Project Crappy Bicycle

May is National Bike Month! As I was riding my crappy bicycle early this morning, I came across the Hawaii Bicycling League tents on King St. and decided to stop to check it out. They were handing out refreshments and information about cycling safety and registration with their partner Walk Wise Hawaii, and I was able to learn a few things to help me with my latest clean energy transportation interest — Project Crappy Bicycle.

I was looking for more information about bicycle ownership. I have been really happy in the past with the Biki bikeshare program. However, as an alternative, I have been seeking a cheap bike that looks crappy enough that someone would not be interested in stealing it.

So, I did some shopping on Facebook Marketplace and found a fixer-upper single speed bike that someone had listed for free. It needed some work and had a bit of rust, but I was able to clean it up and get everything working except for the front rim being bent and wobbly. McCully Bicycle’s repair warehouse was able to bang it back to straight enough for $20. I also added a cheap new seat that was more comfortable from Amazon for $12, for a total of $32 bucks invested. It actually looks a little bit better than I intended, but it’s still cheap.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? Not so fast. I was chatting with the representative from the Honolulu City and County Department of Customer Services, who was there to assist with the bicycle registration process. He was very helpful.

First question to me: “Did you check if it’s stolen?”. Nope. I had not. He suggested looking it up on the online HPD Stolen Bicycle Database. You need the current registration decal (yellow sticker) number, and the VIN which can usually be found on the underside of the bicycle frame. Mine was under the pedal hub. It wasn’t reported stolen, yay!

Second question, “Did you get a bill of sale from the previous owner?”. Nope. It was free, he just dropped it off and left. There are ways to attest to ownership without a receipt, but it is best to have the previous owner write up a simple bill of sale. He did have the registration form on hand as well as the “Affidavit of Ownership” form that I will need to make claim to being the rightful owner.

The registration can be completed by making an AlohaQ appointment at the Kapalama Driver Licensing Center for a cost of $15 for a pedal bike. Seems like my project isn’t complete yet and now I have some paperwork to do.

Required Documents for Bicycle Registration

• Proof of Ownership
  • Receipt of Sale
  • Bill of Sale
  • Affidavit of Ownership

• Registration Form
  • With owner contact information and make, year, color, serial number, body type, number of speeds, and wheel size

I found these tips to be extremely helpful and wanted to share them with others who may be looking for eco-friendly alternatives to purchasing an electric car.