CB200 Twin - Re-register as a historic bike?

[Bainbridge]

Hi all

I've bought a 1975 Honda CB200 twin and have the V5 showing the previous keepers details. It's an N reg and has stood for 23 years.

The plan is to get it running, then get it roadworthy, then make it look nice.

I want to do the odd summer commute to my office which is only four miles away, and weekend summer rides.

If I reregister the bike as historic, I understand that I can fit one of those old fashioned black and silver number plates, but I'm not sure how I would stand from a use perspective.

Are there historic bikes insurers that offer social and domestic use including commuting? Or is there some sort of blanket exclusion on work use for historic bikes?

I will hit the comparison sites and run a couple of quites through with individual insurers, but if anyone can share their experience of reregistering a bike as historic and the pros and cons,band any other comments about my plan, that would be fantastic.


Thanks

[sixor8]

I've got a historic bike, and have had many classic cars. It makes VED £0 of course and you can still MoT if if you wish, it's just not a legal requirement.

Most insurers will let you insure it for commuting, but most of them will also need it to not be your only transport. You may even need another bike. For SDP only, one historic bike is sufficient.

There was a quirk about black / silver plates in that they used to be only legal for pre-1973 vehicles. But when they re-started the annual rolling of the Historics register at 40 years old in 2014 (frozen at pre-1973 in 1998 by Gordon Brown), it coincided with this and it wasn't until 2020 that DVLA issued a regulation stopping it.

It's therefore permitted on all vehicles registered before 1/1/1980. Whether it looks 'right' is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen 1990s cars with them on, illegally, and they just don't look right.

[catso]

My 1979 Moto Guzzi is 'historic'. The change from 'Bicycle' to 'Historic' taxation class is easy enough to do, there is a specific form to use.

I did it at the Post Office because they could do the change and issue 12 months road tax immediately, meaning I didn't have to wait for DVLA to acknowledge receipt of anything.

Got a new V5 shortly afterwards and now MOT exempt and free road tax.

N.B. you still need to actually tax annually even though it is free (or SORN if not insured) as per normal and if you forget they will send you a fine for having no tax or no insurance if SORN'd.

I don't commute by bike but see no reason why insurance would be a problem, no more so than any other bike anyway?.

Being historic saves me £130 a year (£100 tax, £30 MOT) but the best part is not having the faff of taking it to the MOT test station.

To add: I keep my bikes in top order and have never had an MOT fail in 40+ years of biking but if you're nervous about it being 'safe' you can still get it MOT'd.

[stang65]

With a bike like that I'd go with a proper classic bike insurer, otherwise if it's written off you're likely to get buttons, whereas with a proper classic insurer you'll have agreed value and will likely have free salvage rights too (classic parts can be worth decent money or it might not be too badly damaged to repair even if written off). I'm with Peter James under the VMCC insurance scheme, which brings extra benefits. VMCC membership costs £49 so if trying Peter James get quotes with and without memberhsip to see if it is cheaper to join (unlikely on one small value bike).

My classic is insured to commute, which was useful when I added a 1998 "classic" bike to the classic policy as I can use that for commute too. I don't recall them insisting I had a bike not on the classic policy to get commuting, indeed I think you can add your normal bike to your classic policy.