Quote Originally Posted by Biciclista View Post
yes, i'd register my bike(s) if the fee was reasonable. If a car is stolen, they can track it by the VIN number. But a bike? change the paint, and your bike can disappear forever.
Bikes have serial numbers.

Works about as good as a VIN number for actually getting your property back (ie: neither work). A decent car thief is going to have it parted well before someone finds the VIN, at that point it doesn't really matter that they found your door in a junk yard somewhere with the VIN half scratched off...

Insurance, and trying to be reasonably careful and proactive, are your best bet.

Register your bike and the thief is just going to pull the "license plate" or sticker right off. My commuter bikes are registered with my college (because they, stupidly, have to be for "anti-theft" reasons), when I switched from undergrad to grad school it took me a whooping 30 seconds per bike to completely remove and replace the stickers...