Originally Posted by
baron von trail
I'm actually amazed that bikes, unlike boats and other recreational "vehicles", do not require registration. In some ways, bike registration could be a good thing: money for more bike paths and lanes. But, OTOH, it owuld be a wee bit too intrusive.
My windsurfer doesn't need to be registered because it's under 12 ft, my inflatable sailboat does because it's 14 ft (when inflated). If I were in Florida (where I got the sailboat from), it doesn't need to be registered because it's under 16 ft. However, it does have an optional motor mount so if it were used with a motor in Florida, it would then need to be registered.
My point is that States' rules differ, are somewhat arbitrary, and they can change. Almost all kayaks needed to be registered until a couple of years ago, now shorter ones don't.
It used to be that bikes in the City of Minneapolis had to be registered, but that's not the case anymore. That requirement ended several years ago. Apparently the police misused that information in the aftermath of a Critical Mass ride gone bad.