No plate light required? Oh, and exhaust plates.

Hey ho.

Now, I think I already know the answer to this, but bear with me, as it
were.

The classis " bloke in the pub " told me that number plate lights were
now no longer reuqired on a bike, if the no. plate was tight up against
the taillight.

Arse, I reckon. Though if it were true it's be good. I just replaced
the taillight on my VS with a US one, and they don't have the separate
no. plate light. So, to get said light the easiest option is to dremel
out a small section of the lens at the base and replace it with clear
perspex.

I can't for the life of me see how you can get away with not having
your plate illuminated, but his argument was that there are so many
aftermarket lights/LEDs stuck on now that as long as there's some kind
of illumination onto the plate, that's OK - it doesn't have to be white.

Like I say, total arsewank almost certainly. But it'd be great if it
were true.

Unconnected, a guy I know who has an MoT station ( cars only ) said
that they recently got an edict through that plates on bike exhausts
will no longer be required, and instead they have to compare
aftermarket pipes to a stock model and decide if they sound louder. In
the absence of any stock bike to compare to, then the pipes shouldn't
be a problem unless ridiculously loud or obviously defective.

Discuss.

 

My Guzzi doesn't have a number plate light - not required on MOT or C&U.
Whether this applies to a modern machine I don't know and, TBH, care.

 

"Dave Jennings" ..

According to my book of Con & Use Regs you must have one. However some rear
lights have a white cut out underneath to illuminate the plate - perhaps
your friend has mistaken these for a seperate lamp?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Stu

Bloody hell, haven't seen you around for a while.

Or have I just been lucky? ;^)

--
Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

sweller yik-yakked:

I never knew that.

Top answer ;-)

 

Why not?

All this talk of lights and reflectors is crap. My bike passed its last
MOT with no number plate light or reflector.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Whinging Courier

Only because the tester didn't want to touch it.

--
Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

I struggle to see why it would be a problem either way. It's not
checked for MoT's, so no worries there, and if a copper's following you
at night on an unlit road, his headlights will illuminate your plate so
he won't be able to tell if you've got a light or not.

Just for info, the plate on my Tiger is unlit as the Scottoiler touring
reservoir pushes the plate out past the clear lens. It's been like that
for years, & never given me any problems with either MoT or plod.

Yep, that came in earlier this year. The exception is exhausts that say
not for road use or something similar will still fail, no matter how
quiet they are.

 

Nigel Eaton says...

My MOT man makes me do the test on my Honda while he watches. He doesn't
want to get his hands dirty.

 

Far from it. He looked genuinely surprised when he announced "The bike
is good".

 

The reflector requirement definitely isn't crap. Either your tester
didn't notice, didn't care, or (more probably) you've got an E marked
rear light with built in reflector.

Or maybe they just wanted to get the heap of shit out of their garage
before anyone noticed.

 

Whinging Courier says...

Mine said, the first time I took it in, "That bike is a fucking
disgrace, please don't bring it back next year". this was when it
actually looked quite good. Earlier this year I took it back just to
hear him say it again. It'll be back there again in February.

 

Heap of shit?

That's fighting talk where I come from.

 

Whinging Courier says...

Be fair, in Cricklewood saying "Please" is fighting talk.

 

Oh I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?

 

Actually, you've got a point.

 

Oh god, not Cricklewood :-/ There was (is?) a big Alfa dealer there
that used to empty my wallet regularly in the '80s. I've not been back
since - it's too traumatic.

 

Yeah, and you spilt my fucking pint as well.

Now what you gonna do abaadit, ****?

 

I've not seen any car dealers, except maybe the "Honest John's" type in
Cricklewood. They probably went bankrupt after having to replace all the
bits that got nicked off them.

 

Whinging Courier says...

Hoopers Rolls Royce used to be in Cricklewood. I had a mate who worked
there as a trimmer, he taught me how to use a sewing machine in their
trim-shop.