anti-theft idea

Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen:
Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame , covering the TREK ,
CANNONDALE, etc.
I'm not sure if these are sold in bike shops, but I suppose you can
make one up on the computer

THe downside of this is that you look like a dork, to some people who
think you ride a HUFFY.
I haven't tried this myself, as it is just an idea.
What do you think?

Ken

Reminds me of this story

Good sign!
--- Martin Pion wrote:
To:
From: Martin Pion
Subject: [STLCM] "Ex wife got car" rear sticker
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 12:16:17 -0500
=

Hi Dan,
=

This is an amusing piece, and maybe even worth trying (just for fun,
mind): a "bumper" sticker to affix to your helmet or bike to ward off
aggressive motorists (identified by the cyclist below as NRA members
et al.).
=

The winning slogan was:
=

"EX WIFE GOT CAR"
=

That's enough to get you sympathy from all those over-hormoned angry
males out there. (I assume there are no angry females?) I'd better
check this out with my wife before trying it though, in case it
becomes a portent. (Come to think of it, my present wife has the one
reliably running family car now, and I have to check before borrowing
it. I can't complain though. She usually says yes.)
=

Best regards,
Martin.
=

P.S. It occurs to me you'd need an illuminated version, maybe a neon
light, for nighttime use. Or perhaps it could be created with
reflective tape. Here's an opportunity for an entrepreneur....
=

from yesterday's Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/15..._Hancock+.sht=
ml

ALTERNATIVE COMMUTES

From Hull to the Hancock

Trying to get a four-wheeler's respect, on a bike

By Joe Berkeley, 6/8/2003

s a commuter cyclist who frequently makes the
bone-chilling ride from Hull to the Back Bay, I do
what I can to protect myself.

I purchased a headlight system with optional flashing
taillight. A neon-green jacket also increases my
visibility.

However, I had a problem beyond visibility: How to be
liked by motorists.

While most of my fellow travelers behave in a
professional and predictable manner, a minority do
not. Some become enraged that I occupy up to 18
inches on the far right side of the lane. Drivers of
trucks, commercial vans, SUVs -- even compact cars
toting four to five hormonally driven youths -- have
all at one time or another hollered at me, uttered
oaths that couldn't be repeated in a family newspaper,
and questioned my sexual preferences with
the enthusiasm of a lynch mob.

I theorized that if I proved to this group of angry
motorists that I am

not some freak clad in spandex, but a regular guy,
just like them -- someone who shares their pain,
understands their challenges -- I would extend my
life expectancy. But how? Finding an American flag on
a roadside one day, I fastened it to my rear rack and
started pedaling madly. The theory of this experiment
was ''You, Mr. Chevy SUV driver, are an American, and
I am an American. We have a lot in common. From the
mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans . . .''

The angry drivers were just as angry, just as nasty,
just as likely to question my patriotism. Down came
the flag.

Having spent an enormous amount of time riding past
vehicles that later pass me on the commute, I have
observed the following stickers on the back windows of
those most likely to yell at me:

''I am the NRA''

''Go Sox''

''Semper Fi''

Using my desktop publishing skills, I mocked up
similar signs to fit on the back of my bicycle. Before
posting them, I showed them to a noncyclist
co-worker named Kevin.

We decided that the ''I am the NRA'' sign could lead
to a shooting incident. Mounting a shotgun rack on
the back of my bicycle would add an air of
authenticity, but the added bulk would be problematic.

The Red Sox approach was also complex. When the Sox
win, sure, I could be given a bit more respect on the
road. But what about when the Sox lose a close one?
One bad bounce and I could be driven off the road.
Until the Red Sox win a World Series, this idea was on
the back burner.

''Semper Fi'' appeared to be a strategically sound
approach. Everyone loves a Marine, so that's good.
Marines know how to kill people who mess with
them, so I could inspire fear. However, what if a real
Marine saluted me inbtraffic? I would be a fraud. Back
to the drawing board.

I knew I had a winner on my hands the second I penned
it:

''Ex wife got car''

''Yeah,'' my co-worker Kevin said, nodding his
approval. ''Pickup truck guys are always mad at their
wives.'' One Friday evening, I tested my inspiration,
affixing it to the back of my bicycle. Guess what I
got: an abundance of knowing smiles from my core
audience -- angry men driving pickup trucks,
hormonally enraged young men traveling in packs while
crammed into small cars, homophobic van drivers, as
well as petite women in gargantuan SUVs.

I got plenty of thumbs up, too. And nods of approval.

One morning, a plumber and his sidekick rolled by in a
rusty pickup. The sidekick rolled down a window,
nodded sagely, and said, ''Yeah, and I bet you're
still paying the insurance.''

Other men have said, in family newspaper-speak, ''I
have been similarly imposed upon.'' And a few women
have actually pulled over -- not to hit me, but to hit
on me.

Most importantly, all of the drivers who can actually
see where they are going are giving me another inch of
room on the road. You can't ask for more than an inch.

