Etiquette for Parked Bikes

ive a question: i was walking through the rain to my office today and passed a motorcycle on campus. it was parked near a dorm and the plastic rain cover was on the ground next to it and the bike was getting rained on.

i thought i should have taken some time to shake out the cover and cover the bike up, but i didnt (i was in a hurry and had a big cup of coffee (excuses)). now i feel bad i didnt, though the rain has stopped thankfully; if it ever happens again, i think id probably cover it, as id want someone to do that for me. at the same time, i dont like the idea of a stranger touching my bike, and i was raised by my dad to never touch another's bike unless given permission.

what would you have done?

As a general rule, I don't mess with other folk's stuff and prefer they did the same for me.
In your scenario, I likely would not have messed with the plastic cover. Bikes are not made of sugar nor are they witches so they won't melt in the rain. However, if it were a more expensive cover and not simply a sheet of plastic or poly tarp, I may have gathered it up if it appeared at risk of completely blowing away and disappearing over the horizon.

dukey33 said:

As a general rule, I don't mess with other folk's stuff and prefer they did the same for me.
In your scenario, I likely would not have messed with the plastic cover. Bikes are not made of sugar nor are they witches so they won't melt in the rain. However, if it were a more expensive cover and not simply a sheet of plastic or poly tarp, I may have gathered it up if it appeared at risk of completely blowing away and disappearing over the horizon.

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Yeah, that's what I would do. I like my bike to sit out in the rain. It softens up the dead bugs and makes them easier to wipe off.

rain is the only bath mike bikes get sometimes

and you did the right thing, or at least what I would have done. It too would rather stangers not mess with it. Besides there's no garuntee that cover went with that bike.

hey all of yoru responses answer my question; in the future i wont mess with it then. thanks for the responses. i too wouldnt want someone to mess with my stuff, but i would want someone to watch out for me and id do the same (similar to trying to shield riders on the highway wiht my car).

anyhow, the bike is parked right up under a tree next to the dorm (not a parking spot), and it looks like the parkingcops got to him several times: he's got three tickets stuck under the windshield. the cover was right next to it with water all in it, so i dont think itll blow away. it looked like just a cheapy plastic bike cover.

It is obviously an abandoned bike, you should rescue it.

yeah. poor thing needs to be ridden. i think its an early 2000 model suzuki sv650. naked.

ive got an 06 kawi 650r so id actually be interested to see how they compare.