Topic: STOLEN 77 CB550F in Portland %@!^ douchebags

[blounstation]

My 77 CB550F was Stolen last night by some douchebag. It's flat black with Bindlestiff stickers on the gas tank. It has NO gauges,turnsignals or a muffler. It has 4 into 1 exhaust with a rust pitted chrome tip on the end. It has brand new Spitfire tires on it and the rear tire is a raised white letter tire. If anyone see's this bike please contact me at (503)740-9457 thanks Eric

[Spikeybike]

damn that SUCKS , i've been there my friend.  good luck to you

[HITMAN]

That really sucks, I'll keep an eye out whole or parts.

What area was taken from? 

[mlinder]

I'm in portland. I'll keep an eye out man. It wasn't the same one you ran when we all went on a ride, was it?

[mlinder]

Oh yeah, and take your stolen add off of craigslist. Harder to trap people into selling stuff if they know you have pasted pictures and such on a selling site.

[paulages]

damn eric, that sucks. i'll keep an eye out for sure. what part of town do you live in? gotta make sure i put a lock on mine when it's left out overnight...

[neil young]

Sorry to hear about your loss
i always worry about leaving mine unattended.my steering does not lock.
i wish you luck in getting back.

[mlinder]

I'm gonna sink some redheads in the concrete outside my house tomorrow, for chains. Nothing to tie my bikes to out there but a small tree.

[MoTo-BunnY]

Sorry to hear that!  That is my worst nightmare, with all the work I have put into mine. I lock it every time with a crazy heavy lock and chain setup even though I have had a couple people laugh and say stupid #$%* like "oh, its just an old Honda - no one is going to steal that" and stuff. 

Forget that! - problem is, its Portland where there are roaming tweaker homeless (meth addicts) all over the place that will steal anything that isn't nailed down - even if just for scrap metal. They never lock the f**kers up either or if the do, they are out within days and back to their same old game. I see the same losers, over and over, roaming around for stuff to steal (I live in one of the worst areas for this too - NE Portland)

grrrrr. .  . .nothing I hate more than thieves!!!

Good luck on recovery, I know I will keep my eyes out for it.

[blounstation]

Yep that's the bike that had the whitewall on it. I usually lock it up but didn't have it locked for a few days. It's a good idea to take the add down, I was trying to get the word out there. i live in NE off of 45th and broadway, I've had two batteries stolen from my Nova before too. Damn tweakers... My parking is On street so it's hard to keep an eye on it all the time. I should have put a cover on it too, out of site out of mind goes along way... I have more reason to get my 750 up and running now. Thanks fellas

[MoTo-BunnY]

Yep that's the bike that had the whitewall on it. I usually lock it up but didn't have it locked for a few days. It's a good idea to take the add down, I was trying to get the word out there. i live in NE off of 45th and broadway, I've had two batteries stolen from my Nova before too. Damn tweakers... My parking is On street so it's hard to keep an eye on it all the time. I should have put a cover on it too, out of site out of mind goes along way... I have more reason to get my 750 up and running now. Thanks fellas

I drive by that area of town a lot, so again I will keep an eye out for it.. . .

I wish they would open up that new (empty) jail to lock some of these thieving scum up. I have NEVER seen so many car break ins, metal theft, and bike/cycle theft as in this town. 3AM around here looks like Night of the Living Dead with all the roaming skeletal tweakers on their bikes with f**ked up trailers looking for dope and/or stuff to steal. 

[cleveland]

Sorry to hear that. 

[bill3749]

Hey, Hope you find and get it back. Thank heavens I've got a garage. Oh, and I have a 110 pound security system

[paulages]

hey eric-- i'd try western cycle salvage and road hawk in the next few weeks. go in saying you're looking for a bunch of parts for a '77 cb550F or whatever, rather than barging in saying you're looking for a stolen bike, as they may not be too eager to admit they ended up with something stolen (i don't think those places knowingly deal in stolen parts, but you never know). there aren't too many avenues for someone use to get rid of it whole or parted without you having a chance of finding out. it's not like it's valuable enough for them to ship it out of state, and not common enough to part out and blend in in the market. the worst would be an SOHC4 owner who needed his or her own parts. 

