Show Plates

Norbert666 · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:33

Do any of you bikers use show plates?

What are your thoughts and more importantly experiences with "the authorities"?

From what I've heard, despite them being not road legal, they are generally tollerated, provided you are not taking the wee with, for example a tinted visor and doing 150mph in a 30 zone.

The big plate holder on the back of my gixxer is pretty nasty and I've got a replacement for it already. I'm looking at the plates now.

Your thoughts?

lukechad · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:39

My plate isnt legal, but the police have said to me that they dont have a problem with mine, its just half an inch smaller in L and H than the standard and has a font which is easy to read and quite large. I would never be one of these who has a 4x1 inch plate on the back! just asking for trouble there!

Norbert666 · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:43

The options seem to be:
9" X 3"
7" X 5"
8" X 6"
9" X 7" (ROAD LEGAL PLATE )

lukechad · 9 Aug 2006 at 10:43

Ah I could be wrong with mine, I think 8x6 is what I have then.

Shoei · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:16

Funny you should mention small plates.
Was sat at Devils Bridge one sunny sunday and looking round at the bikes, there were a tiny minority of bikes with small plates, most were running stock size or at the smallest 7"x5".
Now go back several years and it would be the opposite way round, small plates every where. Smallest i ever saw was 6"x1" on the back of an RG500.
May stick a 7"x5" on mine at some point, but since the local plod have a habit of doing "safety checks" on bikes round here, going too small is asking for it.

Norbert666 · 9 Aug 2006 at 11:17

Also, is it now law to have a licence plate light?

Shoei · 9 Aug 2006 at 12:33

Norbert666 said:
Also, is it now law to have a licence plate light?

I assume so.
You also need a reflector near the number plate to pass the mot.

lukechad · 9 Aug 2006 at 14:05

Shoei said:
I assume so.
You also need a reflector near the number plate to pass the mot.

I kept the original for this reason, the new one is refelective but wouldnt pass an MOT so I put it back on a few weeks back when my bike was in.

Avalon · 9 Aug 2006 at 16:13

Plate light and reflector (even a 99p stick on jobby) are mandatory for a full MOT but not sure about a daytime only but hardly anyone bothers about daytime only's anymore. GSXR with a tail tidy looks nicer even if it has a standard plate. Most forces apply a common snese approach to bikers, some however don't so think twice before you go to any big bike event.

I went with a full size plate on the back of the Hornet, it's not 100% legit (should 3 letters per line (3,3) I have it as 4,2). I've been stopped twice but so far it's been accepted in each case by the officer in question that as i've not taken the wee wee/wasn't speeding, had tax/insurance/mot/road legal zorst (now) the worst i've had is a suggestion that it may look better on a car.

In some area's down south it's not unheard of to be pulled over by a fully armed member of an ARV unit for somethig as minor as a dark visor or a slightly small plate (slight overkill imho).

You're right about Devil's bridge (and most other traditional bike locations), but I think it's got more to do with the Police in the area's I visit spending more time doing walk through's and talking to the bikers concerned rather than trying to do them for stupidly minor things like a plate that's 1/2" smaller than legal.

1st time I was stopped by the police was just after i'd got the Hornet... Wasn't till I got my lid off i realised it was the same cop who's SV i'd been to look at a week or so before. Thankfully he only wanted to know how i'd got on looking for a bike!