Motorcycle recovered in Calif 46 years after theft

Nice little nest egg.
Where can we buy into a scheme like that !

Good job it mentioned that it wasn't insured.
Insider numbers in the insurance business suggest that up to 50% of 'thefts' are anything but.
Depending on country, county and make of bike, we'd guess....

P.S. If the current owner bought it all legally and legit though, this opens a can of worms. ??
Anyone who has tried to recover something from a pawn shop will know how difficult this can be.
And that may only be one step away from the article being stolen.
This one could have had a string of owners who bought it, quite legally ???
 
I think if you buy something that is stolen, even unknowingly, it is never a legal sale regardless of how many 'innocent' purchasers it has been through. I hope the old boy is still fit enough to ride the bike, I'll bet it's in better shape now than when it was stolen.
 
dave M said:
I think if you buy something that is stolen, even unknowingly, it is never a legal sale regardless of how many 'innocent' purchasers it has been through. I hope the old boy is still fit enough to ride the bike, I'll bet it's in better shape now than when it was stolen.

If you try and recover something from a pawn broker that is stolen, it is a hell of a legal battle. !
Even if it was just yesterday...

I know of someone who had to buy his own bicycle back.
Luckily they didn't know its true value, was more a token amount.
 
I suppose it is different in different jurisdictions. I think if you bought a stolen bike from someone in good faith you would have recourse to them for compensation, if they had also bought it in the same manner then they would likewise have recourse to the person who sold it to them all the way back to the original thief, however I'm sure in this case the trail has gone cold long ago, but someone will lose out and I suspect the original owner will get his bike back.
 
I've seen pix of that bike on several forums over the years; don't recall if they were all posted by the same guy, or if it stayed in the same area over that time...

I'm sure the original owner is a happy man.
 
Rohan said:
dave M said:
I think if you buy something that is stolen, even unknowingly, it is never a legal sale regardless of how many 'innocent' purchasers it has been through. I hope the old boy is still fit enough to ride the bike, I'll bet it's in better shape now than when it was stolen.

If you try and recover something from a pawn broker that is stolen, it is a hell of a legal battle. !
Even if it was just yesterday...

I know of someone who had to buy his own bicycle back.
Luckily they didn't know its true value, was more a token amount.

Right, you have to prove that that self same item is the very one that belongs to you; the pawn broker has been to the dance before and knows well how to drive your costs above the value of the item so the pawn broker, a receiver of stolen property who is "out" the money lent on the item, evades his loss.

Still, the principal stands - no one can get good title to stolen property, even pawn brokers.
 
Perhaps some pawnbrokers are in the business to accomodate thieves ?
 
A very large chunk of society has a deep need for their services,
and we are only talking goods and chattels here.
They are supposed to check, and record, some id. ?

As the pol-ice say "lock it or lose it"...
 
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