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DVLA Vehicle Registration - Test by SGS

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The DVLA require my newly re-built 1965 Jubilee to have an inspection by SGS before assigning an age-related registration number (the bike had no paperwork when I bought it and was in bits).

I do not know what this involves but the DVLA's MSVA manual seems to indicate that amongst other things:

1. The motorcycle is ridden by the inspector to test brakes, speedo and riding position.

2. Two mirrors must be fitted.

3. One rear reflector must be fitted.

Are mirrors a legal requirement for this age of motorcycle?

I have no indicators so I am hoping this is also not a legal requirement.

If anyone has experience of an SGS inspection I should be grateful for any information.

Many thanks,

Dennis

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Previously Dan Field wrote:

Mirrors are not a requirement for the MOT but a reflector is. Iâll do a bit of digging. Did you get a dating letter from the club?

It sounds like you may have gone down the rebuilt vehicle route rather than the reconstructed vehicle, unless you are just unlucky? https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/reconstructed-classic-vehicles

Thanks Dan. Yes I had a letter from the club and NOC authorised photos and sent them with my application. The frame and engine numbers match and the NOC Records officer confirmed the date of manufacture. Apart from lacking original tin-ware, the rest of the bike is original. I fitted ally mudguards and new silencers.

Dennis

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Hi Dennis, you must just be unlucky then, they do inspect a few at random, but the manual is all about the sva, I think your inspection will be to verify engine and frame numbers and that it is genuine and being registered from a purchased log book on eBay! What does your letter say?

Thats certainly what we used to do when I worked in a VRO before they closed them all.

Ive got a Navi and a M50 that will be following this process so Iâm interested how it goes!

Dan

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I have registered 8 Velosolex autocycles which came from France. These had never been registered in the UK so I had to do NOVA (required for imported vehicles) and get a club Dating Certificate before applying to the DVLA for an age related reg number.

Six of these had to be inspected by SGS. All they did was take a few photos - engine number, frame number, 2 general views and a view of the handlebars - where the speedo would be if they had one!

As I remember, the letter from the DVLA telling me that they would need to be inspected said the vehicle had to be 'complete'. For one of the inspections, I loosely assembled the parts to make it appear complete, though the engine wasn't properly attached, no brake cables and missing other small parts.

The chat about these unusual bikes took longer than the 'inspection'!

Admittedly these are a little older (mine are 1945-1965) and less sophisticated than your Norton, but from my experience, you don't need to worry.

No question of riding or even starting the machines. The guys who inspected mine look at all sorts of vehicles and were not bike experts.

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Dan,

The letter states that: "Before we can consider issuing a vehicle registration certificate (V5C) your vehicle must be examined to confirm that our record is correct."

Dennis

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Dennis

I agree fully with what Tom says. Don't worry about it too much. I had a Model18 inspected by SGS earlier this year and it just had to supposedly be in a condition in which it was capable of being started and ridden, i.e. I had progressed the rebuild to the point at which it was mostly finished.

When inspected it had no fuel or oil in it, he was not interested in turning on any lights and it was most definitely not an MOT inspection. He would not have been bothered if there were missing cables, or any other non-functioning parts.

Talking to the inspector it was clear that they are only interested in looking for fraud, mainly involving numbers being swapped between different vehicles. If your numbers are all as declared, and the NOC inspector will have verified that before you got a NOC certificate, then the SGS process is straightforward.

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Previously norman_lorton wrote:

Dennis

I agree fully with what Tom says. Don't worry about it too much. I had a Model18 inspected by SGS earlier this year and it just had to supposedly be in a condition in which it was capable of being started and ridden, i.e. I had progressed the rebuild to the point at which it was mostly finished.

When inspected it had no fuel or oil in it, he was not interested in turning on any lights and it was most definitely not an MOT inspection. He would not have been bothered if there were missing cables, or any other non-functioning parts.

Talking to the inspector it was clear that they are only interested in looking for fraud, mainly involving numbers being swapped between different vehicles. If your numbers are all as declared, and the NOC inspector will have verified that before you got a NOC certificate, then the SGS process is straightforward.

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My model 18 was inspected by SGS in my hall. All that they checked was to see that the frame and engine numbers submitted matched those on the bike. I did not have to start the bike.

Tim

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I had the check done before SGS started doing them at a DVLA workshop, they only checked that the stamped numbers matched the paperwork.

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Thanks for all the replies.

Hopefully the inspection will just be to verify the engine and frame number though I am confident that the bike can be ridden. I was only worried about the lack of mirrors and indicators but they may not be required for a bike of this age.

Dennis

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A nice man from SGS turned up today by appointment. As others found he verified the engine and frame numbers and took photos of them. He also took a few photos of the bike and asked me some questions about what had been replaced and what was original. In all this took about 20 minutes.

He had not been given any information from the DVLA, for example that NOC had verified the make, model and year of manufacture, or the DVLA's reason for commissioning the check by SGS.

He said I would hear back from the DVLA in about ten days.

Dennis

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Received an age-related registration today for my re-built Jubilee.

I am grateful to NOC Records Officer Dave Catton for his help.

Just need to register for an MOT exemption now and then I am on the road.

Dennis

 


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