Black and silver number plates

[4l04ever]

insidedvla.blog.gov.uk/2015/11/17/whats-the-story-with-black-and-silver-number-plates/

Looks like once your vehicle is 40 years old and registered as a historic vehicle, you can fit a black and silver number plate...

[midlifecrisisrd]

I think that's not worded very clearly

The old date for black/silver plates was sometime in 1973 or 74 I think but it was changed to 1975 to give a clear date for the rule

Now it says it must be reg'd as historic if over 40 years old and this date rolls each year

It doesn't say the 1975 date rolls which is not clear either way

I just know when I was at my local mot place I mentioned the TR and he mentioned the 75 and black/silver plates

Steve

[flames]

Does vehicle need to be in standard trim? Or does the newest part need to be over 40 years old?

[JonW]

Aug 24, 2020 13:36:34 GMT 1 flames said:

Does vehicle need to be in standard trim? Or does the newest part need to be over 40 years old?

The DVLA cracked down on kit and modified cars in the late 80s with a points system for engine, chassis, body, axles etc etc. You needed enough points to retain the original plate, ie A VW Beetle chassis with a Rover V8 engine and a beach buggy body would not have enough points and be Q reg as its made of stuff from different years, no way could you keep the old Beetle plate. Was a real problem for some classic kitcars and modded tackle as there were a lot of 60s kitcars still registered as Triumph Heralds etc.

I dont know if they applied that to bikes, but telling them your bike was made of stuff from multiple years isnt a good plan I fear.

The original black/silver(white) plate thing was 1972 cut off I think as Ive said before I had a tax exempt (for years was 'end 72' build date cut off) Alfa with later plates but they were allowed to be black/silver cos the car's age, not the year the plate was issued and my car came into the uk later in 1974. I guess 1975 was a point where those sort of anomalies didnt happen anymore as the rules were fully set etc.

Anyway, I agree with Steve and think its poorly worded but its a Jan 1st 1975 build cut off, so up to end 1974. Not rolling, thats the 40yr tax exemption.

I also dont really think those early plates belong on later machines, they never came with them when new etc.

[flames]

I wasn't planning to fit on mine, was just an observation really as I didn't know if mods would affect them.
My mate bought a black MK3 escort Ghia a few years ago that had blacked out windows etc and it came with black and silver plates. Really suited it, so much so that when he was tugged and told to change them , the white and yellow ones looked odd.

[4l04ever]

This link shows a different date, so looks like the 40 year thing is rolling? Black plates might look good on a black hybrid...

www.heritagecarinsurance.co.uk/newsroom/news-and-articles/can-i-display-black-silver-number-plate/

[midlifecrisisrd]

The modified bit is a grey area for bikes

All the rules relate to car stuff

Only the mot excemption relates to modifications, not historic, tax free or black plates

Also modification done within 10 years of manufacture, improved safety features like brakes/suspension and replacement parts where original not available are ok for mot excemption

As said, bike rules very vague


Steve

[flames]

It seems that unlike the plates, it's not quite black and white.😁

[Tobyjugs]

I wouldn't want a black and silver plate on an LC as it was a young hooligans bike.

[donkeychomp]

1972 is the last year you can legally fit them. My VW fastback was a '72 and had them, a mates '73 Beetle had them and he got pulled over for them. I'd be surprised if a vehicle made in 1980 can have them now.

Alex

[reedpete]

Think that they are quite tightly aligned with historic vehicle class. Regs are vague but once you have V5 changed to historic Black silver plate is legit. They don’t look right on an LC though.
Historic classification is much more clearly defined...rolling 40 years from Proven DOM or first registration.

[JonW]

Aug 24, 2020 21:34:23 GMT 1 donkeychomp said:

1972 is the last year you can legally fit them. My VW fastback was a '72 and had them, a mates '73 Beetle had them and he got pulled over for them. I'd be surprised if a vehicle made in 1980 can have them now.

Alex

That was always the 'fun' with my Alfa back in the late 90s early 2000s. 1974 M reg was non black plates but it was tax exempt being a 72 and so also could have those plates. Cue confused coppers haha.

That car looked right on those plates, but so many other cars looked wrong with them. That was the era of crazy fonts if you remember, skewed numbers and letters to help make something like N678TRJ say 'Larry' etc. No wonder the rules on fonts and where they could be made changed, it wasnt rocket science that the cameras couldnt read em. Funny thing is that in Aus our cameras have no trouble reading multiple colours of backgrounds and text and so many fonts, from all our states. Go figure... Obvs the UK was running a poor set of cameras and IT systems lol.

[cbm]

Personally I think anything stock post '73 L reg somehow looks wrong with a black/silver plate.

[gavink]

Originally it was vehicle up to and including 1973 that could use Black&silver/white plates but when the Historical Vehicle Taxation Class was introduced this was changed to allow such vehicles to also use these plates.
One point to remember when using for a motorcycle you could end up with an oblong plate with 3 rows of letters if it’s a 7 digit reg. number and a) may not look aesthetic and b) May bend in the airflow (as per my TS185K)

[veg]

Aug 24, 2020 21:00:11 GMT 1 Tobyjugs said:

I wouldn't want a black and silver plate on an LC as it was a young hooligans bike.

Personally it depends on the type of bike, Lc wrong on every level but a triumph t140 from the same era would look ok ( although they were designed in the 1930’s).
Cars Mini Cooper yep, lotus esprit nope.

[ianr4863]

I was out riding in West Sussex on Sunday with two friends . One of them has a 66 reg bike with a black and silver plate on it . We got pulled over and my friend got a Fixed Penalty Notice for the plate . The copper told him its only allowed up to 1974 .

[4l04ever]

The official information is here :-

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/783978/vehicle-registration-numbers-and_number-plates-inf104.pdf

Looks like once you change to Historic Vehicle class, you can fit a black/white number plate if you wish. It was previously 1973, but looks like DVLA are allowing the use of black/white number plates as a way to show you have a historic vehicle.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Well there you go, early Lc's now legal to have the black plate

Maybe not of interest to anybody for anything other than looks on a black bike but also remember the legal size for black plates is smaller 😏

Steve

[JonW]

Aug 27, 2020 9:51:33 GMT 1 4l04ever said:

The official information is here :-

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/783978/vehicle-registration-numbers-and_number-plates-inf104.pdf

Looks like once you change to Historic Vehicle class, you can fit a black/white number plate if you wish. It was previously 1973, but looks like DVLA are allowing the use of black/white number plates as a way to show you have a historic vehicle.

Interesting, maybe that will become a thing and they will mandate it. Cue lots of letters from the classic vehicle brigade