Bike Registration and Stolen Bike Alert – Bike Shepherd

1. Place the 2 small Pulse ID tags (1,2) on the bike. Use the Diagram as a guide. We recommend underneath the bottom bracket (where the pedal arms join the bike) and on the area nearest the seat.2. Place the large Anti-Theft deterrent tag (3) on a visible place on your bike, We recommend the top tube or down tube, whichever is wider.3. Go to www.bikeshepherd.org and register your bike online. You MUST register the Bicycle ID kit number located on the tag to protect your bike. If your bike is already registered, please login to your account and update the bike details with the Bicycle ID Kit number.4. Turn your mobile phone into a scanner. Go to www.bikeshepherd.org/scanner

5. To guarantee optimum adhesion, surfaces to be bonded must be clean, dry and grease free. Anti-adhesive substances on surfaces, such as dust, grease, water, flaking paint, rust or wax must be removed before application.

It’s a free, global, online service created to protect bikes and fight bike theft. It’s open to all, is free to use, register, list and report your stolen bike using Stolen Bike Alerts. Bike Shepherd was set up to give cyclists a toolkit to help protect their bikes.

Everyone knows someone who’s had their bike stolen. Bike theft is a huge problem and its getting worse as more people get on their bikes and more expensive bikes are available in the market. Bike Shepherd is an effective way to deter bike theft and help get bikes back if stolen. The police don’t have the resources to manage this problem. It’s up to cyclists to help themselves.

Along with free web-based toolkit, the company offers Bike ID Kits with unique PULSE ID tags for sale that can be read by anybody with a smart phone. Simply scanning the bike tells you its status. If stolen, you can send out Stolen Bike Alerts and notify the owner, right from your phone.

The bike community becomes the default police force and can look out for your bike when the police can’t, or won’t. Bike Shepherd uses social media, mobile apps and scannable tags are the weapons we use against thieves. The thousands of cycling social networks that grow organically within Bike Shepherd’s localized neighborhoods are the most effective way to stop bike theft and protect bikes.

Its the only thing that connects you to the bike. Unregistered bikes cannot be traced back to you. It’s your word against a thief if the police find your bike. A registered bike has a 10-30% chance of being returned to you. An unregistered bike 2-4%. There are thousands of bikes that are not registered in the UK and the world and they get stolen…by the thousands, one every 65 seconds. In the US, 2.5 million bikes were stolen in 2009. In the UK – 500,000 bikes, Austria – 400,000, Denmark, 500,000, Netherlands 700,000… .

Nothing. Registering takes minutes. You can do it online or from your phone by taking a picture of the frame number on the bottom of the bike and sending that in to [email protected]

A friend had a time trial bike stolen. It surfaced for sale in an email, complete with photo. A sharp-eyed cyclist who saw it smelled a rat and forwarded it to his bike club to distribute to other clubs. Within 30 minutes a friend saw the photo, called the owner and he was reunited with his bike.

The lesson – cyclists looking out for other cyclists are best way to get your bike back. And having it registered and tagged is the key. It makes it easy for you to prove to the police that it’s yours when they trace it back to you.

Register once. It moves with you from home-college-job, from State-to-State, country-to-country. Bike Shepherd holds all your bike serial numbers, photos and descriptions in one place, ready to give to the police or insurance when you need it.

Given the choice, a thief will always take a bike that has no tag or anti-theft label over one that does. They don’t want to run the risk of being caught with traceable goods. So, get registered then tag your bike. Anybody with a smart phone can then read your bike to make sure it hasn’t been listed as stolen. If it has, they can report it right away.

You know it makes sense. Bikes that are registered and tagged have a much higher chance of NOT being stolen in the first place.

Create your own sting operation and get back at thieves. It’s a tiny, traceable, tamper-proof tag that is attached to your bike and can be read by anybody with a smart phone and a scanner.

That means everybody can scan your bike; the police, Good Samaritan, other cyclists. If a thief takes your bike and is picked up by the police, PULSE ID proves the police the bike is yours. You get your bike. The police get the thief.

Step 1: Go to our scanner page at www.bikeshepherd.org/scanner.html and download the scanner into your phone.

Step 2: If you see a bike with a Bike Shepherd tag on it, scan the tag. If it has been reported as stolen it’ll show up on the website and Stolen Bike Alerts go out to our followers and the police.

It’s a way to get the word out fast and it works. If you have a bike stolen, list it as stolen and then click the Stolen Bike Alert tab. This will immediately send out Stolen Bike Alerts by email and SMS to our army of cycling followers at bike clubs, bike shops, and school security offices, the police and all our friends on Facebook and Twitter. If your bike is spotted, you are contacted by email with location info through your phone.

Email, phone, address and bike details. You can have as many bikes under one account as you wish. You can edit each one, add or delete bikes and if you move the registration moves with you. Just change your contact details online.

