Pacific LAPD offers this helpful brochure on how to lock your bike, find the serial number and what to do if it is stolen: Bike Registraton Tri Fold.pdf Here are some of the helpful details on locking your bike: Bike Registraton Tri Fold

  1. Find something sturdy to lock the bike to. Make sure thieves can’t simply lift the bike over it.
  2. Watch out for scaffolding and “sucker poles”—shake them first to ensure they’re solidly in the ground. As Kryptonite product manager Don War-ren puts it, “The bike is only as secure as what you’re locking it to.”
  3. Wheel theft is on the rise. If you can’t lock one of yours, take it with you. But don’t park the bike that way long—thieves will start to strip it.
  4. Don’t use a U-lock around your bike’s top tube, says Michael McGettigan, owner of Trophy Bikes in Philadelphia. A thief could use the frame as a lever to pop it open. Use the lock to secure a wheel to your down tube.
  5. Locks are about buying time. A burly chain at least 12mm thick will delay thieves the longest.
  6. Remove the front wheel, then lock both wheels together with the frame, bike mechanic and lock expert Hal Ruzal suggests.