my buddy just got arrested...

[m0n1]

heres the story:

about 3 weeks ago, my friend calls me and tells me a story of how there is this motorcycle siting in a parking structure in Beverly hills for about 14 months. he goes to tell me the manager of the structure said to take it and do a lien sale cause if he tells the owner, the owner will do the lien sale on it and the owner is a prick. he asks me if he can store it in my garage until the lien sale goes through, what ever i have the room. he picks it up, brings it over and I'm looking over the bike, 2003 Honda 900. no major damage, steering is locked, so there was once a key...cobwebs and leaky forks. as were moving the bike i look at the tires and you can see where its been sitting, plus the dust all over.

so today, he picks it up, takes it to a local dealer, they take the ignition off he takes it to get a key made. about 3PM i pull into my driveway, and he's there trying to put the ignition back on. we're talking, and he tells me the bike runs good, and he took it around the block. NO HELMET, NO SHIRT! i tell him he is a jackass and that at least wear a helmet, wasn't going to loan him mine though. anyway, he tells me the clutch lever feels weird so i adjust it a little and asks him how it feels. he tries it out and wants to take it out again. I'm standing there trying to convince him that the way it feels now is how its gonna be when its on the road and to just put the bike away. doesn't listen and starts to roll the bike into the street..NO HELMET NO SHIRT... i hear the bike zoom up and down the street and I'm waiting for him to come back. 15 mins pass so fuck it I'm going inside too damn hot to wait. about 5 mins after that, i hear voices and i look out the window to see my neighbor and 4 cops standing in MY driveway. WTF i run out through my garage and stand there trying to figure out whats going on.
officer 1: "you know the owner of this truck?" as he looks past me into my garage at my bikes.
officer 2: "you gonna run the plates on those two bikes.
me: "yeah i know him, those are mine, want the registration?"
officer 1: "nah, I'll just run the plates" walking into my garage.

whatever, i know my shit is not stolen. i didn't say anything about him going in cause my buddy probably told them that it was being kept there and the police aren't hassling me about storing stolen property. we try to tell him what we know and show him the lien sale paperwork, but they don't care. all they know is that the bike has been reported stolen and my friend was on it.

I'm just glad they let me switch out my boots he had on for his tennis shoes.
we were talking about gear and what he should look at getting, offered to let him walk in my boots to see how they feel. ICON FTW!

530PM bail is 35000.00
detectives wont look at the paperwork till Monday.

[NONE_too_SOFT]

So how is it legal to just take somebody elses bike then?

[m0n1]

if its not stolen, then he can process a lien sale for the cost of storage and such. process takes about 30 days and if no one disputes or pays the lien, then its his. legally. it was going to be about 2500.00 for storage.

oh, a licensed lien sale company came out and did the paperwork a few days after the bike was put in my garage.

[NONE_too_SOFT]

okay i see. still dont quite understand.

[WARputer]

So now what...bike goes back to the original prick ? This is a screwed up situation.

[azoomm]

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr8.htm

So, your buddy owns the storage place? If not, he doesn't have legal right to it....

Oh, and who called it in stolen?

[Mr Lefty]

I think the issue is, the only way you can do a lien is if you notify the owner first (if you can get a hold of them) if not... the 30 days is for any disputes... but during that time you can't move or take the bike... let alone ride it on the street.

I did one for a 4 Runner in AK... the owner took it to a shop and left it there couldn't pay the bill for the work done on it... so I paid the price of the work and did a lien on it... I was informed that I had to attempt to contact the owner at the last known address (which I had to put on the lien paperwork)... if he had moved (which he hadn't) then a 30 day dispute hold would be put on it.

sorry... but I think your friend is fucked. you might be also for holding it... depends on how far the owner wants to go with it.

[JoJoYZF]

Wouldnt there have been some other way to do this other than just taking it and hoping for the best?

[6doublefive321]

Originally Posted by m0n1

heres the story:

about 3 weeks ago, my friend calls me and tells me a story of how there is this motorcycle siting in a parking structure in Beverly hills for about 14 months. he goes to tell me the manager of the structure said to take it and do a lien sale cause if he tells the owner, the owner will do the lien sale on it and the owner is a prick.

Ok. If I read this correctly, the manager nor your friend had any right touching the bike. Only the owner of the structure, and only if the bike was "abandoned". If the bike was reported stolen that quickly, it probably belonged to someone who intentionally had the bike parked there. If my understanding is correct, your buddy is pretty damn stupid for taking the bike. You'll be lucky if you don't get dragged into it somehow. Good luck.

[JoJoYZF]

Originally Posted by 6doublefive321

Ok. If I read this correctly, the manager nor your friend had any right touching the bike. Only the owner of the structure, and only if the bike was "abandoned". If the bike was reported stolen that quickly, it probably belonged to someone who intentionally had the bike parked there. If my understanding is correct, your buddy is pretty damn stupid for taking the bike. You'll be lucky if you don't get dragged into it somehow. Good luck.

That about covers it. Like ebbs said, maybe if you tried and no one disputed it in the 30 days youd be alright but you cant just go take a random bike and start riding it around. Sounds like youre buddy is gonna be locked up for a little while. Hopefully you wont end up in there too.