[HITMAN]

Since it's not far from me, I can usually be found down at Roadhawk every two or three weeks scrounging for 550 parts and adaptable parts for my build.  If he received anything new it would be quite obvious in his inventory, and he don't e-bay that I know of.

Problem is besides a tank, frame and engine casing and maybe that rear wheel the rest of it would be hard to pick out.  Any particulars like chipped fins, scrapes etc?

[paulages]

Since it's not far from me, I can usually be found down at Roadhawk every two or three weeks scrounging for 550 parts and adaptable parts for my build.  If he received anything new it would be quite obvious in his inventory, and he don't e-bay that I know of.

Problem is besides a tank, frame and engine casing and maybe that rear wheel the rest of it would be hard to pick out.  Any particulars like chipped fins, scrapes etc?

eric should PM you the VIN# to look out for.

[MoTo-BunnY]

Where is this Roadhawk salvage place?  I would like to know of a local parts source and hadn't heard of this one, yet. (I'm in P-town too)

[HITMAN]

The guy that owns the place is a pretty good guy to deal with, and his stock seems to rotate fairly frequent.


Road Hawk Cycle
5801 Southeast Johnson Creek Boulevard
Portland, OR 97206
   
503-775-1042

[MoTo-BunnY]

The guy that owns the place is a pretty good guy to deal with, and his stock seems to rotate fairly frequent.


Road Hawk Cycle
5801 Southeast Johnson Creek Boulevard
Portland, OR 97206
   
503-775-1042

Kewl!   thanks for the info.. . .always good to have local connections on parts as feeBay can be spendy on the heavier stuff (extra shipping costs)   

[blounstation]

Yeah that roadhawk guy hooked me up last weekend with a bank of "parts" carbs for my 79 CB750 for about $80 less the western cycle salvage. Identifying marks on the bike, well..
*it used to be a hard tail and the welds are the parts getting surfaced rusted near the bottom of the shocks.
* the tank has a golfball size dent on the lower left of the tank (as if you were sitting on the bike) and also two gouges in the tank were the handlebars slammed into it when it was dropped.. not by me...
* It does have Spitfires on it but the front is a 110/90 and I think most people run 100/90's also the raised white letter rear. Not many running around Portland that I've seen.
*Fancy finned tappet covers
*The front forks are super greasy
*Honda was pounded out of the points cover
*stator cover has scratches from being dropped (not by me)
*if you were sitting on the bike the left side of the bars is bent towards the rider so much that you can see the fork tube cap clearly.
*the headlight bucket has been drilled on top and the neutral and oil lights are mounted in it.
*rear fender is cut
that's about all I can think of at the moment
 thanks again everyone... if my bike comes bike I'll owe some people some frosty beverages...

[cafebob]

just a thought, sometimes there will be a 7-11, bank, anything with a security camera running near your street...A long time ago a client of mine got a very modded RX7 back by going to a convienance store and asking if he could review the outside camera from the previous night.  Camera caught the guys in plain sight breaking into the car...he didn't get full plate numbers but the pictures where enough to track the guys down.  Car was found next day in their back yard, half painted over with rattle can black paint....stupid #$%*ers didn't even know the value of what they had taken.  It had a haltech computer in the glove box that was worth i think a little more than a grand...

One more thing, not to bring your spirits down, In my experience, motorcycles are rarely taken "on the fly" or for "kicks".  Somebody in your neighborhood, or who travels your street, zeroed it a while ago and probably took it to fix one he has.  On these older bikes half the time ANY key from the same model or even brand, will start the thing.

