i'da thought your thinking might have, oh, evolved a bit in 20+ years...

geesh. aren't bike thieves considered sewer scum in these here parts?

It's never to late to send it back, maybe GoRK at SBS. Lookin for a Pliska plate? Just look for the silver Mercedes.

I know that van...."The Mistery Macine" Send it to center cycle in Renton Wa. It's running well and not at the junk yard. With a tonka truck, sewer scum and T.G.F's leftovers.... Not great

John,

I have no idea who you are but I certainly think you better change your tune if you plan on being part of this community from here on out. That needs to be sent straight to SBS Attn: Craig g0rk Barrette, for you to truly redeem yourself.

"True Character is how you act and what you do when you think nobody is looking"

Show us all some character.

Ken got his plate back...

who is this Craig Gork Barrette so that i can fix the mistake of a 14 year old and redeem my self esteem, did not mean to do any harm here. I will just crawl back in my little hole here and mind my own business. sorry boys, quess I cant play with you anymore

Don't let them get you down. You were 14 you made a mistake. Ninety percent of the world has probably stolen something in their lifetime. Even if they don't consider it stealing.

In fact I am stealing from work right now by posting to this website on company time. Better stop now, besides I need to hit the supply closet I am running low on pens at home.

That is a cool plate! Who didn't pull some less than legit stuff at that age anyway? Ken's just a little sensitive about license plates!

We never stole a single banner after the Nationals...never

....and, back in the day, who didn't throw a couple 30-packs of Stroh's into the dumpster when they worked as a stockboy at the local party store, only to drive back - after the store closed - and dumpster-dive for their weekend refreshment?

I see all of you raising your hands....

i had my gjs stolen at the worlds in vegas BITD. 20+ years later i still feel if i found out who......um....do they still tar and feather people in this country? i know it's a plate...but still...
mike

Whoa! John wanted to share something with us and all we can do is chop him at the knees and leave him there?

He was 14 years old!!! I don't even want to post what i was doing at 14!

Cool plate John, i am glad you shared it with us.

Looks like you kept it in a safe place for a looooong time.


Jon

Thanks to all the guys that have my back, I didnt realize it would stir up so much contraversy, ralley I meant no harm

John

Hey John - likewise.

I'm sure it was a one-off thing BITD right?


"Happy happy joy joy".

Lighten up. He was 14.

As soon as he made that post, I saw this coming...

Was it wrong? yes. Do kids do stupid things sometimes? yes. Looks like he's willing to make his amends, so...

Don't get started on the TGI thing, I'm very close to justifying the liberation of certain specimens...too close.

Some of you guys just need to let this go. This happened when he was 14 years old. Comments like "Show us all some character" are way out of line. Is this the "My Name is Earl" show? Should we all start to make amends for the things we did as kids? Is so, I think most of us will be busy for quite some time.

I don't believe that SBS owned Torker in 1985, so it's not their property. I say keep it, and treasure it.

May the flaming commence.

just a question to make ya think..

if member X posted pics of a sweet Hutch Pro-Star, and said "look at this cool bike i stole from my neighbor back in 1985" what would your reaction be?

what if he said he stole it from his LBS receving area on delivery day?

what if he said he stole it from the pit area at his local track?

what if this Torker plate had been stolen from Eddy King's car? would that make a difference?

or say member y has a #plate he stole from Stu Thomsen?

just asking.

i think the discomfort is coming from the expressions of pride of ownership and the pride of its method of acquisition by the 34 yr old. not the 14 yr old.

[ February 02, 2007, 11:52 AM: Message edited by: TIM ]

Well..I used to be friends with Steve Johnson and his mom when they owned Torker and as such, I think you should give me the plate and I will return it to them.

Eventually.....

In no way does SBS have any claim to this. They bought the name, I don't remember if they purchased any assets, but they didn't purchase anything the Johnson family used to have. If Steve Johnson or family member finds out and wants it back give it back. If not go give $50 to a homeless shelter or something and consider yourself redeemed. I wouldn't go showing it off again though. Lighten up, he was 14.

"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone"

Nuff said.

