People doing stuff on your bike

I was at a locale bascillica near Milwaukee recently. From high above the public parking area I could see my bike at the back of the lot. It's an older BMW R1100RS, rarely attracts any attention. Good thing that.

A group of various brand cruisers were parked a the front of the lot. A family/group, with little kids (Hispanics, I could just hear their voices, but really has little to do with the story), passed through the bikes. A gal in the group, 20 something, sits on the bright blue Road Star and has her picture taken. Then, the three little kids, seven or so and younger, each climb on or were lifted onto the bike for thier picture. Then they walked over to thier mini-van and left. Nothing malicious, they were careful. But still, bikes are easy to knock over or damage.

I recall once some douche-bag emptied his ashtray butts behind the lower flap for my tabk bag on my RS. Really pissed me off. No damage done of course. But if I had dumped my trash on his car seat.......

It could be worse. When I was posing one of my Ducatis at that spot where you can get the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco in the background, a bus full of Japanese tourists pulled up and several of them wanted their photos taken on the bike with the bridge in the background. Then some of them wanted to wear my helmet too. Hard to be polite while refusing something that seems so simple.

It does happen,long ago I had a 71 Triumph Tiger,it sat in an apt parking lot.
Kids couldnt resist climbing on it,at least a few times I went outside and it was laying on it's side.

It was a tough imperfect bike and shrugged it off.

I'm more worried kids will get burned on hot pipes and such. But it would be easy for a couple of kids to knock over my KLR, so I keep a close eye on it if the grandkids are around.

I've never figured out why kids and even many adults will make a beeline for a dank, sweaty helmet and pull it on.

Helmets are very... personal items. I mean, I don't walk into your office and pull on your underwear without asking first.

However, I have learned that if you startle a kid by yelling "NO! NOT A TOY!" they will inevitably drop the helmet onto the nearest hard, abrasive surface. And start crying. And somehow, I'm the asshole... :huh

Hmmm...when I park my 1150GSA in a public place and put it on the center stand, I never see anyone sitting on it.

Answer: everyone buy bikes too big for the kiddies to climb on!

put a cover on it

or

get used to kids climbing on it

burned finger/toe = they learn something

I've never minded being the asshole, any way you look at it my investment is MINE, if others show a little respect they'll receive the same.

Or ask RTWDoug for one of his stickers.

If someone were to ask to sit on the bike for whatever reason, ok, I'm not usually in that big of a hurry anyway and they're unlikely to be able to abuse it more than I do in a brief sit on.

People who just feel enitled to sit on bikes they haven't asked permission to sit on are fucking rude and should be beaten with a trout (or equivalent) about the head and neck until they're either dead or understand the concept of private property. I would love to fit some sort of taser like shock device into the seat for an "alarm" system. It is unfortunate that would be illegal though, even with warning stickers.

I once saw a lady across the street from where I worked who had a little rug rat climbing on a Gold Wing while she chatted obliviously on her cell phone. I yelled at her to get her kid off of the bike. She looked a little startled so I pointed out that the bike would kill her kid if it somehow managed to knock it over on itself. Admittedly that probably wouldn't ever happen with anyone under six but if the bike hadn't been safely put on the side stand it might be possible. Besides that the kid was dragging his shoes across the tank etc as he climbed on it. I went over and left a note for the owner to check his switches as the kid could reach the bars.

I just had a situation where several drunk high school kids were climbing all over my bike. Didn't hear about until the next morning from the neighbor who called the police. Of course, that was the night I forgot to put the cover on.

The Vstrom is easier to knock over than you think, and then what happens when one of the girls that was climbing on it drops it on her and has a severe leg fracture?

This being California, I wonder if I would be named in a lawsuit? Even though the bike is parked in it's own spot on private property.

This crap happens with cars too. Went on a trip with a friend in his new 'Vette last year. At a motel near Knoxville Tennessee we put the car cover on. Came out in the morning to find the cover laying on the ground near the car. It took two the of us a bit of stretching to get that thing on or off so we know it didn't blow off.

