Can You Look Up A Bike Serial Number

[Evangeline Mellon]

Aserial number located on a rear dropout. Some BMX bikes and a few Schwinn bicycles place the serial on the rear dropout. On older Schwinns there are numbers stamped on both the drive side and non-drive side rear dropouts; the one on the non-drive side dropout is the serial number.

As the train crossed from Belgium into the Netherlands my excitement grew. I sat forward to get a better look out of the window at the country side. Then I saw them, beautiful, clean, pale red ribbons stretching through the low lying land. They were bicycle paths; actually not so much paths as bicycle highways, long and inviting, stretching into the distance with a promise to take you wherever you wanted to go in breezy, smooth self-powered tranquility. It looked like the Promised Land I expected.

The Netherlands is generally considered one of only a few places in the developed world where biking infrastructure is done right. There, the bicycle is viewed differently than most everywhere else. The bicycle is transportation first and foremost, not a toy, not a fitness device, and over several decades the Dutch have built paths and bike lanes in the cities, suburbs and countryside to facilitate the safe and convenient use of bikes by average people to get from point A to point B. In that nation there are actually more bicycles than people; that is 17 million inhabitants and 23 million bikes. More than 25% of all trips made by the Dutch are travelled by bicycle. In the Netherlands the city that most often comes up in discussions about how to do biking right is Amsterdam, a dense city of about 800,000 people in the north of the country. Among bicycle advocates Amsterdam is El Dorado, a fabled gleaming city to which those desiring an enlightened and pragmatic approach to transportation should look.

Bikes rule the streets of Amsterdam. They are everywhere. Motor vehicles are there too, but they crawl through the narrow streets in obvious disproportion to the bikes. Drivers are greatly outnumbered and they seem to know it. They crawl tentatively through the narrow streets in their metal boxes. The people on bikes seems to recognize the power they have. They ride confidently, young and old, with small children and without helmets. Imagine that: People on bikes feeling powerful in the face of the automobile menace. This is surely a good thing. But it also seemed a bad thing.

Biking in Amsterdam has grown tremendously over a fairly short period of time. In the 20 years prior to 2012, the number of bike trips taken in Amsterdam has increased by 40%. One has to wonder if the increased popularity of biking in that city, and the Netherlands as a whole, has outpaced the ability to accommodate them. The infrastructure is not awesome. This is the second thing that made my experience unenjoyable. The roads and bike paths are difficult to navigate. Often, the road, sidewalk and bike path blend subtly into one another. I often found that I was not sure if I was in the street, on a bike path, or on the sidewalk. Also, street names are not well marked. If you are a local and know instinctively where to go you have a clear advantage. But having to rely on street signs that are not obvious, along with spotty internet service, while riding a bike in a large crowd is pretty stressful. Once you get where you are going, good luck finding a place to lock your bike. Bike racks in Amsterdam are inadequate to an absurd degree. The few that exist are piled high with thickets of bikes at all hours of the day and night.

Does an overwhelmed biking infrastructure account for the rampant bad biking behavior I witnessed? It is hard to say. I saw a lot of people on bikes doing a lot of stupid stuff. But I see a lot of drivers in Chicago do a lot of stupid stuff too: Texting while driving, running stop signs. Perhaps dominance leads to apathy regardless of the mode of transportation.

Amsterdam is disappointing as a biking city. Bicycles are ridden haphazardly and are strewn around the city like junk. Every year some 12,000 to 15,000 of them are fished out of the canals. This is not a model for biking in the United States. It will probably take generations for biking in any U.S. city to reach the level of popularity it has in Amsterdam. As biking grows here it is important to keep the Dutch experience in mind though. A safe and pleasant biking experience requires an infrastructure that grows with the biking public. It is not enough to encourage people to ride. They must have safe space in which to do so. Failure in that regard will snuff out the biking movement in the U.S. while it is still in its infancy. An inability to grow and expand a well-developed biking infrastructure will likely lead to dysfunction.

Go to Auto Plus Towing's website and from the menu bar click on "PUBLIC LOOK UP" or click HERE to go directly to the look up form where you can enter a license plate or vehicle identification number (VIN).

