An rare electric-assist recumbent trike was stolen in downtown Portland over the weekend. It belongs to someone who is physically disabled. Mel Birgé, owner of RecumbentPDX in southeast Portland, is offering $500 for its return.
Here’s more from Mel:
An HP Scorpion Plus Pedelec was stolen. It looks virtually-identical to the one in the attached picture (the stolen one is tan color and has a larger 26” wheel in the rear). The trike has a Go SwissDrive electric motor in the rear wheel.
The owner is disabled by a brain tumor and this is his primary recreation.
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RPDX is offering a $500 for its return –no questions asked (we’ll happily bump that to $1000 if the thief is caught and successfully prosecuted!)
Here’s are a couple videos of a virtually-identical Scorpion Plusses to aid in identification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euCGHFer4m4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB86SgzadLs
This is a rare trike – likely aren’t more than a dozen on the entire west coast and it’s easily recognized.
Mel has filed a police report.
If you have seen this bike or know anything about its theft, please contact the police non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333 or contact us and we’ll connect you.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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There’s a special place in hell for this bike thief.
Can’t possibly be sold. What’s the thief going to do with it – strip it for parts? Give it to his disabled aunt who needs exactly this?
Likely being stripped in one of the numerous open-air chop shops that Portland leaders refuse to crack down on.
What scum. The only parts that can be unloaded in a timely fashion are barely worth anything fenced. The electric drive is uncommon enough that it needs to be moved out of the area. I’m not sure the frame can ever be sold in the US since the community interested in these is too small. This thing can be spotted a mile away by anyone who knows anything about trikes.
Here it is. The ad even admits it was stolen:
https://portland.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=electric%20recumbent%20trike&sort=rel
🙂