Claiming an abandoned bike

[fastar1]

Having thought about it some more, you could treat it as a lost & found item and report it to police as such. My understanding is that if nobody claims the lost item within a certain period then they let you have it.
Except they'll almost certainly find the original owner given the VIN.

 

[Matt Rain]

you seem to think you get to decide if it's abandoned or not

Well yeah. I routinely make up my own laws and apply them liberally. I thought everyone else was doing the same.

 

[Matt Rain]

Cliff's notes for those with ADD, a reading disability or some other crippling disorder:

• Bike looks abandoned
• I ordered the UVIP and will try contacting the owner, either directly or through the proper authorities.
• I like boobies
• I am not trying to steal a bike

 

[Rob MacLennan]

Cliff's notes for those with ADD, a reading disability or some other crippling disorder:

• Bike looks abandoned
• I ordered the UVIP and will try contacting the owner, either directly or through the proper authorities.
• I like boobies
• I am not trying to steal a bike

And, as I previously stated, you should talk to the police about it. No ADD here; my concentration and memory are pretty good.

 

[fastar1]

Cliff's notes for those with ADD, a reading disability or some other crippling disorder:

• Bike looks abandoned
• I ordered the UVIP and will try contacting the owner, either directly or through the proper authorities.
• I like boobies
• I am not trying to steal a bike

You clearly wrote several times that you decided the bike is abandoned, and didn't indicate you were making any effort to determine whether it actually is or not until after people equated it to theft.

 

[Matt Rain]

And, as I previously stated, you should talk to the police about it. No ADD here; my concentration and memory are pretty good.

Will do if I can't reach the last listed owner. Hate seeing a bike just sit there and be used as a trash can.

 

[Matt Rain]

You clearly wrote several times that you decided the bike is abandoned, and didn't indicate you were making any effort to determine whether it actually is or not until after people equated it to theft.

I clearly have no authority to decide whether it's abandoned or not. I am guessing that it is. I'm a gambling man and this is a bet.

 

[sash]

Hey Matt. First, you should stop acknowledging posts that are not constructive or are trying to get you provoked. There are a lot of judgmental people here.
If you cannot locate the rightful owner of the bike, I would definitely ask somebody who knows the law. We have called police after an old Subaru station wagon was left on our street for months. It was towed within few days. I think that government will try to reach the owner and if owner can not be located the vehicle would be auctioned off after a period of time. I know what you are asking is to see if you can obtain rightful ownership of the vehicle before it is put up for auction. Interesting situation.

 

[Mikel]

I'm just intrigued with the story. My understanding is if you go to the MTO with a VIN and pay the $20-30 to get used vehicle package, which I think is required when selling your own vehicle to private buyer. That thing should tell you who the owner is whether it's a private owner or a leasing company or private owner with financing. I wanna find out what happens in the end!!! OP have you not found out who the supposed owner is from the information provided by MTO? On an unrelated note, I once had a Cavalier that was written off, like 2 years later I get a phone call from some person who was going to buy the car and wanted to know the history of the car. I told that person it was written off by insurance and they were very grateful for the heads up, they did the work to find out about the vehicle, and somehow managed to get a hold of me, so it shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Mikel]

On another unrelated note, this reminds me of a tales from the crypt kind of story. "The tale of the Abandoned 400 Ninja" I would throw in a whole back story of how the original owner was a beset by unfortunate circumstance or something really tragic happened to him like he was on his way home from his girlfriend's and he crashes or something creepy like that, then one day a new person comes along and buys the bike and becomes cursed and has to deal with it somehow. Anyways my imagination is getting the best of me, I should have spent more time creative writing in school.

 

[Matt Rain]

I got the UVIP. Looks like the guy defaulted on his payments. Bank has a lien on it.

Why wouldn't he try to sell the bike to pay off the lien? And/or why wouldn't the bank just seize the bike?

 

[Macs]

I got the UVIP. Looks like the guy defaulted on his payments. Bank has a lien on it.

Why wouldn't he try to sell the bike to pay off the lien? And/or why wouldn't the bank just seize the bike?

Bank obviously doesn't know where the bike is at if it's hidden in plain sight.

 

[Rob MacLennan]

I got the UVIP. Looks like the guy defaulted on his payments. Bank has a lien on it.

Why wouldn't he try to sell the bike to pay off the lien? And/or why wouldn't the bank just seize the bike?

Might have been one of those zero down, 60 month loans that has you so upside-down in value with the bike that selling it puts you further behind. I still say that you should contact police, because they might have it listed as 'stolen', ie. dumped somewhere.

 

[fastar1]

I really don't see any legal scenario whereby you end up with this bike at a steal of a price. It would be like finding the million dollar lottery ticket on a street corner.
Oops sorry, I said something not in favour of your plan. I am obviously a hater.

 

[Matt Rain]

Might have been one of those zero down, 60 month loans that has you so upside-down in value with the bike that selling it puts you further behind. I still say that you should contact police, because they might have it listed as 'stolen', ie. dumped somewhere.

Yeah, I just sent an email to Traffic Services.

 

[Matt Rain]

I really don't see any legal scenario whereby you end up with this bike at a steal of a price. It would be like finding the million dollar lottery ticket on a street corner.
Oops sorry, I said something not in favour of your plan. I am obviously a hater.

For the love of Phil Kessel.

It seems customary for people here to either skim a thread, or just read the first post, jump to some random conclusion then throw in their useless knee-jerk reaction.

I'll get over it.

 

[fastar1]

For the love of Phil Kessel.

It seems customary for people here to either skim a thread, or just read the first post, jump to some random conclusion then throw in their useless knee-jerk reaction.

I'll get over it.

I've followed the entire thread. Care to point out what I missed? I love to learn.

 

[Sunspark]

Call the bank. Offer to buy it from them!

 

[EaZ8]

(But seriously - anyone have a van?)

discount rental.

Cliff's notes for those with ADD, a reading disability or some other crippling disorder:

• I like boobies

me too

I got the UVIP. Looks like the guy defaulted on his payments. Bank has a lien on it.

Why wouldn't he try to sell the bike to pay off the lien? And/or why wouldn't the bank just seize the bike?

most people (including myself) wont buy a bike or car with a debt on it, im sorry but im not risking my hard earned cash on some strangers poor investments and purchases 9which generally has already runined their credit so they dont care about it at that point) in the hopes that he takes the money to clear the title of your bike or car you just paid 5,6,15 grand for (whatever the cost).
ive run into many bikes that have been hidden from their lenders, some with expired tags and low km.

i have someone who runs very in depth title searches for me once i find something i want to buy and hes saved me a couple times....i told one guy the date that his bike went into repossession and he started trying to make up some BS... told him to go buy a new aftermarket frame (common on harleys) because his is worthless with a $14000 loan on a bike worth about 7. (he made 2 payments on a 08 Harley sportster)

 

[Matt Rain]

Yeah, unless the bank will take 500 bucks for it, I'm not touching it.

Woulda been a nice simple project. Oh well.