Tax Discs

[Robbie8666]

as someone just pointed out on another thread "where do you put parking tickets on a motorbike" I was wondering what the stance is for displaying a valid tax disc?

currently my bike does not have a tax disc holder (bike SORN'd anyway) but when the time comes to re tax it whats the best way of displaying tax disc ... or in fact do i need to as long as I have it on my person if I were to be stopped? (was thinking tape it in a plastic bag to underside of the seat!)

[alan sherman]

I use a motorcycle tax disc holder and display it on the motorbike.  Novel idea I guess.

[Lazarus]

I believe, in the letter of the law, the disc needs to be displayed VISIBLY on the bike to the NEARSIDE FRONT of the motorcycle

im a rebel - i put mine on the back.

No point carrying the disc around with you - its the bike thats taxed - not you

[BBROWN1664]

The offence is "Failing to display" but your unlikely to actually get done for it these days unless a police (not council) traffic warden is giving you a parking ticket or plod pull you over for something else and are unable to find anything to stick on you.

[sure2ride]

Friend of mine is a retired m/c cop.  Lazarus is right, although my mate said if it was on nearside, but say in chainguard area / behind the rider that would be wrong, but as long as it was visible, unless there were a load of other faults, he would lgnore it.
Hope that helps.

[chaz]

I put mine on the front near side caliper bolt, but not the real tax disc I photo copy it, just in case I loose it?

parking, some machines give you 2 tickets, one you put on the bike one you keep, also some you used to print the numbers of your reg. but that was years ago, would need to put it all on now.

[mr grimsdale]

Brother in law, fellow biker is a traffic cop, says he knows how easy it is for someone to steal a tax disc from a bike, he and a lot of his mates have no problem with people photo coping the disc and putting it on the bike so that it is visible, plus it is easy for the authorities  nowadays to tell if a vehicle is taxed mot`d and insured.

[jon]

Why would anyone want to steal a tax disc??? Fekkin things only cost 60 quid, and they are specific to only one bike and reg! The plod just look at the reg plate these days to tell if its taxed or not. Would make far more sense for a criminal to steal your reg plate instead

[mcsuffolk]

I would reinforce the postings so far.... The law says the disc should be displayed on the nearside of the bike towards the front....
However from a practical point of view a displayed photocopy would satisfy most police officers.... I spoke to a rider the other day who displayed a photocopy and had the original under his seat which was a good idea in my book....
The police databases do not hold tax details and only hold markers for tax that has expired by 6 months or Sorn notices..... The officer has to go with what they see.... The databases are good for insurance and mot (good but not perfect) but with the tax, what you see is what you go with....

[Grahamm]

My FZ6 has a Tax Disc holder that bolts to a fitting on the swingarm and has six little allen bolts that need to be removed to get the disc out.

Thing is, it would be easy just to undo the single bolt that secures it to the swingarm (although that would probably trigger the alarm)

[AdieR]

My understanding is it should simply be on the nearside (haven't heard of the nearside front rule until now). IIRC there is a potential £80 fine for failure to display it.

"Why would anyone want to steal a tax disc??? Fekkin things only cost 60 quid, and they are specific to only one bike and reg!" - Don't kid yourself, they might only cost £60, but it won't cost anything to a thief (a bit like those parasites who "buy" insurance on Direct Debit, pay the first month {enough to get documents through} and stop paying, rendering them uninsured)...I had a tax disc pinched from a moped years ago when I first started riding (£15), a duplicate from DVLA is (or was then) £7.00. £7 for a tax disc that had about 3 months left to run.

[Arfa]

I need to get myself a new/better tax disc holder. The original one was on nearside of forks near brakes. Did the job fine, but come to renew time I can't for the life of my get the thing open, its screwed on tight! Tried everything, WD40, clamping it, it just won't budge.


In the end I got another cheap Oxford one off ebay for £2.50. However it's shit. The hole was too small for my existing bolt. Didn't have the correct size drill bit handy, so I bolted it to one of front faring brackets on off side. Fine, but it just has a crappy rubber ring to hold it together, this keeps pinging off every time I put on/take off rain cover and brush past it. Other night, I took rubbish out and happened to notice the clear plastic cover on the floor, then noticed my tax disc in the bushes of front garden! Really need something better, as I'm going to lose this disc soon...


Good plan about only displaying a photocopy of disc. The riding school I learnt with swore by this, having had a few discs pinched in the past.


Got a friend who has a funky disc holder, it's a clear plastic tube with black metal ends, the tax disc is just rolled up inside. Like this:-

[Revilo18]

I've always put a colour photocopy on and never had a problem - even when pulled for no reason and stood by the side of the road while Mr Plod walked round and round the bike searching for something wrong (he even noted down my engine and frame numbers!!!!). Apparently I pulled away too quickly from the lights - although I pointed out I didn't go above the limit. I keep the original tax disc at home - along with every previous one since the bike was registered (I know - saddo)!