The Chainlink

Am I Breaking the LAW?

  I just read a sizable chunk of the Chicago Municipal Code regarding bicycles for the 1st time ever. 

 I happened to come across this bit;

 

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9-120-020- Registration - Permalink

It is hereby made the duty of the owner of every bicycle, before operating or permitting the operation of the same upon any public way within the city, to register said vehicle with the commissioner of police on a form provided for such purpose. Registration may be accomplished by filing the registration record or form, duly filled out, in the office of the commander of the police district in which the bicycle owner resides, or by mailing said form, duly filled out, postage prepaid, to the commissioner of police.

Prior Registration code § 29.1-2; Amend Coun. J. 7-12-90, p. 18634

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 (1.) Has anyone else registered with their local constabulary? 

 (2.) Have you ever heard of someone being ticketed for this?

 (3.) Am I just nuts for even asking?

 

Thanks. (Question #3 is optional.)

Discuss... 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 21, 2011 at 7:37pm

1. Yes.

2. No.

3. Deferred. This question doesn't even move the chainlink "nuts" meter.

 

Truthfully, the dirty little secret about the Chicago Police Bike Registry is that registrations drop out of the system after two years. In my case, I registered a bike with them in December 2008. Within about 20 months, it was nowhere to be found on the difficult to navigate Chicago Police portal of the difficult to navigate City of Chicago website. 

Permalink Reply by Fran Kondorf on October 21, 2011 at 7:56pm

Thanks, Kevin. I can understand registering a bike in case of a theft, but I'd never heard of this before.

And it never came up when I was doored- (injury, ambulance, police report, etc.), so I wondered about anyone else's experience.


Kevin C said:

1. Yes.

2. No.

3. Deferred. This question doesn't even move the chainlink "nuts" meter.

 

Truthfully, the dirty little secret about the Chicago Police Bike Registry is that registrations drop out of the system after two years. In my case, I registered a bike with them in December 2008. Within about 20 months, it was nowhere to be found on the difficult to navigate Chicago Police portal of the difficult to navigate City of Chicago website. 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 21, 2011 at 8:00pm

A few of us who work on the bike theft problem have been trying hard to encourage people to register, with not much to show for it.  Not because anyone's enforcing this law (they aren't) but it provides a rare opportunity for owners to make record of their bike's serial number and to create something resembling proof of ownership should their bike fall into thieving hands.

FYI bike shops are required to register each bike, and transfer registration upon sale as well, since they're technically the "owner."

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9-120-080- Bicycle dealers - Permalink

Every person engaged in the business of buying or selling new or second hand bicycles shall make a report to the commissioner of police of every bicycle purchased or sold by such dealer, giving the name and address of the person from whom purchased or to whom sold, a description of such bicycle by name or make, the frame number thereof, and the registration number, if any, found thereon.

Prior code § 29.1-8; Amend Coun. J. 7-12-90, p. 18634

 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 21, 2011 at 8:02pm
Maybe so, but if you screenshot your registration the resultant image, when printed, will generally be found acceptable as proof of ownership in a recovery situation. And you'll have record of your serial number.

Truthfully, the dirty little secret about the Chicago Police Bike Registry is that registrations drop out of the system after two years.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 21, 2011 at 8:24pm

If you want to register your bike, the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry has made a registration method available. It's free. It is of indefinite duration. And as Howard says, it forces people to write down their serial number BEFORE their bike is stolen. Less than half the bikes reported to the CSBR include a serial number. Everyone should register their bike.

 

The link is here. Click on Register with BikeRevolution. The link will take you to a site out of London called BikeShepherd. There's even an option to include a photograph of your bike. The CSBR people have administrative privileges and the info will be retained indefinitely. 



Fran Kondorf said:

Thanks, Kevin. I can understand registering a bike in case of a theft, but I'd never heard of this before.

 

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 21, 2011 at 9:00pm
Working link:  http://chicago.stolenbike.org/

The link is here. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 22, 2011 at 9:11am
Good tip.  Thanks, Howard!

h' said:
Maybe so, but if you screenshot your registration the resultant image, when printed, will generally be found acceptable as proof of ownership in a recovery situation. And you'll have record of your serial number.

Truthfully, the dirty little secret about the Chicago Police Bike Registry is that registrations drop out of the system after two years.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 22, 2011 at 11:17am
Yeah, this is really important. We can include as a psa in next weeks chainlink email. Can someone remind us where to find the serial number on our bike? (I need to register my bikes :)) when my bike was stolen luckily boulevard bikes still had my serial number since I had only bought it a year before but I don't think bike shops typically hold on to them for long or have a system to find them easily.
Permalink Reply by Fran Kondorf on October 22, 2011 at 1:20pm

Flip your bike over and look for it on the frame between the cranks.

 

The number should be stamped on the bottom bracket shell.

 -f



Julie Hochstadter said:

. Can someone remind us where to find the serial number on our bike?
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 22, 2011 at 2:07pm

Usually the serial number is on the bottom bracket, but less frequently, and depending on manufacturer, may also be on a rear drop out, the head tube, or the seat tube. Also write down the size of your bike (usually a number between 48 and 63 if expressed in centimeters, or 15-23 if expressed in inches). Take a photo of your bike.

 

Attached is a page out of Mr. Bike's "Urban Bikers' Tricks & Tips," an excellent book that "The Urban Cyclist" only wishes he had written. This page is being reproduced without permission, but it's being reproduced for the forces of good and not for the forces of evil. And I'm plugging the Dave Glowacz (Mr. Bike) book. Seriously, it's a great resource.



Fran Kondorf said:

Flip your bike over and look for it on the frame between the cranks.

 

The number should be stamped on the bottom bracket shell.

 -f



Julie Hochstadter said:

. Can someone remind us where to find the serial number on our bike?
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on October 22, 2011 at 2:28pm
Here's what a registration looks like through the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry partner (formerly "Bike Revolution," now "Bike Shepherd"):

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