Let's see your CB1100 out on the road!

[Tev62]

I was surprised when in England that the number plates were not supplied by the government, only the number was. Then the owner had to have the plate made with the number on it. In the US and Japan, only the government supplied plate could be used. The plates are much smaller in the US for the motorcycles and scooters.

The plates are put on by the selling dealer and form part of the OTR (On the Road) price of the bike. But every corner "motor factor" has plate blanks and can print up number plates in 5 minutes very cheaply once you provide proof of ownership. Once on the bike they are the same for life and do not need updating or renewing. In the UK you can substitute your plate, which is just a reference to the age of the bike registration and the area it was sold in, with custom plates numbers/letters but still in an official format and from a list, i.e. they cannot be randomly generated because you like it.

The UK plates are just a recognition of the bike, they have no renewal as such. You still have to insure and pay road tax for your bike which is a separate and mandatory requirement. Law enforcement extensively use number plates for tax and insurance compliance and congestion charges. If you drive past a police car in the UK it will automatically and in real time tell the Coppers that you don't have tax or insurance, if that is the case.

The plate system in Ireland is very similar but the format is easier to understand. Year of first registration, e.g 95 = 1995 KE = is for County where the owner lives, Kildare in my case and the number is just the number next in line for vehicles registered in that time period in that county, including cars etc.

The 181 and 241 are a newer design. 181 just means the first sixth months of 2018 for the CB and first six months of 2024 for the Triumph. This was an attempt to spread sales out more evenly over the year as people clamoured for "new year" registrations packing a bunch of sales in January putting a skewed load on the Industry. If I sell the bike the registration stays the same for the life of the bike even though the new owner might live in a different county.