We ask for serial numbers of each bike with detailed descriptions, any photos and identifying marks, etc. We only ask for information that will help to identify your bike, prove you are the proper owner and contact information so that we or the police can contact you in case your bike is stolen. Your personal details are not shared with anyone.

By entering your zip or postal code, you will be notified via email about any stolen bikes taken near your home or work. This enables your local cycling community, including you, to be on the lookout for each other’s bikes.

Log into your account on Bike Shepherd. Click Edit. Then change the Pulse ID number to the number that is printed on the tags.

To get best results, the bike surface should be clean, dry and grease free. Dirt, dust, grease, water, flaking paint, rust or wax on the bike frame will result in less than optimum adhesion.

The tags come in packs of three. Two small tags and one larger, anti-theft deterrent tag. For best scanning results, place the tags on the flattest sections of the bike frame. We recommend you place the 3 tags on these areas:

1. Bottom bracket: the area underneath the bike where the two pedals join the bike frame. This is called the bottom bracket where the frame number is usually found. Place the tag near, but not over the frame number.

2. On the down tube: the tube that joins the handlebar area to the bottom bracket and pedals. We recommend you place the larger tag here.

On the seat tube (the vertical tube under the seat or saddle), preferably

NOTE: OLDER BIKES WITH SMALL TUBES: If attaching tags to an older bike with small diameter tubes, place the tags on the flattest area of the bike. Scanning readability can be affected by tube curvature.

 

1. Assume all surfaces are contaminated. We recommend that you clean surfaces with appropriate surface cleaner and allow sufficient time for the cleaning fluid to “flash off” or dry completely.

2. Apply tag onto clean dry surfaces and avoid finger contact with adhesive surface.

3. Apply even and firm pressure across the whole surface area to effect best bond.

4. Allow for bond strength to build up. Full bond strength is usually achieved after 72 hours.

 

 

Not easily. The Pulse ID Tags are made with the strongest commercially available adhesive. They are extremely difficult to remove and are tamper-resistant. Tags cannot be peeled off in one piece. Any attempt to remove them will result in them breaking off in tiny fragments and will leave evidence of tampering.

However, with enough time and effort, any tag can be overcome but this will likely result in the bike being damaged and will leave evidence of attack. Thieves who see a tagged bike will know it’s registered and traceable, which is a deterrent in itself.

Yes. Bike Shepherd welcomes advertising opportunities, alliances, and strategic partnerships for the greater good of safe cycling. We also believe in working closely with the local communities, bike manufacturers, bike shops, clubs and other cycling organizations that share our love of cycling and see the benefit of fighting bike crime through community involvement.

Go to your account, click on the bike in question, and click on the “Sold” button. The bike’s details will be deleted. The new owner will then fill in his information, including the Pulse ID number, if any, on his own. There is no charge for this.

Yes. We’re happy to work with anybody who wishes to develop Bike Shepherd’s community. If you’re interested in promoting Bike Shepherd through Twitter, Facebook, relevant blogs or other social networking sites, give us a shout. We also like to work with university security offices, schools, local councils and other organizations in any capacity.

If you’re interested in contacting Bike Shepherd with an idea, we would love to hear from you. We can be contacted at [email protected].

This bike is probably stolen and should be reported. Even if the tag is partially damaged, type in the frame number into the Bike Shepherd search engine or Google. If the bike is registered, it will show up in the search results.

Scan the tag. This will let you know if the bike is stolen. If it is, simply click the “Contact Owner” button on your phone and a message will be sent to the owner of the bike, with location details. All this is done behind the scenes. There is no personal information shared by you or the owner.

Don’t confront the thief! Call the police first. Then report it to us at [email protected]. If you have access to the bike, scan the PULSE ID tag with your smart phone. You can also email or SMS Bike Shepherd with details of where you saw the bike last. We’ll do the rest and get out a Stolen Bike Alert right away. Give as full a full description as possible.

Always call the police first and tell them you believe you are witnessing a bike theft in progress and give them all the details. Bike Shepherd does not encourage or condone any person confronting a possible thief under any circumstances.

The Bike Secure Partner Program is a free service we offer to any bike shop or bicycle-related organization to register bicycles directly from your site. By offering this service, you create more customer loyalty and have access to the bicycle information in case your customer is a victim of a bike theft. Just go to www.bikeshepherd.org/partner_signup.html

It is a bike shop or organization that sells the Bike Shepherd Bike ID Kits. To see our list of bike shops selling the tags click on this link:www.bikeshepherd.org/partners.html

Yes. We’re always ready to work with any bike advocacy group, event or organization that wants to promote cycling and fight bicycle theft. We work with many corporations, police departments and campuses to provide programs that help manage their bike infrastructure.

Bike Shepherd welcomes advertising opportunities, alliances, and strategic partnerships for the greater good of safe cycling. We also believe in working closely with the local communities, bike manufacturers, bike shops, clubs and other cycling organizations that share our love of cycling and see the benefit of fighting bike crime through community involvement.

If you find errors or dead links, please forward these to [email protected].