They've been spotted in trees, on train tracks, wrapped around light poles and dumped in the Yarra River.
Now, Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle has had enough of the city's oBikes, signalling he will run them out of town unless the Singaporean parent company can control its wayward fleet.
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oBikes strewn across Melbourne
Australia's newest bike sharing system allows riders to park bikes wherever they want, including abandoned in the middle of the footpath.
"We work hard to keep the city free of clutter. They are clutter and that must be fixed," Cr Doyle said.
City of Melbourne and oBike operators are believed to be in negotiations but Cr Doyle said he would ban the dockless share bikes if the problem could not be solved.
![oBikes seen on Swan Street in Richmond, which is now home to "hundreds" of the distinctive bikes, according to locals.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170814015720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/i/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxtyin.png/1502422770491.jpg)
"We are working with oBike but if an agreed solution is not found, this is the track we will have to take," he said.
The news comes as councils in both Amsterdam and London are clamping down and banning oBikes, claiming they are a public nuisance.
Wandsworth Council last week confiscated more than 130 bikes and told the company they needed a "drastic re-think" after a flood of complaints, the Evening Standard reported.
Amsterdam city council has also temporarily banned the bikes.
![An oBike left on Spencer Street in June.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170814015720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/y/k/4/t/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxtyin.png/1502422770491.jpg)
oBike launched in Melbourne in June and trumpeted itself as a high-tech rival to the city's RACV blue bikes thanks to their dockless feature which means they can be parked anywhere.
But their biggest selling point has become their biggest flaw with dozens of images emerging on social media of the yellow and silver bikes being dumped in the Yarra River, left dangerously close to train tracks, littering footpaths and in one instance, stacked on top of a portaloo.
![An oBike spotted on top of portable toilets in Prahran in July.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170814015720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/t/y/t/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxtyin.png/1502422770491.jpg)
oBike Australia head of marketing Chethan Rangaswamy acknowledged the company had struggled with "civic awareness" about bike sharing.
"We are actively liaising with local councils to have a sustainable solution to current problems," he said.
![An abandoned oBike in Melbourne's CBD.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170814015720im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/6/g/9/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxtyin.png/1502422770491.jpg)
"We are absolutely confident that Australians will embrace oBike as an essential but complementary service to the entire transportation network."
The company said more than 1000 bikes had been deployed in 17 inner-city suburbs with an average of 10 trips taken on each bike.
Weekends were most popular, with more than 1000 bike rides across the network on one day.
But there hasn't been a lot of love for oBike from the public who have described them as a tripping hazard and a clog on bike racks.
Cyclist and Age reader John Macdonald said he was surprised to find himself agreeing with Cr Doyle on this issue.
"Frankly I'm tired of seeing them left on various footpaths in and around the city, either left where their journey ended, or occupying public bike parks," he wrote.
"As a keen cyclist, I'm all for more bikes and increasing the amount of trips made on two wheels, however we have a better solution in the already established blue bikes."
Richmond's community Facebook page has also been flooded with complaints about the bikes which have been seen en masse in the inner-city suburb.
Fairfax Media understands Melbourne City Council has established a team within council to work with oBike's operators.
oBike's entry into Melbourne was largely unregulated because the company did not require a permit to start operating or leave bikes in legal parking spaces.
The system relies on users reporting bikes that are damaged or have been left in the wrong place.
Users are rewarded with credits or punished with higher rental rates depending on how well they use the system.
oBike boasts more than 100,000 daily trips in Singapore but it remains unclear if they can find a home in Melbourne.
Hi @obikeau and @yarratrams you might want to collect this bike from stop 126 Montague on the 109 tram line. pic.twitter.com/Nzw1hLPEkt
— threadpaperscissors (@threadpaperscis) July 24, 2017
@AustraliaObike how often do you retrieve bikes? These have been here all week. pic.twitter.com/pFVLALB1rq
— Tathra Street (@TathraSt) August 10, 2017