What is this?

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What is this?
 
It's a genuine British tax disc! As I understand, they must be displayed on the machine.
Ron L.
 
Tax Disc

Being English, I can answer this:

Yes it is a tax disc.

In England they were/are renewed annually and had to be displayed on the left of the bike.

They made it so you had to show evidence of insurance and ownership to get yours updated. That way the police knew you had those things. I could not afford insurance a lot of the time when I was a kid, so used to forge my tax and put on the bottom of the left fork leg pointing downwards, so mr. policeman had trouble seeing it, especially if I pulled up by a big puddle.

Jerry
 
Hi Gypsy
welcome to the forum mate,
Yes its the vehicle licence that gives the Government millions of pounds to repair the roads but really goes on MPs free trips to Europe :shock:
 
I realize that is a tax disc. Why does it say bicycle above the 'Norton'?.
 
Bicycle

Who knows? England evovled differently to the rest of the world.

I dont ever remember having to pay tax on my bicycle.

I do know that motorbikes were originally called motorbicycles though. I think the Tax Class for anything with 2 wheels falls under "bicycle" at Swansea.

Maybe it come from that. Does anyone else know?
 
Wasn't someone asking about Norton bicycles a while back? Well, here's the next best thing.

Jerry, what did mr. policeman say when you made him crawl through the mud to read your bogus tag? I hope that didn't happen too often! :D

Debby
 
We have to replace this similar 'label' each rego annual or 6 months renewal on ALL our vehicles in Australia..

Can I ask.. Apreciating it may vary from state to state in the USA, do'nt you guys and ladies have to do the same?
 
Taxation

In Texas , the state requires
1. Annual License plate ( tax of about $50 for renewal sticker)
2. Annual safety inspection sticker ($12.50) , checks all lights , horn ,
mirror , tire tread. Inspectors are much more lenient with a M/C than
cars , for instance no lighted turn signals are required , nor is a
speedometer.
3. Liability insurance (minimum).
 
Howdy

Just got a tax disc in the post today , this is the last year as we are going computerised.

This post was ten years ago ,have times changed judge for yourself

Cheerio to the disc!
 
Re:

MichaelB said:
I realize that is a tax disc. Why does it say bicycle above the 'Norton'?.

I know this is an old thread however, bicycle means 'two-wheel' (from bi- ‘two’ + Greek kuklos ‘wheel’ according to Google) which was, and still is, the taxation class for motor(bi)cycles in the UK (I'm surprised Jerry wasn't exactly sure) as the first motorcycles were, basically, a form of motorised bicycle. Three wheelers, such as the Reliant Robin and Bond Bug were taxed as: 'Tricycle'.
 
Re: Tax Disc

Jerry Doe said:
Being English, I can answer this:
Yes it is a tax disc. In England they were/are renewed annually and had to be displayed on the left of the bike.

They made it so you had to show evidence of insurance and ownership to get yours updated. That way the police knew you had those things. I could not afford insurance a lot of the time when I was a kid, so used to forge my tax and put on the bottom of the left fork leg pointing downwards, so mr. policeman had trouble seeing it, especially if I pulled up by a big puddle. Jerry


You are a very lucky person if you did not get caught; photocopying or even using a tax disc from another vehicle is a criminal offence and would be sent to the Crown Court, not the Magistrates court to be dealt with. You would get a criminal conviction if found guilty :(
 
I read somewhere that the tax disc (vehicle excise licence disc) is due to be phased out soon.

I believe that in the US the license plate on the back of the bike is replaced annually?
In the UK the number plate stays with the bike from new, and the tax disc does the same job as the license plate.

Failure to display a tax disc gets a fine from the police - not paying the revenue wasn't their affair and they weren't interested in tax collection. Way back when I used to tell them 'but I only bought the bike today, give me a chance!' as I never registered anything in my own name if I could avoid it. The worst thing that ever happened was that I had to tax the bike and get it registered.

Alternatively, forging a tax disc got my mate a much bigger fine and a criminal record for fraud!

All on computer now, so loopholes closed. Pre'74 machines now get this disc for free (no longer a 'bicycle', but a 'historic vehicle').
 
We used to have those type tax discs in Ireland too. I remember they would change color every year so the law would know if you were up to date on payment. Not sure if they still have them anymore .
In New York you get a registration sticker for your Plate every year. All registrations expire on the last day of April and the color of the sticker changes. You also need to display an inspection sticker on the front left fork. Inspection can be done at anytime and is valid for one year.
Reg sticker
What is this?

Inspection Sticker
What is this?
 
speirmoor said:
You also need to display an inspection sticker on the front left fork. Inspection can be done at anytime and is valid for one year.

The one on my Eldorado was jumbo size, it is still on the bike, the Mk2a from Pennsylvania had one on the left fork (Green) also.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/ ... dorado.jpg

It seemed to be used in a lot of countries until they figured it worked so stopped doing it.

The Sunbeam has a provision for the tax disc in the bodywork itself.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/ ... G_0591.jpg
 
In WA state, when you reg your vehicle plate for the first time, the month you do it in determines the month sticker. Every year thereafter, when you re-register your vehicle, you get a new (different color) year sticker. Eventually they get so thick it is easy to peel them off a bike and stick them on your plate. Not that I have ever done that. Trick is, not to get stopped or look suspicious enough for a cop to run your plate.

What is this?
 
The UK cops have all but handed the job to VOSA ( vehicle licensing ) they now have roadside number plate recognition cameras which can
instantly check if you road legal TAX / INSURANCE / MOT are all now checked instantly if you do pass through a camera without expect a fine and penalty points
good news is forward facing cameras do not pick up motorcycles as they only have rear number plates

if you are unlucky enough to be stopped by the cops and are not fully paid up they can / will seize your ride

I guess abolishing the paper tax disc saves admin cost , but have they also thought of the lost VAT revenue in license holder sales
I know some UK motorcycle parts wholesalers are not happy companies like bike it and oxford sell thousands each year
 
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