Funny story, back in the day when I did alot of RX7 work, and bought alot of the old 1st gen cars to part out, or make spec7 cars out of, we used to carry around a ring of old mazda keys.  Whenever we would buy a junker with out a key, we could almost always find one of our "extras" that would open and start it up.  Used to freak out the people selling them to us to no end.

bobb

[savannahcafe]

Dude, Im sorry to hear about that. I am planing to install a cybertrak on my bike. It is extremely small and is cellular and gps based. It would fit under a seat super easy. I carry them here at my shop so I wont have to spend full list price of 600.00 on one. If you guys want to read some info on them, follow the link at the bottom of my web site. www.sandflyautosecurity.com 

[bubbafun101]

Anybody heard from Blountstation lately. Spotted his bike and sent him and e-mail about 4 hours ago and no response. Also turned it in to the cops since they were only 10 blocks away at the station house. Anybody know how to get hold of him??

[cleveland]

That rocks!  Was someone riding it, or was it just sitting there?

[Sam Green Racing]

Well done 101.

Sam.

[blounstation]

********************** I got my bike back today WoooooooHoooo! *******************************

The cops called me today @ 4pm to say my bike was parked @ an intersection only about 10 - 12 blocks from my house.  It was still complete  and the jack knobs even added turn signals. I know it had to be some kid that took it because they wired up the turn signals with car stereo wire, the idle screw was CRANKED up major and they couldn't remember how the tail light went together so it didn't work. There IS bad news though, I think they blew the motor up. It was hard to start (it was already cold blooded) and when it did start I could hear it puffin out of the head and also see a good amount of smoke and oil too. I got it home in 2nd gear but I'll have to check compression when I can... Thanks again to everyone for keeping an eye out for the bike, You guys and gals Rule!

[blounstation]

Bubbafun 101 I didn't get the email but I'm sure your call is what got my bike back to me.... Thanks a ton and I owe some brews or what not.... lets meet up sometime...
eric

[HITMAN]

That is so effing awesome, you got it back.  Bummer bout the possible motor problem, with any luck it's a head gasket(I'm trying for ya here).

If you need any help PM me, I will also have some extra parts available soon.

[dustyc]

What a f'ing group.  Bubbafun, you rock buddy.  Glad you got your bike back -bummer they messed it up, but a great excuse to build it better. 

[heffay]

and the guy only has 12 posts at this point!!

i sure do wish my 72 suzuki tc125 would have come back    stolen the first week i moved to phoenix to go to MMI... it was my first bike, dad and i got it back running after a 15 year barn stay. 

[MoTo-BunnY]

yay!  great news!  that f'ing thief had no clue how many people in town were looking for that bike. . .lol (I had cruised around that area several times - I have a couple friends that live over there).  bummer the motor is toast but at least the bastards didn't get to keep the bike 

[bubbafun101]

All is well that ends well. Sorry about the motor, if ya had a 750 I could possibly help. got a couple of F that have beaning restored and I have acouple of spare parts.. So yeah I will take that beer. Maybe when the local chapter of Sohc riders(doom riders??) get together. As for the e-mail, I used the listed addy but I guess I screwed it up. I took the cops prints of your bike that you posted, because those silly bastards needed a description. I guess the location wasn't enough..lol. Oh by the way it was the exhaust that tipped me off. Since I am trying to fab one up, your with the turn down stuck. Good luck Eric, I am sure we will meet up, this town is too small not too. Take care,

Bubba
ps I dont post alot, just lurking and reading!!!

[paulages]

yay!  great news!  that f'ing thief had no clue how many people in town were looking for that bike. . .lol (I had cruised around that area several times - I have a couple friends that live over there).  bummer the motor is toast but at least the bastards didn't get to keep the bike 

i think i have a motor for you if you need it. give me a call or PM or whatever.

[agiyo]

Here are two more eyes looking for it.  I've had two bikes stolen in Manila and two cars in Portland.  Never saw the bikes again, but my first car was driven about 3 miles, parked for 3 weeks on N. Vancouver, and finally a business owner looked in, found my address and called me.  The other car went less than a mile and sat two weeks before someone looked inside, found a card and called me.

Both times when I called the police to tell them I'd recovered my cars they got really nasty and said if they'd noticed me they would have stopped me with guns drawn.  Didn't occur to them to notice the cars sitting on main thoroughfares for weeks, and I'm afraid the irony of their threats is lost on them.

So don't neglect to look in obvious places.  Some jerk may have simply used it to get to the next neighborhood where he can steal someone's bronze yard ornament.

