Touring - Just wondering: bike licence plates...

I have a question regarding bike permits/registration/license plates.

I often see such plates (or cards) stuck on the front wheel's spokes.

Are those mandatory in your jurisdiction? Does someone just passing through need to get them?

I'm asking out of curiosity because I vaguely remember having plates on my bike as a kid. Not sure if it was a "real" one though. I was like 6 years old... We have no such thing here...

I'm positive what you are seeing are "spoke cards", usually found on fixed gear bikes. They are given out at alleycats (street races) and usually have a number and a logo for the event. People just keep them in their spokes as a kind of memento. As far as I know there is no such thing as a mandatory registration for bikes.

I'm positive what you are seeing are "spoke cards", usually found on fixed gear bikes. They are given out at alleycats (street races) and usually have a number and a logo for the event. People just keep them in their spokes as a kind of memento. As far as I know there is no such thing as a mandatory registration for bikes.

Touché - I've seen those mostly on courrier bikes.

Thanks for clearing that up!

I love having license plates on my bikes. I got a few from here:
https://www.bluesabreinc.com/

I love having license plates on my bikes. I got a few from here:
https://www.bluesabreinc.com/

Nice but I wouldn't add one unless I had to. I got enough stuff on it as is (cyclometer, bottles, pump, panniers, fenders, lights, reflectors, bell, etc.)

In the 70's during the bike boom so many people started riding bicycles some places did regulate and tax the use of bicycles on streets. Here is an example.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/license.jpg

We are at the start of another bike boom so you can expect this sort of thing to happen again.

In the 70's during the bike boom so many people started riding bicycles some places did regulate and tax the use of bicycles on streets. Here is an example.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/license.jpg

We are at the start of another bike boom so you can expect this sort of thing to happen again.

Interesting. Around here, to ride on certain (very well maintained and serviced) parts of the Route Verte, you need to get a day ticket (5$) or a season ticket (15$), which is a sticker similar to the one in your picture. They use that money to maintain the bike path and services along it (toilets, rest areas, water, etc). It's not enforced bu the police, but rather by summer-job students which only enforce (from my experience) the levy on the weekends.

I'm not against it if there's services in exchange and the money is re-invested in the biking network.

Around here, to ride on certain (very well maintained and serviced) parts of the Route Verte, you need to get a day ticket (5$) or a season ticket (15$)

I pretty sure it's not true anymoe, including Le P'tit Train du Nord.

I pretty sure it's not true anymoe, including Le P'tit Train du Nord.

Really? Last year, I had to buy the P'tit Train du Nord sticker. I believe that the "Corridor Aerobique" that goes I'm not sure where in the Laurentides also "required" a pass. Note that come July, they don't really control anymore.

Upon doublechecking what you said, it looks that you're right (http://www.laurentides.com/parclineaire/1418_an.html). That's good news! Free this year. Yay! One of my favorite rides.

Switzerland requires bikes be registered and carry "license plates".

I recall the license stickers from the 70's in our area. They were nothing more than a form of registration, supposedly to help your stolen bicycles be returned...can't say it ever happened. IIRC they were put on at any fire station or police substation, and at bike rodeos that were held once a year at various school locations. I was scraping one of those stickers off of a frame set today. I did shoot an email to the local police to ask if the data base still exists. I kind of doubt it.

Aaron:)

I recall the license stickers from the 70's in our area. They were nothing more than a form of registration, supposedly to help your stolen bicycles be returned...can't say it ever happened. IIRC they were put on at any fire station or police substation, and at bike rodeos that were held once a year at various school locations. I was scraping one of those stickers off of a frame set today. I did shoot an email to the local police to ask if the data base still exists. I kind of doubt it.

Aaron:)

This was carried on until the mid 90`s where I live. I got one bike licensed at a bike rodeo and another at the local fire station. My old 1992 Specialized Hard Rock was returned 3 years after it was stolen because of the license sticker! For some reason the thief changed the handlebars, bar-ends, and pedals, but left the sticker intact (?!). Also left the funky water bottle holder that I painted with Tester`s model paint! Woo-hoo!

I should ask if the database around here still exists as well...

Where I grew up, we had metal license plates for bikes in the 1970s and 1980s. They looked like smaller versions of car license plates.

Many a University including one I have taught recently at require bike licenses on campus. If you do not have a license, and park in a campus bike rack, they confiscate your bike and sell it at the end of the academic year. There are no tickets, no fines, and no appeals. Park in the wrong place without a permit and you lose your bike. What a bunch of Bull****. I understand the need to remove abandoned bikes from the parking stands or from unauthorized areas, but this is excessive IMHO and I know of at least one other big ten University with this rule. It is quite profitable for the University to do things this way.

In my opinion this is a legal scam. There are more than enough bike stands on campus and they should really encourage students and faculty to use a bike if at all possible. Parking at any major University is at a premium, no to mention a major headache for commuters. It seems the current system just discourages the use of bikes. There are a few bikes sold at these auctions that are in the $700+ range, and many students who weren't aware of the bike rule have lost expensive bikes as the University doesn't go out of their way to make students aware of the rules.

GRRRR....

My "bike license plate"...

I love having license plates on my bikes. I got a few from here:
https://www.bluesabreinc.com/

Thanks I just ordered 3 California MTBMAVEN plates. Can't wait. Got one for my Niner, one for the window of the truck, and another one cuse. I'm sure I will find a place for it.