Recovery stories
Every one of these bikes found its way home.
Behind each photo is a rider who thought it was gone for good, and someone who cared enough to check. A shop mechanic. A police officer. A stranger who remembered an alert. This is what a free, open registry makes possible, and it's kept free by people like you.
- bikes registered, free
- 1.8M+
- stolen bikes recovered
- 18,587
- value returned to owners
- $39M+
- partner shops, police departments, and cities
- 1,800+
In their own words
Every story here is shared by the person who got their bike back.
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A buyer bought it at some flea market. They had it for couple months then tried to sell it over the holidays. The buyer looked on bike index and notified seller it was a stolen bike. The seller reached out to us through information we listed on bike index.
Luigi Recovered 2026-01-04T15:00:00-0600 translated from English
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Someone bought the bike. Used ChatGPT to ask how to identify a stolen bike after realzing the massive discount they got on the bike. The person then contacted me to give the bike back! Thank you Bike Index!!!
Jordan Recovered 2026-01-01T20:00:00-0600 translated from English
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Someone saw the listing on Bike Index and called us, they said the bike was strapped to the bed of his truck when he picked his truck from impound lot. He saw the listing on Bike Index and called us. He later called us and dropped it back off to us.
Hollands Recovered 2025-12-23T23:00:00-0600 translated from English
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Tre police found it a few blocks away from its taken location with a group of people loitering. They then ran the serial and called me and returned my bike back to me immediately. They handcuffed it to the grill of their car and drove it to my house. They were awsome!
Dylan Recovered 2025-12-16T07:00:00-0600 translated from English
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A woman from bike index, helped recover this bike for me. She found a person trying to sell this bike on facebook marketplace and coordinated the recovery.
Ishaan Recovered 2025-12-15T08:00:00-0600 translated from English
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Miraculously recovered by awesome nonprofit community at Yoga on Yamhill, despite not even having a serial number! Thank you Bike Index!
E Recovered 2025-12-11T01:00:00-0600 translated from English
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Someone spotted it and reported it to Bike Portland. Bike Portland posted the photo to social media and an employee at Splendid Cycles, where I bought it, called me about the post. I notified the police who recovered it.
Ben Recovered 2025-12-10T11:00:00-0600 translated from English
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A friend noticed a Thule Chariot sitting in the snow in front of the Burlington Bagel Cafe on North Avenue and mentioned it. I went to check it out and confirmed it was ours and recovered it!
Debbie Recovered 2025-12-09T19:00:00-0600 translated from English
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A Good Samaritan found it at the PCC and saw it was stolen on bike index. They took it home for safe keeping and called us to retrieve!!
Rebecca Recovered 2025-12-08T03:00:00-0600 translated from English
Somewhere tonight, a bike is being stolen. Help it come home.
Bike Index doesn't charge riders, sell data, or run ads. Every recovery on this page was powered by donors who keep registration, search, and stolen alerts free for everyone.
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What membership includes501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 81-4296194. Tax-deductible in the US. Bike Index is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 81-4296194. Your donation is tax-deductible in the US. Cancel a monthly gift any time.
Every story here started with a registration.
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