Second hand bicycle

Hi everyone,

My question is about bicycle registration. I've picked up a second hand bicycle from the basement of our apartment, which has a sticker on it saying that it should be disposed / collected (the ones that you have to buy to have your large furniture disposed). Now what can I do to have the bike registered under my name? Just go to a kouban?

Thanks in advance.

Second hand bicycles are usually re-registered (it's called saitouroku, 再登録) to a new owner at the second hand shop where you bought it or in case of the bicycle being given to you any bicycle shop close to the place of your residence.

The thing is you need to have some paper proving you obtained the bicycle lawfully.
The shops usually demand following things:

1. previous owner's registration paper (or the written statement saying he/she donated the bicycle to you)
2. a document stating the address etc of the new owner (e.g. alien registration card)
3. the bicycle that is to be re-registered

Re-registration fee is about 500 yen.

It might be fairly difficult if you the bicycle you picked up didn't come with the registration paper. Try checking with a bicycle shop and see if they can help you.

Chris,

Legally, I'm afraid what you have done is theft, because the previous owner has paid for that sticker trusting that the bicycle will be handed to the municipal so that it could be either wasted or fixed to be auctioned as second hand.

I believe that the name of the previous owner was written on that sticker. You should've asked that person first before picking it up.

But that's alright. You can go to the previous owner now and just say you didn't know. If the previous owner insists it should be wasted for one reason or another, you should volunteer to put it back so that it can be picked up as bulk waste. If it is already past pick-up date, you should volunteer to phone the municipal so that another date can be set.

If the previous owner says you can have it, you should volunteer to pay the sticker fee to the previous owner. Then you can contact your local koban for more details on what you can do to have it re-registered according to your municipal's by-law or what not. In Yokohama where I live, you need a note from the previous owner proving (s)he wishes you to have it, and the new owner should bring that note and bike to his/her local koban.

Actually, I think it's a bit mis-leading to say that the "re-registeration fee" is 500 yen. It's free to hand your bike to a new owner, but whatever the situation, you need to pay 500 yen to have any bike registered, be it second hand or brand new.

I picked up an old and unused bike from my old apartment building. I had to change the front wheel, fix the breaks and stuff then just started riding it. I was stopped by the police one day and explained the whole story to them. They believed me, but told me that I couldn't just do that, because if it is in fact stolen, I am in posession of it thus am the prime suspect for the theft of it.
They rang the previous owner (from the details on the sticker on the bike) and confirmed with her whether it was stolen or not, and she said she left it at the apartment building when she moved out, thus confirming my story. The police told me I should then get it registered in my name as the previous owner didn't care what happened to the bike. I never did though, and continued to ride it for about 5 years or so. I was stopped on the odd occasion and had to explain the same story again, but as it was written up in the first place, it could always be confirmed.
I would go to the koban and tell them the situation before riding the bike around and get them to check with the previous owner. Once that is cleared, register it in your name and all is good.