I say who cares! Its a plate and not a "real" one at that. I doubt it was 1 of 1 made. I had my bike stolen as a kid and I never got it back so I know what that feels like but if someone stole that thing from me, I would not have blown a gasket over it. Last month, I had my Ibanez bass stole and my brother had a Laney cab and JCM900 stole as well as another guys cab from our jamroom in an old grade school. Now that made me blow a gasket.......

What if he said member came on here showing his stolen plate. Then a few months later we find out he is a kleptomaniac and was facing his third strike for stealing? Would we all wish him best and buy something from him to help his legal woes?

How many of us have bikes in our collection with the serial number ground off? Do you guys try to find the rightful owner?

I bet a few of you in the last 10 yrs or so have done the following: Get a bill for something and notice later you were undercharged and go on without making it right or got an extra cheeseburger in your to go order and not take it back.

I did not see it a bragging that he stole it more as bragging that he actually kept it.

What are we talking about here???...IT'S A FRIGGIN' LICENSE PLATE!!!! What's the big deal???? a two dollar item taken twenty years ago.....let it go already!!!!! Shheesh.

cant we just lock this baby up !!!!! I love everyone here so please people forgive and forget it thanks forman

OK Guys I was going to just be run off the board and leave quietly, which would be a shame because I trully appreciate and envy what all of you are doing for the good of BMX.
Do I feel bad about stealing the plate, I do, it was a mistake that I made a long time ago, and it may be an artifact that someone else may or may not have preserved, or may have unknowingly been important to someone.
And I feel bad that I upset some of you here I meant no harm, but I cant change what I did in the past I can only work for tommorow. I really just wanted to share a piece of history with you guys that may never have been seen.
I hope this clears up any negativity toward my name here, I would hate to lose out on a place I trully love to come to everyday it is one of my few escapes from the hardships of life.

Thanks John

http://www.vintagebmx.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...t=021312#000006

John: I think most of us will get over it...

if you need a oldschool sign I will make you one,,,, real deal thats what I do!!!!! john I have been over it !!!forman ,,elvis has left the building!!!!!!

tim...........

thats alot of "what ifs"

what if grandma had balls, would we call her grandpa?

We'd put her in the closet to keep moths away!

Yeah I went a little overboard on the postings. We all have a little do as I say not as I do in us. I just have a problem trying to point it out to people. Same thing got me in trouble with a proff in college.

Don't worry about it John. Just don't post on here that you stole Woody Itson's Gold Trickstar back in the day.

Hey TONE I think that would depend on if said Ba11s were NOS or reproductions.

John,
It must be a Long Island thing!!!
James

I think OldProBmx made a mistake when he was a kid...key word "Kid". He posted this pic to show what he did in the past. Right or Wrong.

At the end of the day I have no opinion either way. Certainly not good and definately not that bad.

Stealing is wrong though.

2$ or 5000$ its still stealing..i dont like thiefs,14 yrs old..no excuse 2 weeks ago a 14 yr old stole my nyquist pro,spray bombed it gold everything tires wheels grips it was horrible feeeling but i got it back with mutch presiverance,i did a p.d. report what do you think they did nada,but still it was grand theft...so i busted him turned him over to the cops,but since he was a minor i couldnt beat the black out of him,as mutch as i wanted too...ohh i wanted to still do....I'll get some pics up soon...

What a way to start off the day. I enjoyed the thread alot. To me, I don't think it's a big deal. It's not like he did it recently.

Yeah, it's stealing. But it's nothing compared to what I did, or alot of us did. Especially when your 14. That plate would be nothing to the company now.

There's a common theme with these long threads. Guys are either far left, or far right.

I happen to be a moderate. I enjoy reading about how both sides push their opinions further to either side.

All I gotta say is that the guys pushing the position that this guy has no chance of going to heaven for doing this surely must be saints themselves. Ya right.

my only point was, yes, we all make mistakes as teenagers, and yes, it would be nice if some would show a little regret 20 years later - rather than retelling their "cool" story and showing off their "prize".

i still say there would be hell to pay if some shmoe posted pics of a Hutch he stole in 1985, and it turned out to be a member's bike...