French mechanic finds stolen motorbike 24 years later on Leboncoin

A French mechanic father and son have told of the moment they found their stolen vintage motorbike listed for sale on an online second-hand website, 24 years after it disappeared.

Jean-Pierre Ricaud, a garage mechanic from Isère, recalled the moment when he and his son Tim saw his old motorbike, which the family had originally bought in 1929, on the resale website Leboncoin. The bike had been a family heirloom, but was stolen from Mr Ricaud 24 years ago in the year 2000.

Mr Ricaud told his unusual story to Le Dauphiné Libéré and Le Parisien.

"I recognised it straight away because of certain features. It just goes to show that you should never give up,” he said.

Family restoration

The bike is a Peugeot 107 sport, 350 cm3, and was bought in 1929. It was requisitioned for use in the war effort during World War Two, and Mr Ricaud later inherited the classic vehicle from his uncle.

Mr Ricaud decided to rebuild and restore the bike when he inherited it, and - together with his uncle and father - restored it. The restoration efforts lasted around three years. So much so that Peugeot even offered to exhibit it at their motor show in Grenoble in 2000.

“We were very proud,” said Mr Ricaud.

However, on October 18 that year, the bike was stolen in the middle of the night. Mr Ricaud put up posters all over the car show, and contacted many motorbike clubs across France in a bid to find the bike, but to no avail. 

“It was a shock to lose it,” he told Le Parisien. “It was more than just a motorbike! It was also witness to a beautiful family story.”

Online alerts

Mr Ricaud had lost hope of ever finding the bike again, but his son Tim had not quite given up. Aged just 11 when the bike was stolen, Tim (who, now aged 35, is also a mechanic), signed up to numerous bike forums and resale sites, and had set up automatic alerts in case anything similar came up for sale. 

This was how the family found the long-searched-for vehicle, on sale on Leboncoin by a seller in Côte-d'Or, 400 km from where the Ricaud family lives.

The seller told the family he did not know the bike had been stolen. Tim reported the incident to the police, and said they were “very surprised”. “It's not every day you find a stolen motorbike 24 years later,” he said.

Free return

The family has now managed to recover the bike for free from the seller in Côte-d'Or, after they were able to present a document proving that the family had owned the bike prior to World War Two, when it was requisitioned by the army.

The family has no plans to exhibit the bike again, and now keeps it under close supervision and lock and key in their home. However, genuine biking and history enthusiasts are invited to contact the family directly if they wish to see the bike.