Yesterday I was stopped by police on my way to work and fined 60 quid for having “show plates” on my bike. Obviously, I had no idea what are “show plates” and what are “legal plates” until this happened. So I had to google for it after having been fined. It also didn’t help explining to them, that I got a brand new bike from the dealers already equipped with the wrong plate. To me it looked like they just wanted to find something, if failed to catch me speeding.
I called the dealer and told what hapenned and:
Dealer - “…yes, these are show plates.”
Me - “Why do you sell your bikes with those plates if you you know they aren’t road legal?”
Dealer - “We do explain that these are show plates.”
Me - “Well you didn’t tell it to me…”
Dealer - “Oh, sorry… You can bring the bike in and we will change the plate for you.”
I’m taking my bike in tomorrow to swap over to larger “legal” plates. I guess it is pointless disputing the fine.
illegal plates will normally be the first thing a cop see’s on your bike to give him/her an excuse to pull you then they will go over the rest of the bike presuming if you got show plate then possibley have a race can etc.
pay the fine learn your lkesson which sounds you have and good 1 on getting the shop to do you a new plate, make sure they cop for that.
In a round about way it I believe it helps to have something a bit dubious on your bike like a “show plate” or a “not for road use” exhaust. It gives the plod the opportunity to give you a slap on the wrist without you acquiring points on your license.
The reason they take such a dim view of “show plates” is because these are not recognised by their ANPR systems which are great asset when it comes to crime prevention.
No dealer should sell you a bike that is not fully legal for use on the road.
Think of it another way - if you have your bike stolen and it is running around in London with a one line plate with one inch high lettering it is not going to be seen by all those ANPR cameras such as the ones in the City of London, Congestion Charging, London’s Low Emission Zone etc. etc.
One day these cameras might be used for crime prevention as well as the “cash cow”.
A 6" x 4" with a GB logo (meaning the lettering is about 1 - 1.5inches tall) is recognisable by ANPRs because one incorrectly flashed me for no tax when the tax disc was displayed in its holder. I’ve also had parking fines from cameras, both mobile and fixed.
Its not visible to the human eye especially when you haven’t got a number plate light which is the “problem”. You can’t see mine for sh!t.
A 6" x 4" with a GB logo (meaning the lettering is about 1 - 1.5inches tall) is recognisable by ANPRs because one incorrectly flashed me for no tax when the tax disc was displayed in its holder. I’ve also had parking fines from cameras, both mobile and fixed.
Its not visible to the human eye especially when you haven’t got a number plate light which is the “problem”. You can’t see mine for sh!t.
I would ask the dealer politely to pay the £60 fine. If they say no I would offer to give the bike back, get a full refund of all monies paid, then go to another dealer and buy a new bike.
What they have done is sell you a brand new bike which is not road legal. As part of their service, they contract to provide you a bike which is road legal. Selling it with the wrong plates is providing you a bike which is not fit for purpose. You are well within your rights to reject a purchased item (especially a high value item) which is not fit for purpose. This kind of behaviour at dealers infuriates me.
I had a similar thing happen to me, although not quite as bad. In my case, I bought a brand new bike from a dealer with a good reputation (Doble Motorcycles), and they knew that I only had a provisional license at the time, and they agreed to provide the brand new bike “ready for me to ride away with L plates”, but they forgot to put the L plates on the bike. I picked the bike up and in the excitement of getting a new bike it didn’t even occur to me to look for the L plates - they said “here’s your bike, ready to ride away”, I signed the paperwork and rode it away. It was the first day of the new 61 registration plates, and I was stopped by a Policeman who explained that I was riding a bike not in accordance with the limitations of my provisional license. In my case I was lucky - I hit a bike copper who was very understanding and rode down to the petrol station with me so I could buy some L plates and even helped me fit them!
In your case, I think it’s worse - they knowingly sold you a bike which was not road legal, and passed it off as one which is legal. For a brand new bike from a dealer, you should expect better - they need to earn the premium which you pay for buying from them…
while you can try asking the dealers to pay the fine, it is your responsibility to make sure your vehicule is road legal before driving it on a public road
I always thought the fine was £30 not £60 … must have gone up. Most cops in London have more important things to do than pull over non-legal plates, you are more likely to get pulled when you go further afield amongst the home counties. . . and even then it will only be traffic, regular plod just aren’t interested.
Every now and again they have an operation to make a high impact on a certain day or weekend e.g. Around March they like to pull bikers over and give them a talking to about safety and speed (some even look over some of the bikes) because we have come out of hibernation and might be rusty or the bikes may need some work to be truly road-worthy etc…
