'80's M/CYCLE reg number sequence,does anyone know

roadkillcafe, Jul 3, 2:37pm
if they indicated quite closely (as CAR reg plate numbers did) the year of first registration of the vehicle! (for example, because i'm very familiar with nz new car models from that era, i can tell to within about a year, if a car's plates aren't the originals, because, for instance, a car which was first reg'd new in nz in about '81-'82 should have 'K' as the first letter, if '83-'84, then it should be 'L', etc (assuming, of course, it isn't an older model which-for whatever reason has been reissued with the plates).
m/cycles from the era had up to two numbers followed by three letters, and wikipedia shows that, for instance, after '12ABC' came '13ABC', and'99ABC' comes before '01ABD' . what i'm wanting to know is: what would be a typical/correct/accurate plate lettering for a 1984 reg'd m/cycle! (i figure (logically) that it's much more the letters than the numbers which would put a timeline on it-and the first one or two letters much more than the third),to the select few still reading, i really appreciate you sticking with it, i've worded it as well as i could think to, and you're probably also smart enough to have followed the jist of my question and be able to help me, thanks a heap in advance.
modie61, Jul 3, 2:41pm
Yes they were then,mine was 1984 and 84 ATB.
roadkillcafe, Jul 3, 2:48pm
ok, cheers, i'll put that into the info mix at this stage.
roadkillcafe, Jul 3, 2:54pm
cheers,from what i've established so far, i strongly suspect that the numbers on yours may have been nothing more that a coincidence (unless someone chose it specially/knew someone at the post office, etc)
p.s the first year an official personalised plate sold in nz was 1987.cheers.
modie61, Jul 3, 3:23pm
On to it,the girl i bought it off worked at the post office.

You could do that in the good ol days,i had a 46 Ford and got new plates from the Post Office,JB1946.
roadkillcafe, Jul 3, 3:31pm
there you go. let me attempt to uphold the 'on to it' ness (while at the same time putting it at risk lol) and stick my neck out by saying that i reckon that your story must have taken place in 1978 (or quite early in 1979-depending on the stock of plates and/or what part of the country you were in)there ya go.i've said it.my reputation is now on the line.haha
modie61, Jul 3, 3:40pm
Correct Late 78 and not taken out of order,they just rang me at work when the plate had come to the top,easy no sweat,different to today aye !
Te Aro Post Office when it was on Taranaki Street Wellington. The old plate was IP1603,which wasnt even interesting. Lol.
modie61, Jul 3, 7:48pm
You are right roadie,so what are you bumping for,or did i miss something !
robbo36, Jul 3, 7:56pm
I recall putting a new plate on my bike in July 1990 which had RYG as the last three letters.
roadkillcafe, Jul 3, 8:11pm
cheers guys,i believe i have the theory right modie, however, i'm now just wanting to know what would be typical/correct for a bike reg'd in 1984. (i'm not sure how i can establish that unless there's someone who's a real keen nz bike enthusiast/historian and might know, or maybe just by the more painstaking method of going thru the info that helpful guys such as yourself and robbo etc give me and try to see if a strongish pattern emerges in terms of the first letter or two for bikes reg'd in '84-although it'd need to be more robbo's type of info than yours, as his was probably purely normal walk-in-over-the-counter-issue-
. if i don't run into some real keen/historian type, i guess i could also painstakingly go thru '84 bikes for sale to look for a pattern/certain number/s (altough that could be painfully slow and tedious due to the high attrition rate of number plates from 26 years ago (they tend to vibrate lose,/stolen and recovered/reg lapsed.)
modie61, Jul 3, 8:27pm
Yea they do fall off all right.
It will also depend on where the bike was first registered.
84ATB was regoed new at the above Post Office and the plate wasnt really out of order,the lady that worked there was the 1st owner and instructed Sawyer Honda to fit the plate she supplied. Best i can do sorry. If it was cars of the period i could help more,as the apprentice it was my job to go get all the new plates for the new cars cars at the dealership i worked at,i loved it.
ralphdog1, Jul 3, 8:29pm
Quick search of bikes for sale on here finds :
84
MOD
MSR
MER
85
NYZ
My 86 is PFJ
modie61, Jul 4, 2:11pm
Roadkill,i have made a huge mistake in my information to you about the 1984 Number plate 84 ATB. In fact it was new in 1974 not 1984,huge apoligies for that,now i think that makes way more sense to you re the allocation of plates versus time,once again im sorry about that.