Bill of sale · bicycle & e-bike

Bicycle & E-Bike Bill of Sale Form

Bikes vanish fast and paperwork brings them back. Frame serial, sizes — or class, wattage, and battery for an e-bike — with photos, in a fillable AS-IS PDF.

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Download a blank bill of sale, or build a custom one.

A bicycle or e-bike bill of sale records a bike sale by frame serial number — plus class, motor wattage, and battery details for electrics — with price and signatures. It doubles as a theft-recovery record keyed to registries like Bike Index.

What are you selling?Frame serial, sizes, and color.

How do you want to build it?

Download a clean, fillable bicycle bill of sale. Type the details in any PDF viewer, or print it and write them by hand.

US Letter · fillable PDF, editable Word (.docx), or Google Docs · print at 100%

Not legal advice. This template is a general-purpose starting point only. Specific DMV and state requirements vary — I understand it is my responsibility to verify local requirements before finalizing a transfer.

Sample

A clean, fillable form — every line is a text field you can type into, or print blank.

Optional add-on

Need it notarized?

Louisiana and West Virginia require it, and a few situations reward it — same form, plus an acknowledgment certificate page.

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Selling in a specific state?

Bill of sale requirements by state

See which states have an official DMV form, which require a notary, and where this free builder is a suitable alternative — all 50 states + DC.

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Serials & stolen bikes

The frame serial is the whole ballgame.

Bikes are the most-stolen and least-documented thing people own — which makes a bill of sale with the frame serial number (stamped under the bottom bracket, where the pedals meet the frame) surprisingly valuable. It proves the seller owned it, gives the buyer a theft-recovery record, and is what registries like Bike Index key on. Photos of the bike and the serial itself complete the record.

For an e-bike, two more things matter: the class (1 pedal-assist, 2 throttle, 3 speed pedal-assist to 28 mph) and the battery — its voltage, amp-hours, and honest charge health are most of a used e-bike’s value. A few states treat class 3 or over-750W machines more like mopeds, so note any modifications.

Curbside checklist

Two minutes before the bike rides away.

Flip the bike and photograph the serial under the bottom bracket — that photo plus this form is the whole ownership record.
Selling an e-bike? Use the toggle above so class, wattage, and battery fields are on the document.
Batteries are the value: note charge cycles or range honestly in the additional terms.
Locks, lights, racks, and chargers included? Write them down.
Update the registration on Bike Index or your local registry to the buyer.

Not legal advice. class-3 and higher-wattage e-bikes cross into moped territory in some states.

Where's the sale?

What your state wants, in one click.

This form works in all fifty states. What changes is what your DMV wants alongside it — notarization, an odometer statement, a filing deadline. Pick your state for the specifics.

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Asked and answered

What people want to know about bicycle sales.

Why would a bicycle need a bill of sale?

Because bikes are stolen constantly and recovered bikes are returned to whoever can prove they own one. A bill of sale with the frame serial number turns 'it's mine' into a dated document naming the person who sold it to you. For anything above a few hundred dollars it is also what an insurer will ask for.

Where is the frame serial number?

Almost always stamped underneath the bottom bracket — turn the bike upside down and look where the crank arms pass through the frame. Less commonly it is on the head tube or the rear dropout. Photograph it. Police recovery databases are searched by serial, and a bike with no recorded serial is effectively unrecoverable.

What about an e-bike?

Record the same frame serial, and add the class, motor wattage and battery specification. Class matters legally — where a class 3 e-bike may be ridden differs from a class 1 in many jurisdictions — and the battery is often the single most valuable component, so identifying it is worth the line.

Not legal advice. Titling and registration rules are set by your state — check yours in the list above before finalizing a transfer.