Litespeed

Remember when you were a kid and had to buy a bicycle license plate for your bike. Do you think if we had to put them on our bikes now it would show motorist that we actual DO have a right to the road or would it just make us look dorky?

2manybikes

It won't matter at all, motorcycles have plates and have most of the problems bicycles have. The difference is that most motorcycles can keep up with the traffic. The ones that can't have the same problems as bicycles.

lilHinault

Depends if the bike license plate is one of those "custom" ones you get in a box of cheerios or at a souvenir shop that have your name on it..........

Nightshade

The root reason is that......"Size intimidates"

Bicycles are on the bottom of the food chain when it comes to vehicles that use the roads with Semi's
on the top. Everybody else is a progressively smaller fish in traffic.

UmneyDurak

It won't do a damn thing. Only way motorists will respect cyclists rights, if there were some serious consquences for them. Not "Oh you killed another cyclist, well it was probably his/her fault. Just don't do it again , you are free to go."

chris_pnoy

Carry a shotgun with you and a sign that says "pass me and die", you'll get more respect from motorists.

2manybikes

Size does make a difference that's true, but I think there is another important factor.
Probably more or a problem.
A motorcycle while appearing small to a car driver is as fast as the traffic and does not slow down the car driver. That keeps the driver from being annoyed at the motorcycle. A big truck going 10 to 20 mph in the road and pulling over to let cars go by when possible, but taking the lane when it has to, makes car drivers nuts. It is in the way, and it is slow. They often react exactly the same as they would with a bicycle taking the lane at 15 mph but the truck is huge. I think the slower speed of the bicycle is the biggest factor, but when you add in that a bicycle is so small that makes it even worse. That makes the impatient driver more willing to take a risk to get by.
In any case it makes the cyclist the bottom of the food chain.

MikeR

I have one of those on my bike. It's a "Pa Bike Plate" that says "Mike". Cagers never notice it but I get a lot of comments from fellow cyclists on group rides. They all remember my name.

The only thing wrong is - you can't get the nice bike plates like you used to. It used to be that you could get a smaller metal plate just like the larger state tags. Now the bike plates are flat plastic and all the same color, regardless of the state. If anyone knows where to get "genuine" copies of a Pa tag, let me know.

jeff-o

Get a piece of sheet metal, some metal paint, and a paintbrush. Go wild.

jhota

i saw the topic, and thought it was about these:

Nightshade

While there are many other aspects that a plate can have for a "vehicle"
(which bicycles are) the main one is the collection of state fees and road
use........TAX !!

Thus far our money hungry politician haven't noticed that the numbers
of cyclist using the roads is increasing. Then there is the cost to make
and care for all those miles of trails to consider.

So quick!!!!! Before the greedy politico's see this thread.....somebody
kill it!!!!!!

GP

My wife has a small California plate with her name on it. It's genuine sheet metal and looks like a CA car plate. I also got the "Seaport Village San Diego" frame at the same time..

taylor8

If you are talking a real license plate, from the state, They will charge MONEY for that!! YIKES! Just about the last thing I would want would be to pay for a bike license each year. Oh, just think how nice it would be to get a ticket for riding on an expired plate.

Lets not go there, just too ugly to think about.
Joe

Nightshade

THAT is exactly what I'm talking about.

MikeR

No No No God forbid! (franticly makes the sign of the cross).
I'm talking about a little metal plate with my name on it. But the plate is a copy of the official car tags complete with raised lettering and proper color scheme. Maybe I’ll take the suggestion above and make my own. It won’t be raised letters but will be the proper color scheme.

2manybikes

In the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, bicycles had real license plates in the 1950's. I have a couple. I believe they stopped registering bikes as the trouble was not worth it, possibly it ended up as a cost, and not a revenue. If anyone knows the exact reason I would love to hear it. The police enforcement probably cost more than it was worth.

Do you tax a $50 value bicycle at 10% for $5 a year? The paperwork to register the bike every year probably costs $25.

Nightshade

That was then. Now bicycle cost a LOT more,by comparison, and are becoming more popular again.
Back in the 50's bikes were for kids & teens. Now adults ride as a means of transportation just as
they do in the rest of the world. All of which means less road tax from cars which means that bikes
will be on the taxing plate sooner or later.

vainamoinen

that would be sweet.

put it on a trek Madone or a Litespeed or some other tricked out race ride.

And put a playing card in the spokes...

and some pegs.

2manybikes

Used bikes don't keep their value.

There are a lot more entry level bikes than even bikes over $500.

A LOT more, so how do you select the ones to tax? The problem is the same as it ever was. Ask a bike shop how many bikes they sell and what the retail price is. Ask around about the price of a used bike. Without the lower level bikes to sell, bike shops would not be able to survive.

Nightshade

I take it from your response that you live in a state that bases plate cost on the value of the vehicle.
My state is a flat fee for cars ,truck's etc depending on vehicle size. A "cycle" of ANY kind is $38 if
I remember right. Boat are another etc.

That said the plate fee I could expect for my BI "cycle" would be $38 this year for EACH "cycle" .

Now roll that concept around and you can see it won't matter if the "cycle" is new or ancient......the
fee would be the same. A pot of gold the politico's will find sooner or later.

DCCommuter

Around here, the sales tax you pay on the purchase of a bicycle (or accessories) is far more as a percentage of the purchase price than the taxes and fees you would pay on a car over its lifetime.

Bikes are taxed much more highly than cars.

I-Like-To-Bike

Never heard of that before. Please enlighten me.

Are you saying that the sales tax rate (percentage) is higher on bicycle sales than the percentage applied to automobile/private truck purchases in your state/municipality? Or that there is no sales tax at all on auto purchases but there is for bicycle sales?

geeklpc1985

All states had bike plates in the pass, I know some states that had them in 1999. I am a license plate collector, I know these things. Back then no respect, now no respect. We need to kick the drivers in the *** and sit them down and read them the bike section of the drivers handbook.

GEEK

2manybikes

Do you have any idea why they stopped having them?