rsbob 

Way back when, cities used to issue/sell bicycle licenses. Typically it was a foil sticker with a serial number placed on the downtube. Supposedly if a bike was stolen and the thief was a complete moron and didn’t remove the sticker, the owner could be tracked down. Do believe the serial number under the crank was also recorded. Do cities even do this anymore? (Yes this is my troll thread for the haters).

scott967

My state mandates license. Enforced at retail sale and managed by the counties (we don't have cities as such). If you bring a bike in it's up to you to get the registration, but your bike can be confiscated if it doesn't have the license sticker. You also get a registration form that you use when selling the bike, sort of like an auto title. If you buy a bike from a private party and don't get the transfer, it's on you if it's stolen.

scott s.
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Milton Keynes

At the police department I worked at, it was not a city ordinance but our department would engrave numbers on a bike for people, and I think they would also keep a record of the serial number. I don't think that having a law mandating a bike license is the way to go. Rather it's best for bike owners to keep a record of their serial number which can be given to police in case the bike is stolen, which will be entered into NCIC. It also wouldn't hurt to use an online bike registration site such as bikeindex.org where you can store the serial number, description and photos.

Deal4Fuji

I always kind of liked them.



college registration

dedhed

https://city.milwaukee.gov/cityclerk...icycle-License

Litespud

which authoritarian hellhole is this?

Reflector Guy

When we were kids, our town issued stickers with serial numbers to put on each bike. I assume it was just a taxing thing, sort of like the windshield stickers many suburbs issue. But I'm not sure it was ever enforced; it just seemed like kind of an "honor system" thing. Our family never got the stickers. My parents were devout followers of rules, but even more than that, they were cheap. Five or ten or fifteen (or whatever) dollars a year for each bike? No way they'd pay it.

scott967

Hawaii. It's only a one-time $15 so not a biggie (LBS/big box store bundles it into the purchase price) but not paying is like tax evasion. I won't make other political comments regarding how the state is managed.

scott s.
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CargoDane

Doesn't the swiss have number plates for their bicycles? Or is it "only" an insurance sticker?

unterhausen

you are supposed to have a tag here, but bike shops can't issue them. It's a really bad system, fortunately no enforcement.
You can change someone's registration without proof of purchase. Basically they have them for no reason whatsoever.

JohnDThompson 

BITD, they did actual license plates. Not sure how effective they'd be in identifying stolen bikes as they'd be trivial to remove.

JanMM

No bike licensing or registration by state of Indiana or Indianapolis.

VegasTriker

Madison WI had a requirement you register your bike. It wasn't expensive and was a one-time payment of a dollar or two when you bought a new bike. The form did include the serial number but I am doubtful it really made a difference in getting back your stolen bike. A customer brought a bike he had purchased from the annual police auction in to the local bike co-op. It sat in the front window waiting for repairs when the original owner happened to go by the shop and see his bike in the window. He had the original bill of sale with the serial number matching the bike so managed to get it returned. It looked as though the police did not match serial numbers on the bikes they auctioned off with their database since the bike had been registered by the original owner.

R200

That license plate isn't very "aero", it's like a little drag chute!

Helldorado

Yeah, but its not enforced. HPD got more important things to worry about that bikes with no stickers. I wouldn't bother.

Pratt

How do they handle tourists/transients and people who move from out of state?
Hawaii, I can understand few bicycle tourists.

bruce19

Sorry but I do not want the state getting involved in my riding a bike.

rsbob 

As a fact, I know that was not the question. Isn’t there a forum for opinions?

Chuck M 

In the little town I grew up in back in the mid 70s, the norm was for people to take their new bikes to city hall to register the serial number. But when a bike came up missing, everyone went to the usual suspects. If they were lucky they got there before the drop bars were turned upwards and the thing received a fresh coat of paint from a rattle can.

I do see a lot of old 70s bikes on craigslist with city license stickers and I like them as much as shop stickers.

Cyclist0108

I just claim mine is an automatic weapon, so I don't have to register it or get a license.


But, seriously, the truth is even more odd.

I am "required" to have a license/registration within city limits. I don't live within city limits, so I am only on the wrong side of The Law when I bike into town. Registration is free, but it requires a serial number. I have a custom bike that does not have a serial number, so I cannot register it. Therefore, presumably, I cannot ride it into town.

This also raises an interesting question: If I live in a different town that requires registration and I have the bike registered there, am I allowed to ride it into my local town without re-registering it locally? If I live somewhere that does not require registration (as I do), why should that be any different?

The local town does not charge for this, so it is not a question of revenue (which would at least explain the idiocy).

I am looking forward to bringing it to the Supreme Court, as this clearly demands judicial review.

rsbob 

Maybe you should switch to rollerblades and save the attorney fees.

Eric S.

When I started college in 1985 Missoula, Montana apparently had a license requirement. You know how a person was notified? Someone would go around campus and put a sticker on your bike notifying you that you needed to pay to register your bike. The sticker was a pain to remove, too. But I never registered my bike(s) in the time I lived in Missoula.

Phil_gretz

This ^ is a tax. What police state do you live in?

Phil_gretz

"Automatic" means that it's covered by the NFA, in which case you definitely DO need a tax stamp and must register it.

CargoDane

Go to a bike shop and have them stamp some number/letters on it under the bottom bracket or elsewhere. If for nothing else than for insurance and, if lucky, recovery if found. Register that number with your insurance.
I don't have anything to say about the registration of bikes.