Portland's forthcoming bike-rental program is asking cyclists not to lock their personal bikes to the orange racks now appearing on city streets and sidewalks.

Biketown's operator, Motivate Co., has been installing the racks around the central city to prepare for its July 19 launch, but photos posted to Twitter show cyclists have already started using them for personal bikes.

For now, workers are just tagging the bikes with a warning that they should be parked somewhere else next time. But after program launches, unauthorized bikes could be hauled off to a warehouse without warning.

"Folks just need to understand that the blue staple racks that we're all so familiar with are public racks, and there are other kinds of public bike racks," said Dylan Rivera, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. "But the orange Biketown bike racks and stations are just for the bike-share system."

Rivera said residents can request more bike parking at a particular site by emailing bikeparking@portlandoregon.gov.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus