bike front number plates

[apache]

Son of a colleague was fined £30 for not having one, he protested and it was doubled, be warned

[BliarOut]

Do what... They're not required, in fact I think they're illegal. Could there be more to this than meets the eye?

[blueyes]

Bollocks.

From the DVLA site:

www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regmarks/reg_marks_current_requirements.htm#motorcycles

MOTORCYCLES AND TRICYCLES
All motorcycles and tricycles must display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle.
Motorcycles and tricycles registered before 1.9.2001 can display a number plate at the front of the vehicle but are not required to.
If you have a two or three wheeled motor cycle or tricycle that has a body type of a four-wheeled vehicle, you MUST display a number plate at the front and back of the vehicle.
Motorcycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must display a two-line number plate number plate. Motorcycles registered prior to the 1 September 2001 may display a three-line plate, but one-line plates are illegal, irrespective of the date of registration of the motorcycle.

[anonymous-user]

apache said:

Son of a colleague was fined £30 for not having one, he protested and it was doubled, be warned

Number plate, or 'L' plate?

[360boy]

Motorcycle front numberplates were made non compulsory back in the eighties (from memory) because they posed a safety hazard if the rider decided to mow down an innocent passer by. Decapitation, severed limbs etc.
I think that this chap was fined for not displaying an L plate.

[Kentish]

And any foreign vehicle with a number plate recess that will not accomodate a UK spec plate can have a smaller plate with smaller letters.

Not many garages appear to know this and fail imports because they have small plates.

[up-the-dubs]

Sounds a bit iffy to me too!

DVLA said:

Motorcycles registered prior to the 1 September 2001 may display a three-line plate

But whats a 3 line reg plate look like????

[apache]

Number plate, It went to court so I'm curious too, I'll find out more

[996 sps]

No such thing as front number plates on bikes, to many bad injuries in late 60s early 70s so banned them.

[JonRB]

up-the-dubs said:

But whats a 3 line reg plate look like????

+---+
| K |
|123|
|ABC|
+---+

Edit: That's funny. Looked ok in the edit window. I guess that used a monospaced font and the thread view is proportional. Still, you get the idea.

>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 20th April 13:12

[996 sps]

My bike was made for one year 99-2000 and has a 2 line plate, in actual fact since 98 all my bikes have had 2 line plates never seen 3 line plate before. Has anyone?

[simes205]

996 sps said:

My bike was made for one year 99-2000 and has a 2 line plate, in actual fact since 98 all my bikes have had 2 line plates never seen 3 line plate before. Has anyone?

Police bikes often do and other touring types have been spotted with.
Mines two line.

[baskey]

Kentish said:

And any foreign vehicle with a number plate recess that will not accomodate a UK spec plate can have a smaller plate with smaller letters. Not many garages appear to know this and fail imports because they have small plates.

how 'foreign' does it have to be..anything outside of EU?

i thought it was specifically JP and US imports..? so does this mean you can have little plates on a Hindustan Ambassador..?!

[996 sps]

Must be honest never seen a bike with a front plate apart from oldie types........

[Dakkon]

Front plates were banned because they used to fit them along the mudguard of the front wheel, effectively creating a knife edge, which as others have mentioned does not go well with hitting other people, due to serious injuries they were banned.

If the police fined you I would go straight round to your local station and complain.

[racefan_uk]

This has to be complete drivel, the person that told you apache is talking cobblers.

If they're not, then they should be taking the copper that brought the charges back to court for the magistrate to bring him up to speed on the law.

[C C]

Good grief I still remember the look of horror on my mothers face when I removed the front plats of my CB175 in 74 or 5. She didn’t believe the law had changed and was convinced id be arrested for not having them.

[mrmaggit]

As some of you may know, we have a Grinnall Scorpion 3-wheeler. This is treated as a motorcycle and does not need a front numberplate, despite having two wheels at the front and being nearly 6'2" wide. (It has just gone through an SVA Test, btw), however, the Scorpion 4, which has four wheels, but shares a similar body shape, has to have a front number plate.

[vipers]

apache said:

Number plate, It went to court so I'm curious too, I'll find out more

Guess we are all curious, awaiting your next post to enlighten us.

[rich 36]

Northampton Safety camera team
'Cameras move to catch Bikers'