What is the benefit of the National Bike Registry?
The National Bike Registry (NBR®) provides an easy, inexpensive means to label and identify your bicycle or scooter to facilitate its return if stolen. Police recover nearly half of all stolen bikes, but too often have no way to identify the owner. Because NBR works directly with law enforcement, property return is more likely. NBR is also a theft deterrent, since thieves are less likely to steal marked property because of greater difficulty in reselling it.

Why is NBR better than registering with my local police or fire department?
Only the National Bike Registry is a nationwide registration database. If your bike is registered with the police in your town and is stolen, but is recovered in a neighboring town, chances are it won’t be returned to you. But with NBR, regardless where your bike is recovered, police can get it back to you.

If a bike is registered with NBR and is stolen, what happens next?
When police find the bike, they call the National Bike Registry or access the www.nationalbikeregistry.com website to connect the bike to its rightful owner. They can refer to the serial number on the bike, the serial number on the NBR label, or a description of the bike. NBR then notifies the owner via phone, e-mail or postcard.

How successful is NBR at returning bikes to owners?
The success rate is about 99 percent. Every time a police officer has contacted us about a registered bike, we've been able to give the law enforcement agency information about the owner so the bike could be returned. Bikes registered in the National Bike Registry are returned every week.

What kind of items can be registered at NBR?
The National Bike Registry registers bicycles and scooters. Its parent company, BoomerangIt Global Lost & Found Service (www.boomerangit.com), is for registering all other valuable property such as PDAs, laptops, mobile phones, digital cameras, luggage, keys, sports equipment and virtually anything else.

How does someone subscribe to NBR?
National Bike Registry packages are available at bicycle retailers, or interested owners can go to the www.nationalbikeregistry.com website or call 800-848-BIKE to register. Packages are: $10 for 10 years of NBR protection, $25 for a 30-year transferable membership and $25 for a family membership, allowing registration of up to five bikes for 10 years.

What information is needed for registration?
Subscribers record the serial number of their bicycle, the National Bike Registry identification label number, and a physical description of the bicycle into the NBR system. This way, even if the tamper-resistant label is removed, the other information will still be on the owner’s NBR record, enabling us to make a positive identification. You can also use the registration information as a proof of ownership, to file a police report, for insurance or inventory purposes.

How do people return an item they have found?
The finder, whether it is the police or a private party, can go to the National Bike Registry website or call 800-848-BIKE and report the find. By entering the label’s serial number or the bike’s serial number, it enables NBR to identify and notify the owner that the bike has been recovered.

Can NBR labels be removed?
The National Bike Registry has developed the best and most durable labels available anywhere in the world, yet they can be removed by determined criminals. However, it does require time and tools to remove the labels. Destruction of the label itself is also a crime in many states and countries and it confirms suspicion that the item was stolen. At that point, it would be better for the "finder" to return the property with the chance of garnering a reward. Even without its label, a recovered bike can be identified by its serial number or physical description and as long as it's registered, it can be returned.

What happens if a bike is stolen and never recovered?
The National Bike Registry will register the owner’s next bike at no charge.

What happens if I sell a registered bike or buy a pre-owned bike?
When you sell a registered bike, you contact National Bike Registry and de-activate the registration. Pre-owned bikes or scooters are registered the same as a new product. If someone tries to register a stolen bike previously registered with NBR, the original owner will be contacted.

With a lifetime registration, what if I sell my bike?
You can transfer a lifetime registration, and every bike you own in the future (one bike at a time) will also be covered under that registration.

What happens when a registration expires?
Subscribers receive e-mail or mail reminders about renewal. If they choose not to renew, the National Bike Registry guarantee to maintain that information for them expires, but the information is retained in the database for one year. If a recovered bike is reported to NBR after expiration, the owner can still get it back at an additional charge.

What is NBR’s relationship with the police?
We recognize that law enforcement involvement is one of the most critical components of successful property recovery. The National Bike Registry online database is available to law enforcement nationwide through secure password-protected access. More than 16,000 U.S. police departments coast-to-coast use our database to identify owners of recovered bikes and scooters.

What is NBR’s relationship to McGruff^® the Crime Dog.
The National Bike Registry is an official licensee of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). A portion of the proceeds from NBR sales go to support NCPC’s McGruff^® the Crime Dog crime prevention programs.

How does NBR work with insurance companies?
National Bike Registry enables customers to submit records substantiating ownership to insurance companies in case bikes are lost, damaged or stolen. Insurance companies may use NBR and the BoomerangIt reporting system for customers to efficiently notify them about lost, damaged or stolen bikes and share this information with police.

Does NBR partner with manufacturers?
Yes, the National Bike Registry works with select bike manufacturers to add value to their products by including NBR protection with their products. Consumers then register their products at the manufacturer’s website or send in the warranty registration card. Bike manufacturers working with NBR include: Diamondback, Giant, Huffy, Kryptonite, Mongoose, Raleigh, Razor, Redline and Torker. Distributors include KHS, Wilson Bicycles Sales and Ya-Ya! Bike.

What is BoomerangIt?
BoomerangIt (www.boomerangit.com)is a global lost and found return service that works with law enforcement, Good Samaritans, and other entities to return recovered property to the rightful owners worldwide. It uses advanced security and database technologies to provide a simple, effective, and low-cost way for people to identify and track their belongings. Whereas NBR registers bikes and scooters, BoomerangIt registers everything else