front no plate

[hayley1963]

now i have sorted out my brake light i have been told my front no plate is illegal and needs to be removed...HELP

[L.A.B.]

no i have sorted out my brake light i have been told my front no plate is illegal and needs to be removed...HELP

Your front number plate is not illegal

Front number plates were no longer a legal requirement from August 1975, (which is a different thing altogether) so owners could remove them if they wished to, from that date. New motorcycles registered from that date obviously didn't have front plates.

It is only illegal to fit front plates to motorcycles registered after 01/09/2001.

Here are the DVLA number plate rules & regs.:  http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/leaflets/displayofnumberplates.pdf

"Motorcycles and tricycles registered after 1.9.2001 must only 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 but are not required to."  

And, as far as I'm aware, there's been no recent change in the law regarding front plates?

[250greeves]

no i have sorted out my brake light i have been told my front no plate is illegal and needs to be removed...HELP

There's certainly no requirement to remove the front reg plate from a machine of that age to comply with the current MoT regs. There are several machines that are owned by our local bike club members that are fitted with mudguard mounted plates and this has never been an issue when they are MoT tested at the our 3 local test centres
The garage/MoT station that is telling you this has been ill advised or sought no advice at all.
Of course you could always take it off and put it back on later as you have been advised with the lights.

Again, best of luck. Looks like you need it.

[L.A.B.]

The garage/MoT station that is telling you this has been ill advised or sought no advice at all.

MOT testers should know the rules, but Hayley didn't say who has given her this advice, so it could have been anybody?  

[hayley1963]

our local motorbike dealer has no idea about the law and old bikes as he told me first i needed an electric horn.my husband told him not before 1973.and he had to look it up   they think my hubbys 1986 fj is an old bike!! he asked for a full service on his bike and they said its an old bike and they do not have time ...maybe in the winter they could do it! they have said they will MOT my bike  on a daylight MOT minus lights and front no plate..then i can go home and put it all back on
i have also got an oil leak which they do not want to no about.
does anyone no of garage in shropshire that would be a bit more nicer about it.i really do not want to touch my bike as its all original only 21 original re2 in this country

[L.A.B.]

The MOT tester's manual says nothing about rejection due to a front plate being fitted?

The MOT Tester should only be concerned with the rear plate because...quote;


"This inspection only applies to rear registration plates"

And, as far as I'm aware, that doesn't mean the front plate has to be removed, -just that it isn't part of the MOT inspection.

MOT Motorcycle Tester's Manual, section 6.3: http://www.motuk.co.uk/mcmanual_630.htm

  

[hayley1963]

i am going to print it out and take it in to the bike shop. my hubby as been in to day to talk to them .1st it was a electric horn then back brake light then front no plate...i really need someone who deals with old bikes not modern jap bikes, its the only bike shop we have in town.its had a mot on it as it stands for 58 years..why now a problem..its had one previous owner who kept the bike as the day he got it..he sold it because he as gone in to a old peoples home.

[L.A.B.]

i have also got an oil leak which they do not want to no about.
does anyone no of garage in shropshire that would be a bit more nicer about it.i really do not want to touch my bike as its all original only 21 original re2 in this country

If you are a member, have you tried asking the REOC for any help or advice about where you could take your bike to have work done by somebody who knows what they are doing ?

Or maybe the VMCC could help, but you would probably have to become a member?

[hayley1963]

the reoc have put me in touch with someone in stratford upon avon.its still a bit far.none of the telford members have small bikes they are more in to the bigger twin bikes.they would help but they dont no anything about 2 strokes. the man in the reoc that advises on the small bikes lives in bedford...i need to find a classic bike shop in shropshire that would do a mot...what makes my bike is the fact its original.the reoc have said preserve it.i would put a pic on but i dont no how

[L.A.B.]

i would put a pic on but i dont no how

If you have the photo stored on your computer, you can select it an upload it using the "Browse" box below the reply box.
It just has to be below 750 KB file size. Alternatively you could e-mail the photo to Nigel (Vintagebike) as he would then post it here (or in the photo gallery) for you?

[52t-bird]

As an ex MOT tester can i give you some advice.First your current MOT station are not trying to be difficult they are only thinking of your and other road users safety and the regulation issues you are experiensing often happen due to the amount of tester discretion actually allowed within the regulations and the experience of the tester. I would put your bikes issues in this order.
Point 1,Brake light, some would pass your bike and some wouldnt. I personally would fail your bike for no brake light.It is an easy virtually invisable modification to fit one with independant wiring AND it could save your life!! Modern road users expect other vehicals to have brake lights so fit one! I fit them to my pre war Triumphs and would not ride without one.I would also like to point out the obvious should you decide to have your garage do a daylight MOT by removing the lights,you would actually invalidate that MOT if you refitted them and if you drove after dusk you could be prosecuted for no MOT as it is only valid in daylight.
Point 2.The front number plate was a legal requirement and was then made NOT a legal requirement due to road injuries.However it was never made illigal and it is quite permissable to have one.
Point 3, This may upset you furthur but if your oil leak is a bad one i would fail your bike for that!Regulations changed recently naming oil leaks as a valid failure on safety grounds with the tester having discretion on the seriousness pf the leak.As your bike is a Two stroke unless you are talking of unburnt premix leaking from the exhaust i can only presume you have a gearbox oil leak which is a serious thing as if it runs out of oil and seizes the gearbox, your back wheel locks and unless you are very lucky you fall off!
I think you are looking at your bikes MOT from the wrong perspective.It is not a test to cheat on or to find a way around it is a safety check on a vehical you drive at a speed that if it fails would potentially cause an accident.

[hayley1963]

yes i have a gear box oil leak.which they do not seem bothered about.felt seals from hitchcocks.and gasket seal as it had no gear box gaskets...what i do not understand is how it came with 12 months mot as it stands and i have original log book mot certs etc and people are selling bikes with a mot and no brake lights etc
you might fail it but there are people out there that dont...i think i will sorn it off the road get a complete engine strip down (somewhere)and get it rewired as the wiring is original rubber and perished.and preserve the original paintwork etc

[hayley1963]

my royal enfield 1951 RE2

[thunderbird]

nice little bike Haley,i think a lot of it is down to the discretion of the mot tester and it will vary dependant on where you take it. some testers are more leanent than others i had a vintage car some years back that still had the single dipping fitted ie the offside lamp would go out and the nearside would dip but that is how it was originaly designed to work and the tester would pass it every year.

getting back to your bike,the front number plate should not be an issue i have never had a problem, my bike  has one fitted and has been tested at several places with no mention of it,if you need a horn a simple bicycle hooter clamped to the handlbars will do the job. as has already mentioned it would be very easy to set up a rear brake light and a must from the saftey point of view,i would have thought you should have enough power coming fom your dynamo power the lights at lower revs so maybe worth geting this checked out. best of luck, a few modifications would be worth while as you are intending to use the bike

[Goldy]

This can be a real problem with old bikes. I had a C15 and took to my local bike MOT station for years. The old guy moved on and a young lad took over. He looked at my C15 and said this has failed straight away becauase it has not got a back brake. I said look on the other side they are opposite on British Bikes. He gave it the once over and said it has failed because the front shocks have had it. I explained that it doe'snt have front "shocks". They are tubes with oil in. The seals were new but BSA front forks were always soft so I have put gear oil in. I asked exactly what he wanted me to replace and he said Ok I'll pass it this time.
You want you bike to be safe, but you just have to find an MOT tester that is sympathetic to old bikes.