in, coming back out and forgetting where you parked.....you walk up to a car that looks the exact same as yours and trying your key in the lock only to find......it's NOT your car!! On to another until your key works in the lock......or you remember where you parked!
I wrote my Playa name on my bike with a sharpie, had at least one person comment, "Hey, I know that name!" Got to meet someone that way! Yay!

Ahem.....I should say that I also believe that taking someone else's bike is low and mean.

[tontonton]

In regards to locking or not locking our bikes, I had my bike and Playa Fish (the large neon fish that swimming around at night) stolen from the entrance of the Wild Animial Sanctuary Space as our group was staging our school of fish to go to the Burn.

I had just dusted every inch of my fish, which was quite a task, so that it could glow bright for all the burner fans. I had left for but for two minutes, when I returned, my bike and Playa Fish was taken.

It's not like I left it out at a dance camp, center camp or an installation. It was in the entrance way to my camp with several other fish. We would leave them out, lite up, for the enjoyment of those passing our camp.

And although I miss my burning man bike of five years, I really was pissed that this thief stole my art, my Playa Fish. Seems so unheard of.


(On the other side of the esplanade, I later found a damage red specialized bike with green paint splashed over the bike's name. Looked like a stolen bike to me and I left it.)

I think the stealing is getting out of hand. I don't recall but maybe something should be published in the Survival Guide, reminding participants that stealing and/or borrowing bikes is not allowed and individuals caught in the act will have to leave Burning Man. Maybe the threat of a consequence will discourage some of this behavior.

And, I guess we will all have to buy locks, deal with keys, etc, etc,. if we want to keep what belongs to us.

[ZaphodBurner]

Every amount of publicity Burning Man gets is a brochure for professional thieves. The reality is, there are predators in society and $250 is an easy investment if you think you are going to steal thousands of dollars of stuff at almost no risk of being caught.

It would be trivially easy to buy a ticket, rent a moving truck, show up early in the week, snatch as much stuff as you can grab and then leave before anybody has a chance to find you.

Our bikes were customized and immediately recognizeable, and also totally worthless in the real world. Sharika got hers from Goodwill for $10 and fixed it with a chain and some WD-40, painted it gold and stuck a $1 basket on the front. Mine was abandoned by the brother of a long-ago ex-girlfriend and I pulled it out of the weeds and spray painted it. Left them exposed and unlocked from Sunday on and STILL couldn't get anybody to steal them.

-c

[Jim White]

My wife's bike was stolen this year. The loss of the bike was a drag as well as the loss of a couple of disposable cameras. The real problem was her one and only $100 asthma inhailer. Not to be politicly incorrect, but would the death penalty be a bit excessive for bike thieves?[/b][/b]

[regionalchaos]

What nights were they stolen on? I find I don't feel the need to look up my bike until wednesday or thursday...

[HughMungus]

What nights were they stolen on? I find I don't feel the need to look up my bike until wednesday or thursday...

That reminds me of what one of our neighbors said to us: "It's burn night. Lock up and hide your stuff."

Sad, but true. Still, there's nowhere else I'd rather be during the week before labor day.

[regionalchaos]

Also, sometimes, instead of looking my bikes up, I actually lock them up instead!

[Lassen Forge]

I know... it's sad. (At least you didn't lick your bike up!!! I woulda been worried!!)

What you need is to get a few jaded old timers who hang out at Kamp rahter than deal with the madness of the burn (I know there are a few of them) to stand guard at camp. Build a huge ass platform, and watch the burn from home. When you see the clean and slimy, you get to delete, er, divert them from their life of crime.

It worked out kinda good for us as there was someone almost always at Kamp this year. Even when there wasn't, someone friendly would walk thru just to keep an eye on things, and we had AWESOME neighbors on 3 sides....

The key is, tho... Have a bike that (at least looks like ) is a royal piece of shit, and lock your bike whenever you don't use it.
Make a strongbox you can anchor to the playa (a half dozen big eyebolts installed around the bottom of a metal footlocker box with Pounded Rebar to hold it down works wondes).
Be alert. Know your neighbors, and party with each other. Makes your camp effectively bigger (like a theme camp) and puts more eyes on everyone's stuff.
And ask people you don't know and haven't invited if you can help them - while looking at their face. Theives don't like to be remembered...

And to the person who's puffer got heisted... CARRY A SPARE!!!

bb

[regionalchaos]

I like the strong box idea... I haven't seen that one done before, but it makes a lot of sense.

[Lassen Forge]

Did it this year, and it stayed until I "jacked" it's rebar holddowns from the playa. WIll do it again, too... I think it was more secure than the wheels.

1 on the shrt ends, and 2 on the long ones, near the ottom, big enough to sink the rebar bent-top thru. Good padlock, and viola. Safe Storage. ANyone who's a ripoff ain't gonna hang in someone's Kamp jacking rebar out one at a time to grab a box...

If I could figure a way to do an inner one or 2 too, and still get them out...

bb

[Desert Duck]

I like that strongbox Idea, that's great. Haven't had to worry about that myself for a while, we have a container. And OH, YEAH we lock that puppy up at night. It's also a nice place for a couch, with a view of the playa toward the man, and directly over center circle. We have to lock up our cart bikes at night, and often I'll just hang out at camp to keep an eye on things. People have a tendency to wander into our camp at all hours, mostly curiosity, but often enough someone will be trying to get to something to take it.

