Cheers All.......I'm still looking though..... Question.... If a bike was built from spare parts generally based around a 1973 frame and cycle parts of the same year, and an engine dated as 1978......and is registered based on the engine (unusual for the DVLA, I think); would it be tax and MOT exempt? In my mind, when it was 'first registered' would be from when the build was completed and registration was applied by the DVLA......that could be anything up to this year. To me it seems like a 'new bike' with an old registration number.
My understanding is that it is frame only decides the year of manufacture for Historic vehicle classification, most vehicles that would have been used regularly there is a good chance of the engine being replaced. Funny my Historic Triumph Tiger / Bonny falls into your 2 years quoted.
The point I am questioning is that the bike I am considering is that it is definitely registered based on the 1978 engine but it has been put together after 1978, probably in the last 5 years or so, therefore the registration must have taken place once built.
Not sure i am with you Al, if what you are saying is that the bike is registered 1978 it should have a V5 and should be of Historic Class ? What's the issue ?
My point is that the bike didn't exist until say, 5 years ago.....the parts might have done (which all come from more than two different bikes)......the parts may have been under different registration when they were bits of the original bikes they came from, but the bike can't have been first registered until it was built To qualify for Tax and MOT exempt, the DVLA state the vehicle has to have been registered before 1980.....If it was built in the last 5 years it can't have been registered before 1980. Let's say it was built in 2019.......and first registered in 2019 (even though it has a 1978 registration number); it wasn't first registered in 1978, because the current bike didn't exist before it was recently built. I guess that until I can get the 1978 registration number from the seller and check with the DVLA, I won't know the answer.
Hi Al, Ever since I've been into building bikes the registration has all ways gone with the frames year of 1st registration. Hence all those years ago people would look for a frame with a log book, thus proving that it had been registered. If you build an old bike/classic bike from parts and don't have a log book? The best you can hope for is a "Q" plate, that to me signals it could be dodgy... Steve R
Here's an example of what I am talking about. I have not long walked away from a bike genuinely made in 1979, because the date of first registration is 2019. The V5 says it is has a 1979 number plate, but it also says date of first registration is 2019.
I keep saying it is registered using the 1978 engine. A V5 was issued in the last 5 years when the bike was built. But that means first registration cannot have been in 1978.
I have recent experience with this . When an older bike is registered for the first time (inc imported old bikes) , the first registration date shows the date of registration (this year in the example below) On the front of the V5 there’s a line in the notes explaining when the vehicle was first used. This information is confirmed at time of application by a dating certificate. The vehicle is allocated an age related plate as stated on the dating certificate and taxed as an historic vehicle if applicable. DVLA accept dating certificates from the manufacturer (my preferred approach) or from certain owners clubs. I suspect the 78 engine bike was provided with a dating cert from an owners club and they used the engine rather than the frame date for registration . Schoolboy error. Upshot is that a bike that has been registered for the first time will receive historic class and age appropriate plates but will show as registered on the day the application is made. You can’t build a bike from parts and pass it off as a bike registered in the year it was originally made , but you could potentially use a frame previously registered in eg 78 and reapply for the original registration number. (only applicable if the bike was previously sold and registered in the UK)
Interesting update..... I got the registration number from the dealer this morning. The V5C shows a 'T' registration which accords with the engine year of 1979......frame and the rest is from an earlier year. Date of first manufacture 1979. Date of first registration 1979. Date of last V5C issue 2019. To me that would suggest the bike would be tax and MOT exempt, although reading through the DVLA information online there is some chance it might have to wait until 2021, but that wouldn't matter because there are things to sort out on it.
I have walked away from the bike....apparently it has charging problems which so far have not been traced or cured. Parts for the particular model are scarce although some used parts are available, but I would be taking a risk of getting the right ones and whether they worked or not. Probably the dynamo (with starter facility) has failed or maybe the regulator which actually looks much like the ones on early Minis and Ford Cortinas!
How about a little Moto Guzzi? Needs work, tax & Mot exempt in January as its a 1980 bike. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Moto-guz...720383?hash=item4db78973bf:g:3h4AAOSwsgtfstKt
