Detroit Bicycle license plate

[Király]

I'm looking for an old Detroit bicycle license plate like the one shown below. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Packman41]

If you can wait until next April 26^th, then you can go here:
http://www.ann-arbor-bicycleshow.com/ I don’t think you will find a larger or nicer bicycle show east of the Midwest than this one.

Or you can try Memory Lane Classics just outside of Toledo
http://www.memorylane-classics.com/ But I would suspect they would have more Ohio license plates.

Other than that you can generally find one on eBay. Some plates come stamped with the year of registration.

BTW, looks like a pre-war, Roadmaster [[3-gill) girls bike built by Cleveland Welding Co. I have a 1941 3-gill that CWC badged-up for the Packard Motor Car Co.

[thoro]

I went to Ebay and bought a 1945 license plate. That would be my first choice. Going to the bike show would certainly be more fun.

[Lowell]

Curious... were these once required and enforced?

[Packman41]

Yes, this was enforced, because it was a source of tax revenue.

http://classiccycleus.com/home/license-plates/

“Over the years, some municipalities have considered the bicycle a good source of revenue, and have made bicycle licensing a requirement. More often than not, those same municipalities stopped issuing license tabs when confronted by cyclists who expected some services in exchange for those license fees [[bike lanes, police investigation of bicycle thefts, bicycle parking racks, etc.)”

Even back then the cops did not have time to track down bicycle thefts.

[Smirnoff]

Jerry expressed buy a good chinese fake......

[Király]

If you can wait until next April 26^th, then you can go here:
http://www.ann-arbor-bicycleshow.com/ I don’t think you will find a larger or nicer bicycle show east of the Midwest than this one.

Would love to, but a return flight from the west coast where I live isn't in the cards for procuring one of these.

[EastsideAl]

Curious... were these once required and enforced?

They were definitely required. I had one on my 1966 Schwinn 3 speed. Mom stopped by the 5th Precinct on Jefferson on our way home from the bike shop so we could get the plate. Cops could, and did, confiscate bikes if they didn't have a license.

[Honky Tonk]

They were definitely required. I had one on my 1966 Schwinn 3 speed. Mom stopped by the 5th Precinct on Jefferson on our way home from the bike shop so we could get the plate. Cops could, and did, confiscate bikes if they didn't have a license.

Then sold them @ the yearly DPD police auction.

[Király]

Cops could, and did, confiscate bikes if they didn't have a license.

Did that include people who rode their bikes into the city from the suburbs? How about visitors from out-of-state?

[EastsideAl]

Did that include people who rode their bikes into the city from the suburbs? How about visitors from out-of-state?

That wasn't really much of a problem. You have to remember that in those days it was very rare to see an adult on a bicycle. Bikes were primarily thought of as something for children to play on and to get around their block and neighborhood on, not something someone would use to travel any significant distance. There were no bike paths or trails, and bicycles were actively discouraged from riding on busy streets.

I don't know how far back the licensing thing went. But it was, of course, a moneymaker for the city [[as was the sale of confiscated bicycles, as Honky Tonk points out above). When I was a kid the law was sold on the basis that it made recovery of stolen bikes more likely, and that it taught kids lessons in "civic responsibility".

[Király]

That wasn't really much of a problem. You have to remember that in those days it was very rare to see an adult on a bicycle. Bikes were primarily thought of as something for children to play on and to get around their block and neighborhood on, not something someone would use to travel any significant distance. There were no bike paths or trails, and bicycles were actively discouraged from riding on busy streets.

Go back far enough and it was apparently a different story yet. Check out the student "parking lot" at Cooley High in 1931:

[DetroitPlanner]

All this talk of bike plates is going to give the politicos another source of revenues. Once implemented, then they can dump any gas tax that goes into paved shoulders, bike paths, bike racks/lockers.........

[Sandhouse]

Bicycle-registration laws remain on the books in many cities, but I have never heard of them being enforced. I still have my dad's Swedish-made 3-speed with a 1948 Minneapolis plate, very much like the Detroit plate.

The bicycle ordinances usually require registration before riding the city. Today I rode to work unregistered through East Lansing, MSU, and Lansing, all of which have such ordinances. Come and get me, coppers!

[MikeM]

My municipality still requires them, in the form of a decal.

[Király]

OP here.

I got one; it looks just like the one in the photo at the top of the thread, but with plate number A-67153. Does anyone know approximately what year it would be from?

[EastsideAl]

Bicycle-registration laws remain on the books in many cities, but I have never heard of them being enforced. I still have my dad's Swedish-made 3-speed with a 1948 Minneapolis plate, very much like the Detroit plate.

The bicycle ordinances usually require registration before riding the city. Today I rode to work unregistered through East Lansing, MSU, and Lansing, all of which have such ordinances. Come and get me, coppers!

I had those East Lansing and MSU licensing stickers on my bike during my years up there. In fact, my sister still has her bike with those stickers on it [[mine was stolen from a Frandor bike rack). During my years there [[late '70s, very early '80s) the campus DPS would still occasionally go on an enforcement rampage and cut the locks off of and confiscate bikes left in campus bike racks without current permits.

[GPCharles]

Turning 12 was a BIG deal, as you could then ride your bike in the street.

I remember bicycle safety day at my old grade school. Officer Blair from the GPP police would show up for the inspections.

[Király]

So I am the proud owner of this new plate. If the exact year cannot be determined, can anyone pinpoint a decade at least? 50s/60s/70s/80s?

[Király]

BUMP

Can anyone help date this plate? 50s/60s/70s/80s or...? Even a +/- 10 year range would be helpful.

[calliefornia]

BUMP

Can anyone help date this plate? 50s/60s/70s/80s or...? Even a +/- 10 year range would be helpful.

Hi friend!
I own one of these as well. It's a bit more...vintage looking. My dad pulled it off a '71 Ross in a lot he bought. I'd date your's in the 1970's since the serial number is higher and the plate suffered less damage. This is just a light guess though. I'm by no means an expert!

Callie

[Király]

Thanks calliefornia for the info. Other DY posters in a different thread thought that my plate may have come from the late 1950s or early 1960s. I had my doubts about that since my plate is made of aluminum and I didn't think aluminum was in use for this kind of thing that far back.

The fact that yours came from a 1971 model bicycle is a great clue.

If anyone has any more info at all about a time frame for these little license plates I'd love to hear about it.

[GMan]

Thanks calliefornia for the info. Other DY posters in a different thread thought that my plate may have come from the late 1950s or early 1960s. I had my doubts about that since my plate is made of aluminum and I didn't think aluminum was in use for this kind of thing that far back.

The fact that yours came from a 1971 model bicycle is a great clue.

If anyone has any more info at all about a time frame for these little license plates I'd love to hear about it.

I highly doubt the aluminum plates are from the 60's -70's.
I remember taking my new bike down to the 14th Precinct at Gr. River and Schaefer with my dad to get a license in the early 70's. Received a reflective decal license that was put on the down tube.
Felt official after that.

[tedilores]

BUMP

Can anyone help date this plate? 50s/60s/70s/80s or...? Even a +/- 10 year range would be helpful.

I recently bought a 1960 or 1961 J.C. Higgins Flightliner bicycle that was in original and very nice shape that had the same type license plate. I've since restored it and will re-attach plate.

[Bigb23]

My municipality still requires them, in the form of a decal.

I called my local PC about my expensive electric bike, and they could care less.

I guess you should shoot first.