Joe C.

[MoTo-BunnY]

Here are two more eyes looking for it.  I've had two bikes stolen in Manila and two cars in Portland.  Never saw the bikes again, but my first car was driven about 3 miles, parked for 3 weeks on N. Vancouver, and finally a business owner looked in, found my address and called me.  The other car went less than a mile and sat two weeks before someone looked inside, found a card and called me.

Both times when I called the police to tell them I'd recovered my cars they got really nasty and said if they'd noticed me they would have stopped me with guns drawn.  Didn't occur to them to notice the cars sitting on main thoroughfares for weeks, and I'm afraid the irony of their threats is lost on them.

So don't neglect to look in obvious places.  Some jerk may have simply used it to get to the next neighborhood where he can steal someone's bronze yard ornament.

Joe C.

It was found/recovered already (thanks to this forum!  yay!)

Yeah, I hate to diss on the Po-Lice but um, they aren't really known in Portland for putting a high priority on property crimes? (yet they will have like 3 cops on motorcycles enforcing a sting on bicycles running stop signs all day?!? wth!)

Because of the rampant petty theft around here (especially metal stuff - they even stole my garden hose sprayer thingy, once!?!) I lock the s**t out of everything now. Kinda sucks but what else can you do?  (well, a "tweaker hunting season" part of the year to help 'cull' their numbers, might be effective. .  he hehe 

[mlinder]

Kinda sucks but what else can you do?  (well, a "tweaker hunting season" part of the year to help 'cull' their numbers, might be effective. .  he hehe 

I have been a proponent of such a plan. A tweaker hunting license makes a lot of sense. Perhaps not a full season, though, possibly a week.
We'd run out if it were a full season.

[GoatBaSS]

I am all for running out.

x2 on the lock it down. You are lucky that it did not end up in some dealers junk heap. There is a total new economic order that has dealers turning into their own shops. We cant turn in a thief @ the pawn shop if they do not come in. We did help bust a car thief last week though...

[Hope]

Related to your recent loss, and may/may not help in the recovering of your bike:

I received the following response from ebay when I reported that I believed a bike listed on ebay as a parts bike was stolen:

Dear Hope,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to mongostaywithsheriffbart and
item 110196309902.

Your concern about the VIN is certainly valid, but we do not require
sellers listing motorcycles in the Parts Bikes category to include the
VIN in the listing. It is up to their discretion as to whether to
include it, or provide it to interested potential bidders.

If you feel the bike may be stolen, you may want to consider contacting
law enforcement authorities both in your area and where the seller
resides. To find law enforcement officers located by area, go to:

http://www.usacops.com

If you do contact a law enforcement officer, please let them know that
eBay would be pleased to cooperate in the investigation, but we need to
receive a request from them. To contact us, the officer can go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-ebays-role.html

To file a report, they can follow these steps:

1. Click the "report information to eBay" link.
2. Enter the information into the form, including:
- The case number
- The officer's name
- The officer's telephone number

Or they can use the information provided on the page below:

http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/law_enforcement.html

Thank you for being a valuable member of the eBay community.

Sincerely,

Darell
eBay Motors Customer Support
_____________________________________________

So, basically, if you find your bike on ebay, THEY WILL NOT CANCEL THE AUCTION FOR YOU!!!!  You must go through the red tape of making a report in your city and the city where the seller is from.  Ebay expects the authorities to contact them.

In this case where I had reported the suspected stolen bike to ebay, the auction was still ongoing.  Ebay did not cancel the auction, and the auction has ended with a bidder, and probably the buyer has the bike and the seller has the money. 

So, if your bike ends up on ebay as a parts bike, use your judgment because you may have to go through a lot of red tape to get it back.  Looks like it will be very time consuming to get your bike back if it ends up on ebay.  You may have to be the high bidder to get your bike back.

Hmm... think I should make this a separate thread so others can be aware of the steps they may need to take if their bike ends up on ebay?  Should it be a sticky?  You shouldn't have to wait until it happens to you to find out what you will need to do to recover your bike!!!!