Drivers who can't see where they're going, like those
helming the Grand Marquis Presidential editions or
Cadillac Broughams, just keep steaming along as if I
didn't exist.

You do what you can in this world.

Joe Berkeley, a creative director at Hill, Holliday,
always wears a helmet while riding. He says his wife
is not amused by the sign.

This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe's City
Weekly section on 6/8/2003.
=A9 Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

ken wrote:
=

Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen:
Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame , covering the TREK ,
CANNONDALE, etc.
I'm not sure if these are sold in bike shops, but I suppose you can
make one up on the computer
=

THe downside of this is that you look like a dork, to some people who
think you ride a HUFFY.
I haven't tried this myself, as it is just an idea.
What do you think?
=

Ken

In article ,
(ken) writes:
Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen:
Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame , covering the TREK ,
CANNONDALE, etc.
I'm not sure if these are sold in bike shops, but I suppose you can
make one up on the computer

THe downside of this is that you look like a dork, to some people who
think you ride a HUFFY.
I haven't tried this myself, as it is just an idea.
What do you think?

I've heard many people express their belief that it is
the ease with which a bike may be stolen, rather than
its intrinsic worth or appeal, that is usually the
deciding factor in whether or not it actually does get
stolen. I agree with them. Even Huffys get stolen.

I think it's better to make a bike hard to steal, than
undesirable to steal.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article , ken says...
What do you think?

I think there's 2 kinds of ppl.

1) Who steal all bikes
2) Who steal brandname bikes, and know them when they see them

Either way, you bike with fake stickers is gonna get stolen.


--
"There's a fine line between an attitude problem and thinking clearly."
d.B. ICQ: 138579247

On 5 Mar 2004 21:45:29 -0800, (ken) wrote in
message :

Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen:
Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame , covering the TREK ,
CANNONDALE, etc.

Standard practice on bikes left locked at stations is to brush-paint
the bike with Hammerite so it looks like a pile of cack.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On 5 Mar 2004 21:45:29 -0800, (ken) wrote:

Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen:
Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame ,

I think a better option would be to place a spring-loaded, barbed
harpoon ("The Shaft [TM]")in the seat tube. The Shaft (TM) would be
tethered inside the bike by a thin, ten-foot Kevlar cable attached
inside the tube down near the bottom bracket. You'd place an
unobtrusive key into the seat tube to disable it when you were riding
it, and take the key out when you park it.

Any weight placed onto the saddle would begin the process of arming
The Shaft (TM). In the absence of the key, few turns of the crank-arm
would release The Shaft (TM) through the saddle and impale whatever
was riding it at the time.

An audio alarm would be optional, and would loudly announce in a
computer-generated voice: "The guy with The Shaft (TM) up his ass is a
THIEF!" at ten-second intervals until the 9V battery went dead.

Even in a built-up area, it shouldn't be too hard to find your stolen
bike; you'd just follow the trail of blood and diarrhea. It wouldn't
be too hard to cut the cable. You'd be out a new saddle, and since
The Shaft (TM) is inexpensive and disposable, you'd be able to replace
it cheaply and conveniently.

THe downside of this is that you look like a dork, to some people who
think you ride a HUFFY.
I haven't tried this myself, as it is just an idea.
What do you think?

The upside would be seeing their faces when someone riding a HUFFY passes them
like nobodys business and laughing at them the next week after they went out
and bought actual HUFFY's to try to keep up with you.

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On 5 Mar 2004 21:45:29 -0800, (ken) wrote in

Here's an idea I came up with to lower your chances of getting your
bike stolen: Place a big HUFFY sticker on your frame , covering the
TREK , CANNONDALE, etc.

Standard practice on bikes left locked at stations is to brush-paint
the bike with Hammerite so it looks like a pile of cack.

Hammerite appears to be a brand name. Which of their products
would you recommend for this practice?

TIA,
Steve
--
Steven O'Neill
"Your search for bike cack returned 0 results"

"ken" wrote in message Place a big HUFFY sticker
on your frame , covering the TREK ,
CANNONDALE, etc.

Ken: around here, putting a Huffy (or Schwinn, Murray, Infinity, Dunlop,
Mongoose etc.) set of stickers on your bike will increase its chance of
getting stolen. Why? Most bike thefts are by drug addicts who sell them
for a few bucks. Small-time thieves and their cohorts in pawn shops only
know these brands.

Put two identical bikes out with Pinarello and Huffy stickers on it and the
Pinarello will be left alone. This situation played out here in which an
unlocked $4k Klein road bike was moved on a bike rack so they could work on
a locked $200 department-store mountain bike.

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 14:48:31 +0000 (UTC), (Steven M.
O'Neill) wrote in message :

Hammerite appears to be a brand name. Which of their products
would you recommend for this practice?

Any of them - the fake hammer-finish blue rust-inhibiting paint seems
to work quite well, as it's obviously Hammerite :-)

Hammerite used to be made by a firm called Finnigan's IIRC...

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University