A bicycle serial number is a unique number allocated to your bike by the manufacturer. It helps the manufacturer and bike shops with inventory, making it easier to match compatible parts to that bike.

You use the serial number to register your bike with the various registration schemes such as Bike Index, Bike Register and Project 529. If the police recover your bike, they'll use the serial number to link it to you.

NICB's VINCheck is a free lookup service provided to the public to assist in determining if a vehicle may have a record of an insurance theft claim, and has not been recovered, or has ever been reported as a salvage vehicle by participating NICB member insurance companies. To perform a lookup, a vehicle identification number (VIN) is required. A maximum of five searches can be conducted within a 24-hour period per IP address.

By clicking on a vendor link, you are leaving the NICB website. The vehicle history report available on this site may require you to make a purchase. The NICB assumes no liability for the transaction or the product purchased.

After WE9 comes the production month, marked by A for January, B for February, C for March, and so on. So if, for example, you get your hands on a Big Easy, Cross-Check, or Steamroller assembled in August 2019, its serial number will begin with WE9H. Finally, the serial number will end with five digits indicating how many unique frames rolled off the line before yours that month. A serial number that looks like WE9H00168 means your bike was the 168th Surly frame Willing assembled in August of 2019. It might look a little different from the rest of the Surly serial numbers out there, but that just means your bike is special, which you already knew.

I'm moving to a city where I can ride a bicycle to the grocery store, coffee shop etc. I want to purchase a decent used bicycle. I'm leaning towards a bike that's in between a "10-speed" or road-bike and a mountain bike. What should I look for when choosing a particular bike?

I've never purchased a used bicycle. Other than classifieds (e.g., Craigslist), what types of places can I look? What other issues should I consider, such as size, visual appearance, leaking tires, etc.? How can I make sure it's not stolen?

You can also take a look at pawn shops, and if you live near a college/university, the campus police may hold a bike auction near the beginning of the school year. Our department collects abandoned bikes at the end of the spring semester and sell them the next calendar year (giving the owners time to come back and claim them). We usually have 60 or more bikes up for auction, ranging from rust buckets to almost brand new Treks.

Definitely take a look at the bike before buying. Give it a quick once-over for general wear or use. If the bike looks like it hasn't been maintained well, it will probably show. This doesn't mean it isn't a good bike, but you want the best you can get.

Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list, and that you will find problems with any bike if you look closely enough. It doesn't automatically mean you should look for a different bike either. What's important is whether the problems you find are evidence of deeper issues, or if they will cause problems in the future. Many issues can be fixed at home with a little effort, but it's still better to be aware of anything before you buy a bike. These small fixes can also add up if you're looking for something cheap. I'll try to point out bigger problems that you want to avoid.

History: Simply ask if there have been any problems with the bike. Has it been in an accident? was it rebuild? does it pull the left? How long has the seller owned it, how much have they used it, etc.

General: Does anything squeak or make unusual sounds? Can you stand comfortably over the frame with your feet flat on the ground? Does the bike still have reflectors in the front and back, the wheels, and pedals? Has the bike been registered previously, and can the owner produce the paperwork to transfer the registration? Do the parts have a well-greased and smooth feel to them?

Wheels: Look for wear on the tire tread. Is there any damage to the side walls of either tire? What kind of conditions are the inner tubes in? As how many flat repairs each wheel has had, and if either tire leaks air significantly.

Make sure the wheels attach firmly to the frame, and that the wheels remain secure when you torque them relative to the axle. (You don't want any 'play' in the wheels, as this may be a sign of one of those deeper problems with a loose cassette or worn ball bearings.) How are the spokes? Do they have relatively even tension on them and look like they're in good shape?

Brakes: Check the brake pads for wear. Will then need to be replaced soon? Are they aligned for proper contact with the braking surface? Do they engage quickly when the brakes are applied?

Cables: Check for any frayed ends or rusted sections. Are the cable guides still in place and preventing unnecessary wear across surfaces? Do the cables have end-caps on them to prevent future fraying?

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