Thursday, May 8, 2008

DIY Bike Info Card or How To Cover Your Butt

I have done a number of posts here on Bike Jax recently relating to stolen bikes and or locking your bike. And they have had pretty widespread responses not just locally but also nationally and internationally. In each of those posts I suggest writing down your bikes serial number not once but twice. One for your wallet or purse and one for your home records.

I can't tell you how many times since those posts that people have come up to and me told what a great idea that is. And do you know how may of them had done it? That's right, zero. And when I queried them as to why they had not taken what amounts to less than minute of their time to write down a serial number. They had the audacity to turn the tables on me and proceeded to asked to see my serial numbers. It was while I was removing that tattered barely legible folded up scrap of paper from my wallet for what amounted to something like to 20th time. That it finally dawned on me that there had to be a better way.

I now give you the Bike Jax DIY Bike Info Card. Whether you own one bike or a dozen you now have no excuse not to record your bike or bikes serial number. The Info Card is a simple PDF that can be printed out on plain paper or any standard business card stock.

Bike Jax Bike Info Card


The instructions are pretty simple. Just click on the image above and you will go to 4share.com where you will be able download the Bike Info Card in as a PDF. If you have any problems downloading or printing the Info card please let me know.

Don't limit yourself to just filling in the spaces of the basic information. Use the back of the card to record other features of your bike. Take a picture of your bike and glue it to the back. Laminate it if you feel the need. If the unfortunate does ever happen and your bike is lost or stolen. All you need to do now is whip this card out and you'll have all the vital information you need for authorities.


Folks the serial number of your bike is your golden ticket on recovery of your bike. It ends any confusion about who the rightful owners is. Without this information you have very little legal recourse in the event of dispute. Law enforcement has no way to confirm that the bike is your or not if it should be recovered 6 months down the road. Take a few minutes of your time and write it down.

3 comments:

thePig said...

Great idea. I always write down my serial numbers but they end up on loose bits of paper somewhere.

I am lucky and not have not ever had one of my bikes stolen.

Bike Jax said...

Thanks ThePig. I feel weird calling someone that. If you had a problem with printing the Info card on business card stock. I have switched hosts and I think solved any issues with printing.

Raiyn said...

Actually, a slightly better idea is to register with the National Bike Registry That way you've got all the info on your print out on a spiffy certificate for home, a wallet sized card, and in a national database that can be accessed by law enforcement. It also comes with a tamper resistant label for the bike. I took the extra step to copy the cards onto heavy card stock and have them laminated at my local office store. They even registered my girlfriend's bike with my three as part of a "family plan".