Motorcycle Number Plates

We make road-legal motorcycle number plates in four styles: printed, 3D gel, 4D 3mm and 4D 3mm with gel. Every one is a 9 x 7 inch rear plate built to the British Standard, BS AU 145e, and made to order at our workshop in County Durham. Printed plates start at £19.99, 3D gel at £24.99 and 4D 3mm at £32.50.

Which style suits your bike?

• Printed: flat black characters printed onto the plate, the classic finish. From £19.99.
• 3D Gel: each character domed with clear gel resin for a raised, glossy look. From £24.99.
• 4D 3mm: laser-cut 3mm acrylic characters with a crisp, sharp edge. From £32.50.
• 4D 3mm with Gel: the same laser-cut characters with a gel dome on top. Choose it in the plate builder, which shows the price for your bike.

Motorbike characters are smaller than a car's, so 3mm is the only 4D depth we make for bikes, and the layered styles such as Outline, Hover and Shadow are not available at motorbike size.

Motorcycle number plate rules

• Motorcycles and motor tricycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear.
• If your bike was registered before 1 September 2001 you can also display a plate at the front, but you do not have to.
• The characters on a motorcycle plate go on two lines.
• The plate must meet BS AU 145e and be made by a registered number plate supplier, which is why we check your documents before we make it.

Those are the rules as GOV.UK sets them out. 3D gel and 4D plates are road legal when the finished plate meets BS AU 145e. A proposed amendment to the standard is still under consideration, and our 4D number plates guide keeps track of it.

Plates for quads and scooters

The same 9 x 7 inch plate fits scooters. It also fits a quad bike driven on the road if the quad qualifies for motorcycle-size characters: DVLA's INF104 leaflet allows them where the maximum net engine power is 15 kilowatts or less and the unladen weight is no more than 400 kilograms, or 550 kilograms for a goods vehicle. Any other quad driven on the road must carry the larger characters used on cars. A quad driven on the road needs a white front plate and a yellow rear plate. If your quad meets both limits above, choose Quad bike front for the front plate and Motorbike for the rear in our builder.

How to order your motorbike plate

1. For a motorcycle rear plate, open the plate builder, choose your style, set the front plate to None and the rear size to Motorbike. For a qualifying quad, select both plates as described above. You will see the finished plate before you buy.
2. Send your documents: one proving your name and address, and one proving your entitlement to the registration, such as your V5C. A document issued digitally, like a paperless bank statement or an eV948, can be emailed in its original digital form. Anything that came on paper is posted or brought in as the original.
3. Collect from our Durham workshop, 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Saturday, or have it delivered.

Putting a private registration on your bike

Search over 74 million DVLA registrations and 60,000+ pre-owned registrations on our private plates page, then order the plate to match.

Motorcycle number plate FAQs

Does my motorbike need a front number plate? Not if it was registered on or after 1 September 2001: the plate goes on the back only. A bike registered before then can show one at the front as well, but does not have to.

What size is a motorcycle number plate? Ours are 9 x 7 inches, with the registration on two lines.

Can I get 4D plates on a motorbike? Yes, with 3mm characters, with or without a gel finish. 5mm characters and the layered styles are not made at motorbike size.

Are 3D gel and 4D motorbike plates legal? Yes, when the finished plate meets BS AU 145e, and every plate we make is built to it.