That "Hey, that's my bike!" thing is a bit of a fear for me. I'd hate to buy a stolen bike, even if it's from the cops and they've looked for the owner. I'd still feel bad about it.

That said, DH is looking for a cool frame to convert to a fixie and if we got one for me I'd be painting it, so either way the bike would wind up looking so different the original owner probably wouldn't know it if they saw it.