Registering your bike...

TMB replied to me re transferring a 京A plate from bike #1 to bike #2, in Beijing:

1) It can be done, if you have owned bike #1 for a minimum of three complete years;
2) If you have not owned bike #1 for three years, you have to destroy bike #1 to make the plate available for bike #2
3) Same rule applies if you move the bike out of Beijing. If you owned bike #1 for at least three years, then you can transfer the plate to bike #2 after bike #1 leaves Beijing (and you provide proof it is gone).
4) If you didn't own bike #1 for three years, and you move it out of Beijing (e.g., to Hebei), then bike #1 has to be destroyed in its new location (e.g., Hebei) and proof provided for the plate to be used back in Beijing.

I gotta say that this email system is sooooo much nicer than having to travel down to the TMB and wait in line at the counter for information, only to realize once you're back home that you forget to ask about something else.