Some residents said the plan, which Detroit police said will be mean $55 tickets for riders of unregistered bikes starting Aug. 7, is a waste of police resources that would be better utilized elsewhere.

"Why are the police worrying about something like this?" said Evelyn Roark, grandmother of an 11-year-old boy. "Are they going to start giving tickets to little kids? Maybe the police ought to concentrate on getting rid of all the dope dealers and gangs, so the kids will have a safe place to ride their bikes."

Detroit Police spokesman James Tate defended the plan to enforce the 1964 ordinance as a step that would help, rather than hinder, bike owners.

"We're trying to get people to register their bikes," Tate said. "We've got hundreds of bikes piled up with no way of knowing who they belong to. The idea isn't to start handing out tickets to little kids on tricycles."