| Re: Police Bike Auction - Report
Diablo Scott wrote:
> Dave Mayer wrote:
>
>> Bikes that were more rust than bike, or looked like they had been used
>> as speed bump by a large vehicle. God knows what happened to the
>> riders... Perhaps this is why these bikes were at a police auction.
>> Evidence from past vehicular homicide cases...
>>
>> Anyway, the Ritchey would likely not attract any bids. I was tempted
>> to spend $10 to save it from a the crusher, but it would have taken 2
>> hours of waiting in a pretty depressing environment.
>>
>
> I purchased a bike at police auction that had clearly been in a
> collision with a car or truck - mostly for the parts, but I did
> straighten the stays out enough to be rideable for my college GF. Turns
> out it was supposed to have been tagged for evidence but the police
> screwed it up. The guy who was hit was suing for big money and his
> lawyers had purchased a brand new bike of the same model to use in an
> accident reconstruction - but then they found me and I convinced them to
> trade. Wound up with a new bike in trade for a $35 police wreck and
> some rebuilt wheels.
>
At the risk of being heckled as a dumpster diver here is one to
consider, go to the local dump and ask if you can buy parts or whole
bikes for salvage. I used to do that when I worked in Healdsburg and the
county dump was a 5 minute car drive away. It turns out that California,
home of the self indulgent and often overpaid, has a number of people
who just throw out a perfectly good bike rather than bother themselves
with a yard sale or something that might hurt their image.
I had to pass on some rather expensive bikes due to limited trunk space
and it hurt to think that a $500 bike might just become scrap metal
because it was 4 or 5 years old and not shiny enough.
Some people have too much money and not enough brains, kind of going
against the whole Darwin thing.
Bill Baka
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