bike with serial removed

[frogger]

Hi all I'm new here , I recent lost my drivers license so started collecting what I could to build the best free/cheap bicycle I could. I had let my friends know if they had any old bikes they didn't want to let me know as well as on a motorcycle forum I'm on. One member of the forum contacted me on facebook offering a giant warp ds2 as he cracked the weld on the frame and also a giant alias he had found on road side collection which he noticed had its serial number ground off and painted over.

He gave them to me as he has other projects and wanted the shed space, I also highly trust that he didn't steal these bikes as he is a dedicated family man.

I'm wondering if I should contact the police or if its pointless due to having no serial. It will be a big hassle for me to get the bike to the police station due to having no license and the closest one is around 14km away. Also I'm not sure I would want to ride the bike in case I am breaking a law ?

Thanks in advance
Frogger.

[jules21]

the one with the serial no. ground off would appear to be most likely stolen. you're potentially breaking the law if you keep it.

[RonK]

Read about another forum member's recent experience here.

[Derny Driver]

I dont think the Police will bother with it.
I bought a bike from Cash Converters, thinking it was legit as they have to take people's drivers licence numbers when they buy and sell stuff. It was an old Giant beach cruiser with 3 speed hub gears, bit of a bargain at $63. Did a few rides with the gf to coffee shops etc, was good. Few weeks later and its Australia day so I hit the big festival at Wollongong, left the car at home and rode there with my blow up kangaroo and flag. Saw heaps of people I knew, anyway I saw a bunch of bike riding mates and rode over to them and one jumped up and said "Thats my bike!"
He told me how it was stolen 2 years earlier and we agreed to talk about it later. i went home and reported it to the cops who came over and took details. They said they really should confiscate the bike but since the owner and I knew each other they left it for us to sort out. I heard nothing about the Police investigation. I suppose legally the bike was mine, and the owner had bought a replacement one years ago, but I offered to give it back and he was keen to get it back. Im happy to wear the $63 loss in order to do the right thing by this guy.

[jules21]

I suppose legally the bike was mine,

nah it was his you can't buy a stolen bike

[InTheWoods]

Frogger if you're concerned what about just phoning up the closest station?

[frogger]

Yeah I'll phone them up, I guess my main concern is they likely won't be able to track the original owner and it will goto an auction or something. The bike wasn't rideable when I got it and I've put in a few days work to get it rideable but I'd like for the original owner to get it back.

The warp ds2 is getting the frame repaired tomorrow by a welder friend so I'll claim my bits back off the alias and then put it away till the cops tell me otherwise.

I had a guy road rage on my once , he drove over my motorcycle and wrote it off then drove away after assaulting me. I had witnesses and his number plate and the cops did nothing so I don't see them caring about this.

[just4tehhalibut]

Over this way if you see a bike on a roadside verge (or bulk) rubbish collection and pick it up it is stealing, unless you knock on the owner's door and ask for it. So tread carefully when you contact the cops.

[zero]

I'd treat the welded frame as an object of extreme suspicion. When you weld aluminum it will get brittle near the weld, and it probably cracked because of the welding done on it in the first place, ie it will have a serious brittle heat affected zone after he's done with it, so a future failure will probably be a lot faster, and may progress straight to failure instead of audible creaks and cracking.

Lot of difference between aluminums lifespan subject to cyclic loading from bicycle rider mass and road knocks compared to static loading like holding some glass in place.

If you look at gripsports picture pages, you'll see that their repairs often involve additional load bearing material.

[ldrcycles]

The warp ds2 is getting the frame repaired tomorrow by a welder friend

Be careful! That frame is 6061-T6 aluminium and pretty thin too so unless he is a damn good welder and knows the right filler metal to use and how to properly heat treat it you're asking for trouble. Back when I was an apprentice sheety I got the best TIG guy in the factory to try and weld an extension onto the steerer of a set of forks I got 2nd hand, not having welded 6xxx before neither of us thought to research the correct filler or heat treating and just welded it, looked fine till I fitted it to the bike and got 10 metres before the bars came off in my hands. Tread carefully.

[SquareWheels]

Over this way if you see a bike on a roadside verge (or bulk) rubbish collection and pick it up it is stealing, unless you knock on the owner's door and ask for it. So tread carefully when you contact the cops.

Yeah but how many people would actually have you for stealing the stuff they have thrown out. That would be a pretty low act from the person who placed it there.

[frogger]

thanks for the replies , ive editing this picture to show where the crack is.




its also that exact bike so if someone knows the year by the colour scheme that would be great.

the crack/s are on the side of this pipe and only the sides , it is still joined by the front and the back and it rides fine on the street however it seems to make a creeking sound when u put pressure on the pedals which is the reason I asked my friend if he could weld it. he is a really good welder , builds custom motorcycles for a living. ill mention the type of metal that was said so he knows. if its not looking safe ill use the parts on my old giant boulder frame until I can get a decent dual suspension frame. otherwise I have an old single speed road bike.

[AUbicycles]

I bought a bike from Cash Converters, thinking it was legit as they have to take people's drivers licence numbers when they buy and sell stuff

While it may not be worth the time, cash converters purchased and sold you a stolen bike. I would suggest that they need to be involved - and need to give you your money back.



Regarding welding Aluminium, I agree with the comments. I wouldn't trust a weld alone on Aluminium to fix a cracked weld, instead you will need to brace/beef it up. Steel on the other-hand is more accommodating.

[skull]

I suppose legally the bike was mine,

nah it was his you can't buy a stolen bike

How can he definitely prove it was his.

[BurtO]

I bought a MTB with the serial number ground off from the local tip shop a couple of months ago, it was amongst a pile of bikes the police had dropped in, all unclaimed stolen. So if they are donating them to be resold I haven't got a problem with owning it.

[zero]

thanks for the replies , ive editing this picture to show where the crack is.




its also that exact bike so if someone knows the year by the colour scheme that would be great.

the crack/s are on the side of this pipe and only the sides , it is still joined by the front and the back and it rides fine on the street however it seems to make a creeking sound when u put pressure on the pedals which is the reason I asked my friend if he could weld it. he is a really good welder , builds custom motorcycles for a living. ill mention the type of metal that was said so he knows. if its not looking safe ill use the parts on my old giant boulder frame until I can get a decent dual suspension frame. otherwise I have an old single speed road bike.

Its toast. The creaking sound is the cracks propagating. The crack will be on the inside of the tube just as much as the outside, and you cannot possibly expect to do a 100% penetration, and even if you did, you would produce an extremely large heat affected zone in the surrounding area, all of which is completely structural. The crack will just run on the inside past the weld.