Register your Bicycle Serial Number

Minneapolis bicyclists know that the City of Lakes is one of the best cities for bicycling in North America. Unfortunately, with so many bikes also comes an increased risk of bike theft or loss.

But there's one thing that every bicyclist can do this weekend to combat theft or protect against loss, and it takes just minutes.

All Minneapolis bicyclists are encouraged to register their bicycle's serial number today.

Every year, MPD's Property and Evidence Department recovers a number of lost or stolen bicycles. Moving forward, Property and Evidence will be relying on Bike Index, a non-profit serial number registry that is the largest bicycle registration service in the United States, in order to match recovered bicycles with their owners. Registering your serial number significantly increases the chance that your bike will be returned to you if ever stolen or lost.

Registering your serial number also make it more difficult for someone to successfully sell your bicycle, because stolen bicycles can be easily identified by potential buyers. When buying or selling a bicycle with someone you do not know, remember two rules:

- Before You Buy, Verify: All buyers should insist on checking the serial number of a bicycle against public registries before purchasing.

- Before You Sell, Show and Tell: All sellers should proactively share the serial number of a bicycle before selling, and facilitate the transfer of ownership on all relevant public registries.

Everyone can play a role in making Minneapolis an inhospitable place for bike thieves. Don't procrastinate, register your serial number right away!

Check out the City's page on bicycle registration to learn more, including where to find your bike's serial number.