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Antique Cycle Tags and Registration Fees--A Call for Reform and Equality
This issue probably has been raised before, but I wonder if our club has given any serious consideration to lobbying state legislatures in the states which have unfavorable licensing fees applicable to antique and classic motorcycles. A related issue is whether we want to ask states which do not offer antique license tags to provide them, as well as taking a position on the various (and extremely inconsistent) definitions of “antique” when used in state motor vehicle licensing laws.
I have done a very quick and superficial internet search into some state’s laws pertaining to the issues. Some states recognize the fact that old bikes use the roads less with discounts on registration fees and one-time-only fees. Other states charge an annual premium for antique motorcycles, in addition to the regular licensing fees. A few states do not permit bikes bearing "antique" tags to be used for daily transportation, but limit their use to meets and parades.
Without offering legal advice or representing the accuracy of the laws I have located, I will mention just a few examples of the disparate treatment afforded to old motorcycles. (I am sure that some of our members in states I mention will correct me if the laws have been changed since the publications I am citing were written.)
Arkansas seems to have the most pro-antique law, with a one-time charge of $5.00 for an antique license tag, “which shall be valid while the motorcycle is owned by the applicant without the payment of any additional fee, tax, or license.”
Georgia appears to charge an annual registration fee of $20 for antique bike plates.
Kansas charges a one-time $40 registration fee for antique motorcycles, “and once paid shall not be required to be renewed.”
Mississippi imposes a one-time fee of $25 to issue antique cycle plates, and includes all bikes more than 25 years old. No annual registration fee is charged after that.
North Carolina, on the other hand, penalizes riders of antique motorcycles by charging an annual fee of $10 in addition to the usual annual licensing and registration fees. Antique bikes are those at least 35 years old.
Pennsylvania has a strange combination of laws. Classic and antique bikes are charged a one-time registration fee, but may not be used for “general daily transportation” and only may be ridden for “participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, occasional transportation [no more than one day per week] and similar uses.”
Texas allows you to choose between licensing bikes more than 25 years old as classic bikes (for an annual fee of $15, in addition to the regular fee), or as antiques, for $10 a year total. However, if you choose the cheaper antique tag, you may not ride the bike “for regular transportation,” but are limited to meets, parades, etc.
West Virginia also has a two-tier system of laws applicable to bikes more than 25 years old: depending on whether you want to ride the bike (“classic”) or just show it (“antique”). The upshot is a 50 year-old bike is not an “antique” if you want to ride it to work. Huh?
Wisconsin has a rule more strict than the AMCA 35-year rule: The 1945 rule. That’s right, your ’49 panhead is not an antique in Wisconsin. But that’s okay, if you register the bike as an antique in Cheesehead Country, you can use it only for “special occasions such as parades and display purposes.” Hey, the price is right: $5.00.
Here’s a far out proposal to get the discussion going: Let’s lobby to take over the old bike registration process nationwide. All AMCA members will be able to get an “antique” plate or “classic” plate which we will have made for our members for a reasonable fee, most of which we will remit to the state where the bike is mainly kept. We should be able to lower the cost in those states where the antiques are being charged a premium over regular registration fees, eliminate the “outlaw factor” which makes fugitives out of those who illegally ride their antique bike to the pharmacy in several states, and put our logo on the rear of all our members’ bikes.
Why not, in this era of privatizing prisons and other governmental functions can’t the AMCA take over registering old motorcycles? Could be good for membership.
I will be happy to serve on any committee created to look into the unequal treatment our members in some states receive from motor vehicle registration officials and laws. I would appreciate it if those of you in the listed states and other states with knowledge of the registration fees and regulations currently in existence can contact me to validate the above information and supplement it. Thanks.
Roy D. Wasson
Original Nightrider Roywasson@bellsouth.net
Fax (305) 666-0010
Phone (305) 666-5053
I have done a very quick and superficial internet search into some state’s laws pertaining to the issues. Some states recognize the fact that old bikes use the roads less with discounts on registration fees and one-time-only fees. Other states charge an annual premium for antique motorcycles, in addition to the regular licensing fees. A few states do not permit bikes bearing "antique" tags to be used for daily transportation, but limit their use to meets and parades.
Without offering legal advice or representing the accuracy of the laws I have located, I will mention just a few examples of the disparate treatment afforded to old motorcycles. (I am sure that some of our members in states I mention will correct me if the laws have been changed since the publications I am citing were written.)
Arkansas seems to have the most pro-antique law, with a one-time charge of $5.00 for an antique license tag, “which shall be valid while the motorcycle is owned by the applicant without the payment of any additional fee, tax, or license.”
Georgia appears to charge an annual registration fee of $20 for antique bike plates.
Kansas charges a one-time $40 registration fee for antique motorcycles, “and once paid shall not be required to be renewed.”
Mississippi imposes a one-time fee of $25 to issue antique cycle plates, and includes all bikes more than 25 years old. No annual registration fee is charged after that.
North Carolina, on the other hand, penalizes riders of antique motorcycles by charging an annual fee of $10 in addition to the usual annual licensing and registration fees. Antique bikes are those at least 35 years old.
Pennsylvania has a strange combination of laws. Classic and antique bikes are charged a one-time registration fee, but may not be used for “general daily transportation” and only may be ridden for “participation in club activities, exhibits, tours, parades, occasional transportation [no more than one day per week] and similar uses.”
Texas allows you to choose between licensing bikes more than 25 years old as classic bikes (for an annual fee of $15, in addition to the regular fee), or as antiques, for $10 a year total. However, if you choose the cheaper antique tag, you may not ride the bike “for regular transportation,” but are limited to meets, parades, etc.
West Virginia also has a two-tier system of laws applicable to bikes more than 25 years old: depending on whether you want to ride the bike (“classic”) or just show it (“antique”). The upshot is a 50 year-old bike is not an “antique” if you want to ride it to work. Huh?
Wisconsin has a rule more strict than the AMCA 35-year rule: The 1945 rule. That’s right, your ’49 panhead is not an antique in Wisconsin. But that’s okay, if you register the bike as an antique in Cheesehead Country, you can use it only for “special occasions such as parades and display purposes.” Hey, the price is right: $5.00.
Here’s a far out proposal to get the discussion going: Let’s lobby to take over the old bike registration process nationwide. All AMCA members will be able to get an “antique” plate or “classic” plate which we will have made for our members for a reasonable fee, most of which we will remit to the state where the bike is mainly kept. We should be able to lower the cost in those states where the antiques are being charged a premium over regular registration fees, eliminate the “outlaw factor” which makes fugitives out of those who illegally ride their antique bike to the pharmacy in several states, and put our logo on the rear of all our members’ bikes.
Why not, in this era of privatizing prisons and other governmental functions can’t the AMCA take over registering old motorcycles? Could be good for membership.
I will be happy to serve on any committee created to look into the unequal treatment our members in some states receive from motor vehicle registration officials and laws. I would appreciate it if those of you in the listed states and other states with knowledge of the registration fees and regulations currently in existence can contact me to validate the above information and supplement it. Thanks.
Roy D. Wasson
Original Nightrider Roywasson@bellsouth.net
Fax (305) 666-0010
Phone (305) 666-5053
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