dern Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Currently I have a number plate on the back which is *huge*. Measured this morning at 11"x8.5" or thereabouts. Looking on a plate website I can choose between 9"x7", 8"x6", 7"x5.5" and 6"x4.5"... all these are bike show plates. I realise that all of these plates are illegal but then I have a stick on undersized black and white plate on the front too which came with the car so in for a penny. I had a b&w stick on plate on the last car too and never had a problem with it. What size plate would look best on the back? I don't really want something that would be taking the p*** and asking for a tug though. Given that I already have a b&w plate on the front I was thinking of going for a b&w on the back too. The car is a Q plate and therefore ageless to look at but is that a step too far...? What are peoples views of 'amusing' logos on the bottom of the plate? I was thinking that "Please pass..." might be amusing and then it occured to me that it might simply be crap Thanks, Mark Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Do you have a spare wheel with a number plate mount, or will it be mounted directly to the bodywork? I'm personally not a fan of amusing logos or phrases on number plates. It just gives any cop with a cob on an excuse to pull you and claim he found it offensive as the reason for stopping you. And yes, it has happened to me in the past when I was young and foolish. I don't have the excuse of being young any more... Quote
dern Posted February 7, 2006 Author Posted February 7, 2006 Do you have a spare wheel with a number plate mount, or will it be mounted directly to the bodywork?I'm personally not a fan of amusing logos or phrases on number plates. It just gives any cop with a cob on an excuse to pull you and claim he found it offensive as the reason for stopping you. And yes, it has happened to me in the past when I was young and foolish. I don't have the excuse of being young any more... No spare wheel so straight to the bodywork. Current one appears to be stuck on with the sticky pads as no screws are evident. You can just about see it in relation to the car size in this picture... Good point about the logo attracting the police... the fewer reasons for them to stop you the better. You can have a nude lady or a 'hemp' leaf as a logo but I figured that would just be asking for trouble Quote
Toby Mack Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Westfields look fine with a standard size one line rear plate. Why give plod an excuse by being different? The front is a different matter for both looks and practicality reasons Quote
Mark B Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 If you put a black & white plate on the back you are asking for it too, it will fail at mot time and to many coppers you may aswell carry a banner attached to the roll bar saying "please nick me"..... Used to have a mate who insisted on having black plates on his cars even though they were no- where near old enough for that, he paid nearly 200 quid in fines in a year, I'd keep a legal "normal" one on the back & 3/4 size on the front, at least you have half an excuse on the front as a full size one may not fit..... Quote
dern Posted February 7, 2006 Author Posted February 7, 2006 Oooo, you're all very sensible I'll leave it as it is then as it's already a standard car square size apparently and I guess that having a legal bike size plate wouldn't be legal for a car. Thanks, Mark Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 I'll leave it as it is then as it's already a standard car square size apparently and I guess that having a legal bike size plate wouldn't be legal for a car. Actually, I think they might be legal these days. There is a useful section of the DVLA web site that deals with number plates and what may or may not be legal, size wise. It's probably worth a look... Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Try here... Section 3 "Number plates fitted before 1 Sep 2001" has two size offerings. I'll bet the smaller size is "bike size", but I don't have a number plate to hand to measure... And it makes no distinction between cars and bikes, just "number plates fitted before 1/9/01". Doesn't say cars, bikes or anything... Quote
dern Posted February 7, 2006 Author Posted February 7, 2006 Try here... Just looking at that and it would appear that bike letters are 64mm high whereas car letters are either 84mm or 79mm high so it would seem unlikely that you can use a bike plate unless the letters on it are car letters and they fit with the required spacing including borders. It would also appear that when I sawed "Motorcycle City" off the bottom of my bike plate one night having a smoke in the garage after a few beers I may well have rendered it illegal Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Try here... Just looking at that and it would appear that bike letters are 64mm high whereas car letters are either 84mm or 79mm high so it would seem unlikely that you can use a bike plate unless the letters on it are car letters and they fit with the required spacing including borders. It would also appear that when I sawed "Motorcycle City" off the bottom of my bike plate one night having a smoke in the garage after a few beers I may well have rendered it illegal Bah. Motorcycle numbers are smaller still? I didn't get that far yet... And yes, plod takes a dim view of trimming the edges off a number plate, especially on bikes. Been there etc etc... Quote
dern Posted February 7, 2006 Author Posted February 7, 2006 Try here... Just looking at that and it would appear that bike letters are 64mm high whereas car letters are either 84mm or 79mm high so it would seem unlikely that you can use a bike plate unless the letters on it are car letters and they fit with the required spacing including borders. It would also appear that when I sawed "Motorcycle City" off the bottom of my bike plate one night having a smoke in the garage after a few beers I may well have rendered it illegal Bah. Motorcycle numbers are smaller still? I didn't get that far yet... And yes, plod takes a dim view of trimming the edges off a number plate, especially on bikes. Been there etc etc... Closer reading says they *can* be 64mm which suggests that they may not necessarily be 64mm... I'll measure the ones on the bike when I get home. I haven't been stopped in 5 years for sawing the bottom of the bike plate although everytime I look at it it's readily apparent from the wavey line that I did it when I was p********. At least it hides the very wavey line where I sawed the bottom of the rear mudguard off. Should sort it all out really. Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Do like I do. Sort it out *just after* you have a lucky escape... Quote
dern Posted February 7, 2006 Author Posted February 7, 2006 Do like I do. Sort it out *just after* you have a lucky escape... Bit late for that... my lucky escape was the wife investigating what the sawing noise was gone midnight to find me sawing away at my 2 day old bike with the tree saw (it was handy)... "What the hell are you doing to your new bike?!?!" "Erm, sawing this bit off" "Why?!" "Because it's too big, dumb-A***" Quote
Blatman Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 Do like I do. Sort it out *just after* you have a lucky escape... Bit late for that... my lucky escape was the wife investigating what the sawing noise was gone midnight to find me sawing away at my 2 day old bike with the tree saw (it was handy)... "What the hell are you doing to your new bike?!?!" "Erm, sawing this bit off" "Why?!" "Because it's too big, dumb-A***" Quote
Guest Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 i run a smaller plate on mine , front and rear ,never had any issues and its passed mot's at more than 1 different mot centre. Had plod behind me more than once and they never ever have an issue , usually just a friendly knowing nod when they pull up beside you at the lights . size can be seen below , compare it to the standard size plate on the trailer , when together the difference is obvious but when its just the car its not so obvious . Quote
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