I remember speaking with a Huntington Beach police officer who stated that they made no attempt to find the owners of recovered bikes, even if they had city licences. Perhaps at first it was a way to ID kids involved in accidents but it eventually went to nothing more than a revenue program.
Guy Taylor, Anaheim CA, USA
Greenman Archery
From: david <viciouscycles@excite.com> Subject: Re: [CR] California bike licenses , Frame stamping by ham hands. To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Sunday, February 13, 2011, 10:37 AM
This thread brought back some memories. I was in High School in Fullerton Ca. and riding my PX-10 daily. I was pulled over by the local motorcycle cop and warned that I MUST have a license on my bike. I duty-fully showed up at the local cop shop on Saturday and was a bit horrified that they not only were applying the security stickers(al-la car tags) on the seat tube and were covering decals that happened to be there, AND Stamping a city unique logo in front of the serial #. There was a guy , a few bikes ahead, with a New fire engine red LeJune who was more than a little miffed when the stamp removed a 1/4" sq. chunk of paint and dented the BB. I was in line behind a neighbor with a Penton off-road motorcycle (also an offender) and watched as the officer placed the sticker and then attempted to stamp the city mark in front of the ser.# and quickly flattened his stamp to smooth on the Chro-Mo frame. I stepped out of line and rode home. Rode as an outlaw for 2 more years befor e moving to Calgary. I cannot count the bikes I have found with a city sticker right over a decal or logo , They can be removed with heat and 3m Addheasive remover if you are REALLY careful. but most will take the decal with it. I don't think the stickers ever prevented theft , they may have helped to recover an abandoned bike but , I think, more prompted a rattle can make over to hide the license. They had the Ca. Licenses back in the 30's as my first bike was a alley/trash find Schwinn Fisher 20" with a metal plate, 1939 Modesto. Other states went back way before that. The best way to recover a missing bike is to have the Serial # recorded. IMHO
David Cowie
Oakland , Ore.
Bike license free Zone