date of manufacture .

[peanut]

Is it possible to find out the month or quarter of manufacture of a 79 special ?

The UK Government have decreed that all Historic Vehicles over 40 years old no longer need to pay road tax or be tested for the anual MOT test .
My bike (manufactured 1978 ) was due an MOT test and Road Tax earlier this month but if I can avoid the cost of this for the sake of 3x months riding ( August - November) I would.

I could just wait until 1st January 2019 to be certain I'm legally Tax and MOT exempt but that would mean I wouldn't be able to ride the bike until then.

 

[nighthog]

Personally, I would just bite that bullet and cough up because I value riding so much and my finances are not too tight. Interesting point though .... Yamaha told me mine was built in 81 for the 82 model year but months were never mentioned. The DVLA registered it as an 81 ....

1st Jan isn't too far away. One last shell out before you're free from all that crap?

 

[650Skull]

All my XS's with Vin plates have the month and year of manufacture stamped on them........

8/80 on my XS650 80SG......4/81 on m XS650 81SH......10/80 on my XS850 80G. Also had a 79SF Manufacturing date 7/78

When i was collecting the Vin no's for the chart confirmation, people were giving me the dates, (month), of manufacture as well. This was from US, Canada, Europe and our Oceania Bikes.

 

[peanut]

Personally, I would just bite that bullet and cough up because I value riding so much and my finances are not too tight. Interesting point though .... Yamaha told me mine was built in 81 for the 82 model year but months were never mentioned. The DVLA registered it as an 81 ....

1st Jan isn't too far away. One last shell out before you're free from all that crap?

yes it sounds sensible but I know i'll need a set of new tyres and maybe a pair of silencers to pass the MOT which is a lot of expense and work for probably less than 100 miles of riding and I haven't really the time at the moment for all that work. I may just take a chance and run it for the sake of a few 10-15 mile Autumn blasts

there is a lot of conflicting information out there about this scheme at the moment. As usual the Government have produced a wooly ambiguous document which makes little sense.
I think there has been a recent update to their website statement as I now read on their website that the 40 year rule runs from the 'MONTH' of manufacture not the beginning of the manufacturing year so once again more abiguity .

 

[peanut]

All my XS's with Vin plates have the month and year of manufacture stamped on them........

8/80 on my XS650 80SG......4/81 on m XS650 81SH......10/80 on my XS850 80G. Also had a 79SF Manufacturing date 7/78

When i was collecting the Vin no's for the chart confirmation, people were giving me the dates, (month), of manufacture as well. This was from US, Canada, Europe and our Oceania Bikes.

Thats promising ! My 79 special is a US bike as you know. ... I couldn't check my headtube label last night as I would have woken all my neighbours opening the garage up.I'll pop over to the garage after brekkie and take a look . I never noticed the month when I last looked 3 years ago. Thanks for the advice.

 

[peanut]

bad news for me ......I just checked the label and it states Date of manufacture Nov 78 ... oh well it looks like I'm going to have to MOT and Tax it for a few months use before it goes away for Winter.
for 650skull .. Vin 2FO25155* Date 11/78

This information may still be useful to other UK owners though if they own a 78 bike .Its the month that counts not just the year

from the Gov website https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mot-changes-20-may-2018
'
Until now, only vehicles first built before 1960 were exempt from needing an MOT.

Now the rules have changed, vehicles won’t need an MOT from the 40th anniversary of when they were registered or manufactured. You can check the date the vehicle was registered online.

Example
If a car was first registered on 31 May 1978, it won’t need an MOT from 31 May 2018.

You won’t have to apply to stop getting an MOT for your vehicle.

However, each time you tax your historic vehicle (even if you don’t pay a fee), you’ll have to declare it meets the rules for not needing an MOT.

 

[Paul Sutton]

I copied the following from the GOV.UK:

"Cars, vans, motorcycles and other light passenger vehicles won’t need to have an MOT if they’re over 40 years old and have not been substantially changed.

Until now, only vehicles first built before 1960 were exempt from needing an MOT.

Now the rules have changed, vehicles won’t need an MOT from the 40th anniversary of when they were registered or manufactured. You can check the date the vehicle was registered online."

In the last paragraph it refers to the 40th anniversary of when registered or manufactured. My XS was manufactured 6/80 but was given an 81 registration plate. So I can go by the 6/80 and stop the MOT part in June 2020.

 

[peanut]

I

In the last paragraph it refers to the 40th anniversary of when registered or manufactured. My XS was manufactured 6/80 but was given an 81 registration plate. So I can go by the 6/80 and stop the MOT part in June 2020.

yes its the manufacturing date that is of interest to us as it always preceeds the registration date
Sounds like you could apply to the DVLA to re-register your bike as a 1980 manufacture date and get a new registration plate because you have clear evidence of the date of manufacture

 

[Paul Sutton]

DLVA used the 81 date because that was when it was first registered in the US. It is just the way their rules work which ask for the date of first registration which was in 81 in the US. But I will eagerly wait out 2 Years for my free MOT.

 

[nighthog]

Well, I've learned a lot from this thread. I'd never noticed the month/year on the VIN plate for a start - mine is 7/81 on my SJ. Thanks for sharing your research, fellas.

 

[peanut]

DLVA used the 81 date because that was when it was first registered in the US. It is just the way their rules work which ask for the date of first registration which was in 81 in the US. But I will eagerly wait out 2 Years for my free MOT.

DVLA certainly didn't insist on the registration date for my import they were happy to give me a T (1978) prefix reg number although the bike was first registered in the US in 1979. Might be worth making some enquiries if it saves you a years tax and MOT

 

[Paul Sutton]

In hindsight I should have withheld the US registration documentation from the DVLA. When registering the bike they request proof of NOVA being paid and also proof of prior registration, not just in the UK but anywhere. Being a good boy I sent them the US registration document. If I had to do it again I would withhold that document. But it does not change much except I could have had a registration plate one year older. I can still use the date of manufacture according to the DVLA information. I would guess this 40 years from manufacture is to cover old vehicles that were only used on private land and have since been purchased by collectors.

Long story short, I have 1 year and 10 months to go and Nighthog is following 1 month behind me!

 

[peanut]

fortunately I didn't need to register my import as it had already been registered in the UK back in the 90s .
I bought mine for a good price in boxes already stripped. The PO hadn't been able to work out how to remove a needle race bearing from the crankcase and had abandoned the project 5 years previously .

It feels very strange riding my 64 Li150S Lambretta around with no MOT or TAX .. I feel sort of illegal somehow ...can't get my head around it yet I keep expecting to get pulled over

 

[Paul Sutton]

Peanut, when do you stop paying road tax? Is this an age thing or an engine capacity thing?

 

[peanut]

same age as MOT as far as I can remember 40 years . It used to be 1972 cutoff I think but now it is the same 40 year rolling exemption