Judging from the pictures I have from Nortons with census numbers close to mine I made these fonts...







Which one do you gentlemen think is more accurate?

email (option): ferrarakias@hotmail.com

Here a few BSA plates. These BSA's have the C number on both sides of the number plate but only on one side on the tank. Did Norton do that too?

Strange black-out masks.

Henk

email (option): ahum@quicknet.nl

Henk,
Rik told me that my bike should only have the census number on both sides of the front number plate and not on the tank.
Kostas

email (option): ferrarakias@hotmail.com

Every picture I've seem, the font is slightly different, some look very "home made" and just slapped on. The WD Norton website has an interesting tank on the main page. Look at the number 5, that looks more like your last number plate, but a bit thicker. You need to look at a number with a 9 in it to see the shape. I can't help much at the moment as my computer is in for up grade so I can't look at my pictures.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

How do you stand on the Law in the UK having a front number plate as I thought these were made illegal some years ago due to the guillotine effect in an accident.
If you can still use these are you permitted to put the census number rather than reg number?

email (option): cruaser@aol.com

I think if it is a law, it starts from a certain date. Anything before that date is ok. I don't think it was made illegal. I've seen lots of picture of bikes in the 60's & 70's with the number plate going across the forks at the front, so that wouldn't cut anyone. I know people with the make and model of there bike on the front plate now, so I guess as it's no longer a requirement you can put what you like on it.

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

Hi Pete, They were made 'no longer compulsory'.. but it is still legal to have one if you wish...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

The plates were sign-written by hand but generally, those which were probably painted at Chilwell at least were done by very competent sign-writers.

The strokes were the same thickness as the brush and should all be the same width. On the tank that I have here, the strokes all end with a very clean 'chiselled' edge.

My choice for 1940 out of the three shown would be the first one except that the bottom of the '9' looks wrong and I'd use the '9' from the second illustration. I might also try to keep the centre part of the '3' a consistent width.

Front number plates ceased to be compulsory in the UK in about 1974, after lobbying from motorcyclists who found them unfashionable on 1970s machines and used the 'safety' argument although to my knowledge, there has never been any research to suggest that they caused significant pedestrian injuries (are they worse than control levers ?)

They were not however, made illegal although more recent legislation has stipulated that they may no longer be fitted to machines registered after a certain date.

I have read suggestions that they are only legal if used to display the registration number and that otherwise they fall foul of construction and use regulations which generally forbid sharp or dangerous protruberances.

However, these plates were fitted as standard by the manufacturers during the 1930s and 1940s and UK C&U legislation has never been retrospective.

Has there ever been a court case ?

I ride around with a blank one on my 16H in Belgium, without any adverse comment to date.

Hi Rik..I've never heard of a court case over this...or even a 'pull'. Most of the Plods out there today weren't born in 1974 and from experience they (unsurprisingly) show a marked lack of knowledge when it comes to the finer points of vintage vehicle legislation.
To see a model type and year in place of a number is very common and as the plates are not actually illegal on older machines they don't seem to worry about it..or they don't know..Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I don't wish to offend anybody (well, OK, maybe a little bit...) but I really dislike the use of the front blade as a sort of mini concours display card.

..Quite often done by overseas owners who don't seem to know what else to do with them....If I had a fiver for every civilianised wartime WD16H that I've seen in Europe with a front plate claiming it's from 1937 then I could retire early.

Yes, I particularly dislike the practice as well..I think it looks a bit naff..but there's no accounting for taste. Plenty of people dislike my widespread use of stainless for example.. ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Yes I agree, if you're showing the bike then put the info on a card. If it's for passers by, well most of them aren't interested in old bike and the ones that are probably know what it is. If not, it'll give them something to google

email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk

My Egyptian rolling scrap heap came with these informative texts:




I kept this as a souvenir, and replaced it with a short text, as some of you have seen in Normandy.
And I added a rubber pedestrian protection around the plate...

email (option): viaconsu # planet dot nl

At least the info. in the first picture is accurate..or was at the time..I'm not sure what the second pic. is saying though ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

i hope the rubber pedestrian protection is a bit thicker than the normal rubber protection