[Desert Duck]

We also have a couple bike racks that we rebar down to give us a place to lock bikes to in our camp. Works well.

[Jordan 10-E]

Been to Burning Man four times.

2002 = No Bike = Wish I had a Bike
2003 = Bike, No Lock = Bike Stolen, Pissed, Slow
2004 = Bike, Lock = Bike Safe, Peace of Mind
2005 = Bike, Lock but didn't use = Bike Stolen, Pissed, Slow

2006 = Bike, Lock = Bike Safe, Peace of Mind

It's not hard to take time to lock your bike. It does take a long time to walk back to your camp, while pissed off, when someone takes it because you did not lock it. In the amount of time it takes you to think of reasons why you don't need to use your lock, you could have locked it up and been partying. Crap bike or not, without a lock chances are very high it will be assumed by someone else. You don't want that.

The main reason people steal bikes is not for monetary gain, it is because they either were not smart enough, or well informed enough to bring their own. Sometimes people that have their own bike stolen chose to repeat the cycle and take someone else's, even if they wouldn't have done such a thing in the first place. It is a vicious cycle that ripples throughout BRC as the week progresses.

Key (no pun intended) solution is to bring your own bike and to lock it faithfully. If you do that your worry will significantly decrease when you are at Center Camp or at a 2000 person party when there are literally hundreds of bikes.

Personally, I prefer not to have to worry about my bike so much that I have to go find it over and over to see if it is still there. Playa time is too valuable to be worried, or pissed off, or disillusioned. Protect your bike and your valuable playa time, lock your bike.

Peace

[Random_Cola]

My bike was stolen last year, it was my 1st Burn, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - walking through the event slowed me down a lot, I felt I was able to see more, and interact instead of moving to and from destinations...

It turned out by the temple burn everyone at our camp had had their bike stolen. Not everyone was as thrilled as I was.

[dragonfly Jafe]

...I have mused sometimes about making a bike to leave around with a built in cattle prod (or 3). After about 100 yards of riding (the stolen bike), ZAAPP! right to the genitals and hands. Then a recording says "you really shouldn't take other people's stuff - bad stuff might happen to you".

Or have the seat suddenly heat up with a brand that says "bike thief" right on their ass forever.

[Random_Cola]

There was discussion about putting small trackers on random bikes, and when they are stolen, just confronting the burner who took them, and see if the mindset is really on the "borrowing" or if they are just stealing. It may also be that someone is drunk, or incohereient and stumbles to the wrong bike. Another thing was, domino effect, "someone stole my bike so I'll steal another, and in the end it works out..." It'd be somewhat intresting/ammusing to see the reactions of such a confrontation.

[Tristan]

> The main reason people steal bikes is not for monetary gain, it is because they either were not smart enough, or well informed enough to bring their own.

i heard that in the past, there have been organized groups that have been caught stealing bikes and shipping them out of the playa by truck-loads.

given the number of bike stolen, i am pretty sure that there were organized people stealing them for monetary gain - or at least to pay back the cost of the trip to BM and the tickets.

maybe there would be a way to prevent that, by asking all vehicles that carry more than, say, 4 bikes, to register at the gate (i.e. BM would take their license plate number and give them a receipt), and by checking their registration (or licence plate) when they leave. this way, leaving with a truck-load or trailer full of stolen bikes would not be that easy.

i.e. if someone comes with an empty trailer and leaves with 30 bikes on the trailer, they would have some explaining to do...

[Tiara]

In fact there are a number of Rangers and Gate/Perimeter crew who voluntarily miss the Burn each year in order to be a watchful presence in BRC and at the exit gate while most people are out enjoying the spectacle of the Man burning.

Alas, it's a BIG city. And most of these people are already wiped out from having volunteered 30-60 hours during their vacation week. So they're stretched pretty thin, and not able to catch everything that happens.

If you want to volunteer to hang out at the gate and look for suspicious-looking loads of potentially stolen goods, by all means come join those of us who do our best to look out for this type of thievery. We're volunteers too, doing what we can to make Black Rock City a better and safer place.

Expecting the Gate to register all large vehicles carrying multiple bikes isn't feasible, though.

[Tristan]

Expecting the Gate to register all large vehicles carrying multiple bikes isn't feasible, though.

really?

i think all we need is to write the license place and number of bikes on a ruggedızed laptop.

and check the license plate at the exit, and see if the number of bikes quite matches.

[MikeVDS]

I haven't come up with an idea yet but I'm trying to figure out a good way to "lock" my bike without a lock. With costumes and all it's not always easy to keep a bike key handy. I'm thinking of a way to easily disable my bike to anyone who doesn't know the "trick" and easily enable it again. It keeps accidental theft away and will most likely discourage anyone trying to borrow it.

[AntiM]

Key? We don't need no stinking key. Combination lock, that's the ticket.

[Kinetic IV]

Get one of the locks where you can set the combo yourself. Our local bike shops sell a small cable lock that fits in your pocket, you set the combo yourself and it retails for $20. You don't need cryptonite locks out there, all you need is something to keep someone tripping from confusing your bike with theirs or looking for an easy ride back to camp.