In a recent MSF BRC I taught, we had a newbie girl knock over a parked bike (Suzuki GZ250 on the sidestand), while climbing off it in the garage. So it is possible to knock over a parked bike easily.

I recall years ago, some cycle owner complained to Ann Landers about strangers, mostly kids, just climbing on his parked bike. The letter author I suppose expected Ann to agree with him it was rude to handle other people's property. But, Ann said somehting to the effect that your parked bike was considered an "attractive nuisance", get over it and get on with life. Basically, your fault, you own an attractive object, put up with people climbing on it. In fact she lumped a cycle in the same category as a backyard trampline.

My parents taught me to keep my hands off other people's stuff. Ann was full of BS in my opinion, plus she never owned a bike for certain.

Would I be pissed if someone knocked over my (imaginary) prized Ducati because they were climbing all over it? Or destroyed the fairings on my (still imaginary) immaculate R1?

Fucking oath I would be.

If someone opened their door onto the bike or something, well that would suck, but it would be an accident. If they were clambering all over my property without permission then I'd be annoyed, especially if they knocked it over.

However, as has been mentioned previously, it's pretty frigging hard to pose on a dirt bike since most are super tall plus the general public prefers the same aura of a customised, specially painted cruiser (which is also easy for teenagers, children and general knobs to go up and sit on).

How about an experiment. Park a trail bike next to some other bikes in a populated area and I'll bet that no-one will try and get on it...

...well except for the sketchy prick who tries to steal it.

You would have to be drunk to think a Strom is attractive enough to get on it. Sober people don't even look twice , or say "Gross" when they see one

Wouldnt you be worried about people throwing up on it?

That's right!
That's why the drunk bitch that climbed on my XR, and proceeded to fall right over the other way, couldn't stay upright. I didn't see it happen but a couple friends watched the whole thing go down(literally).
Then her and her husband just stood there and looked at it on its side, with the helmet some twenty feet away. Didn't even try to pick it back up. Then, as I was approaching they walked back over to their vehicle! :huh
Things got ugly when I told her and her asshole husband that they just slammed a $400 Shoei helmet on the ground. That's when he said , "call the cops, you're trying to rip us off!" Best advise ever from a drunk! He also said he could get me a "just as good" helmet for $50. Ah, a pirate wannabe with their toy, non DOT skid lids...

Long story short, the report the LEO made, mentioning he smelled alcohol on her breath, and the fact that they wouldn't agree to pay the "low" estimate I'd come up with(after they said they would in front of the LEO), came in real handy in court. The judge awarded me half again what I'd been asking for...then their insurance company sent me a check for almost double!

When I leave my Jeep somewhere with the top off often there is crap other people leave. I guess think its funny to dump their trash in it. I have found empty cigarett cartons...a beer bottle wedged in the steering wheel....cans....nothing that damages anything....but its just rude...Same with my pickup....often people throw trash in the bed....People are generally Ass holes...

I don't if anyone has messed with my bike but I would be pissed if I saw someone let their kids sit on it with out asking....Again its rude behavior....Would they like someone sitting in their car??

Once whilst at Yosemite, a couple a smoke'n hawt Japanese girls dun wanted their picturez taken on our bikes. We said; "hell yeah little filly, climb aboard!"
Put 'em on the center stands, helped 'em on, and took their pics.



Of course there wuz that time when sum girl jumped on mah bike, and I asked her kindly ta git off. She just said; "fuck you banjoboy!" And laughed at mah shit. :huh
No respect!

Ha, you are right about that! It's generally not considered an attractive bike. Mine was all dirty from the dirt as well, and I don't think the top box and two side cases made it any easier to climb on.

It is personal property too. Weird that the general public thinks it's ok to mess around with. I wonder if people with convertible cars run into the same problem? And who the hell removes a cover from a car!? I've had that happen too, except the cover was stolen!