ED DONEY REPORTING

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A favorite parking spot among motorcycle riders is off limits now in Bricktown. The new rule is catching many off-guard and costing several a citation.

Most every night, the West Plaza of the Bricktown Ballpark has been lined with dozens of motorcycles, but safety concerns by the city have made this hangout history.

"It's safe. It's safe to park here, and I've enjoyed it," says Steven Rivero.

For years, Steven Rivero has enjoyed the peace-of-mind that came with parking his motorcycle in the spacious West Plaza of the Bricktown Ballpark. That is, until Thursday, when he and several other bikers received parking tickets while attending a Redhawks game.

The tickets read, "trespassing vehicle on plaza."

They say they didn't see the brand new "no parking" signs on the wall behind them and there was no one there to warn them that their old hangout was now off limits.

"If they had done that, we probably would've just gone somewhere else and parked," says biker Ian Owen.

Since their bikes were on the ballpark's property, they asked a Redhawks representative if the park was going to sign off on the citations.

They say the representative told them, "We don't want you here."

"I was in total shock because I had no idea that someone would say something like that," Rivero says.

"It's never really been legal to do what they've been doing, it's just been overlooked," says Captain Steve McCool of the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Police say the city approached the Redhawks about banning the bikers from the plaza for "safety" concerns. The Redhawks management agreed.

"We just had an incident last month where one came off the curb, did a front-wheel stand and actually crashed and ran into the back of a car," Captain McCool says.

So just like the Cox Convention Center's south plaza, this area in now biker-free. The riders say they're being punished for the mistakes of a few bad apples.

The bikers say they contribute a lot to the local economy, they ride for several benefits and charities and would hope the city and the Redhawks would reconsider this ban.

The city Special Projects Manager says they're not "anti-biker;" adding that they're working with the Bricktown Merchants Association to create more motorcycle parking downtown.