Good q posed by the Amy Gillett Foundation re: registering bikes

[MartianDestiny]

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...

[Owlie]

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...

My university has that option. I haven't, simply because the campus is easily walkable. I don't park my bike outside--it lives in my room where there's relatively little chance of it getting stolen. The "registration" is basically a "hello, my name is" sticker with a number on it. Not worth the paper it's printed on to deter theft.

[MartianDestiny]

My university has that option.

It's "required" here. They actually do give tickets and impound bikes with no stickers on occasion (normally at the beginning and end of the semesters). So, the ones I'm likely to lock to a rack occasionally have to have the stupid sticker.

I don't mind as the $$$ supposedly goes into bike infrastructure on campus (something I'm apparently NOT paying for otherwise, unlike the roads). I do wish they'd say "hey, we are collecting a fee for infrastructure for your use, here's a sticker that says you've paid, as an added bonus, we'll keep up with the number so we know the bike is yours", instead of "buy into this great theft prevention tool" (LOL, riiiight...)

[Owlie]

It's "required" here. They actually do give tickets and impound bikes with no stickers on occasion (normally at the beginning and end of the semesters). So, the ones I'm likely to lock to a rack occasionally have to have the stupid sticker.

I don't mind as the $$$ supposedly goes into bike infrastructure on campus (something I'm apparently NOT paying for otherwise, unlike the roads). I do wish they'd say "hey, we are collecting a fee for infrastructure for your use, here's a sticker that says you've paid, as an added bonus, we'll keep up with the number so we know the bike is yours", instead of "buy into this great theft prevention tool" (LOL, riiiight...)

They give us a free lock if we register our bikes with campus security. It's a Kryptonite U-lock, so they're not cheap otherwise. What bugs me is the way the went about advertising it--at the beginning of the semester, they went around the bike racks and attached tags saying "Chain locks are easily cut" to bikes secured with chain locks. Not the smartest way to advertise it.

[Biciclista]

my bike does not have a serial number.
and most people who have bikes with serial numbers do not know this information.

[7rider]

The first thing I do when I buy a new bike is photograph it, and flip it over and photograph the serial number (usually, on the bottom of the bottom bracket housing). I've had a bike stolen before, but still, I highly doubt my efforts would do any good for theft recovery. Makes me feel less powerless, I suppose.
My local police department offers bike registration every year here at Bike to Work Day. Again, it's theft recovery, and not law enforcement for vehicular biking.

[MartianDestiny]

most people who have bikes with serial numbers do not know this information.

Sorry to sound cold, but that is their problem, not mine. All they have to do is flip the bike over and write it down.

You think those people are going to have the "license" number written down in a safe place but not the serial number?

If I was worried about a custom (presumably) bike without a serial number (a fair number of custom makers stamp a serial number anyway, so your situation is pretty rare) I'd etch an identification into the bottom bracket shell (same place as a serial number) or even drop a laminated piece of paper with my info on it down the seat tube long before I trusted a highly visible and easily removable piece of "id" with theft recovery.

[Biciclista]

Presumably, a person would register his bike. said registration would include locating and recording bike's serial number if one exists. then the "license number" would then be associated with it, paperwork exchanged, and a stamp/sticker/electronic device put on said device. It's a free country; you don't have to do it. even if it's mandatory (which isn't going to happen)