What age?

[davefirestorm]

Yes I found the service given by Honda U.K. very good.You have DVLA to deal with next 😬 Not the most reliable service to use but in my case I got the result I wanted after few weeks.

[Bryanj]

Remember whatever you send to dvla for proof you dont get back so make quality copies

[davefirestorm]

Bryanj is right you won’t get any documents you send to DVLA back

[TvL]

Thanks all for your wonderful guidance and support. Pleased to announce that following a little bit of a wait from Honda and the Post Office I now have definitive proof that my bike was manufactured on the 27th October 1978. BOOM, so happy. This will allow me to re-register to black and white plates with the DVLA.

So not a 1981 model at all but a cb650z 78.

[Nurse Julie]

Great news, well done. DVLA changing their mind on the use of black and white plates if registered as Historic has caught a lot of people out.
For anyone else that reads this thread, here's the important update.

"Due to a correction made by the DVLA on 1st January 2021, vehicles constructed after 1st January 1980 are not allowed to display a traditional number plate, i.e., with white, silver or grey characters on a black plate. This applies even if the vehicle is over 40 years old and recorded in the DVLA’s ‘historic vehicles’ tax class".

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Thanks all for your wonderful guidance and support. Pleased to announce that following a little bit of a wait from Honda and the Post Office I now have definitive proof that my bike was manufactured on the 27th October 1978. BOOM, so happy. This will allow me to re-register to black and white plates with the DVLA.

So not a 1981 model at all but a cb650z 78.

I am not against the change in the law regarding the fitting of black & white number plates on historic vehicles but its not really consistant with the original legislation that was introduced on the first of  August 1973.

From 1/8/73 all new vehicles registered in the UK had to display the familiar reflective type number plates - I changed hundreds of used car plates back in 1973 when I worked part time in the car trade - from black & white to reflective as it somehow made older used cars look more modern. The legislation was not retrospective but you could fit more modern reflective plates if you wanted to.

My 400 is an S registration so I have fitted reflective plates amongst other reasons for safety - for the purists it should not display black & white ones as that was never road legal in 1978 so if you are doing a concourse restoration they should not really be  B&W as that does not honestly reflect the period when the bike was new.

My 500 is a K plate so I have black & white plates (not fitted as yet) as that is consistent with the legislation in 1972 when it was first registered so I am period correct.

Enjoy the old fashioned B&W look now that they have eased the regulations but that is not period appropriate imho.............ready for blast off.
 

[Johnny4428]

Yes I’m kind of with you Ted on this matter. I have seen some vehicles with inappropriate plates and it dosent look right in my opinion. For instance I have a B&w plate on the 750 which is a 73 bike although I did swither between the two types, but I would never have a notion to put a B&w plate on my 78 550.

[Bryanj]

And you still see b&w plates on nearly new vehicles.
Glad for the info though, didnt know dvla had changed their mindagain, if they had one in the first place!

[Oddjob]

Both my K reg and my L reg came with yellow/black plates from new.

I retro fitted them with black and silver reverse engraved Perspex plates, never liked the all metal plates, they bent too easily and they were hard to keep clean. Perspex just wipes clean. Plus the metal plates sometimes lost a letter or number, it just fell out for some reason.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

The problem with Perspex plates is how easily they can delaminate as water rises between the layers due to capillary action. Not a problem for me as I avoid rain.

The quality of modern alloy pressed plates either B&W or reflective varies somewhat. I used to make up number plates in the days when you used a jig and hand punched the plates using clips that were pressed onto the letters. I must have made up hundreds of pairs of plates circa 1963-1973 when I worked part time in the Stores Department. I would end up with a blister in the centre of my palm from using the clip tool at weekends.

That has jogged my memory on fitting heater kits in new Vauxhalls.
The heater  kit would be in the boot of all but the Deluxe versions that came factory fitted on old FB Victor's. Orded as a an extra was factory supplied but dealer fitted.

[Oddjob]

My 48 year old reverse engraved plate on the K reg still looks great, maybe because I presume they are constructed differently..

Next time I see it I'll take a pic of it and show it here.

My L reg has a brand new plate, which was REALLY expensive to buy. Can't vouch for that.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

For starters the Aluminium was much thicker then.
On new alloy plates the plate is so thin that if its mounted on a front bumper with a slight curve the letters start to fall off.

[Skoti]

Both my K reg and my L reg came with yellow/black plates from new.

I retro fitted them with black and silver reverse engraved Perspex plates, never liked the all metal plates, they bent too easily and they were hard to keep clean. Perspex just wipes clean. Plus the metal plates sometimes lost a letter or number, it just fell out for some reason.

Aye,

your absolutely correct 'Perspex just wipes clean', yet the current fashion in the UK seems to be Perspex plates with raised digits that don't 'just wipe clean'!

Seems not very practical for an all weather daily drive.

[Oddjob]

Reverse engraved plates are completely flat. So winner winner.