fox889 Posted July 11, 2021 Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 Well, I'm still awaiting the engine back from the guy who said he'll strip & rebuild it........he's been so busy he hasn't managed to do it yet, which in fairness, ain't no real problem. Ok, so twiddling my thumbs, I noticed the bike has "lighting wires" coming from the magneto so "assumed" this could have been for a road registered bike? I had no paperwork for her, no plates, no nothing to say she had ever been on the road. I read loads on here & other forums & it seems nye impossible to register a bike with DVLA without some sort of paperwork. I wrote a really nice letter, very informative, photo's of the frame & engine numbers etc etc expecting DVLA to write back [if at all!] & say "can't be done"....end of. Blow me down, received a letter from Vehicle Casework Unit c/o DVLA saying "Thank you for your recent enquiry" etc etc please find your registration number as *** ***X. If I want register her, send £25 + V62 & it's all done. Even checked the reg on the 'car history' on DVLA's website & it shows me she was indeed an October 1981 349cc Montesa, last taxed 30th September 1986, last V5c [log book] change 7th July 1983. I find that fascinating myself. Big question is........does this make the bike more desirable?........more appealing?..........more valuable? I shall register her but whether I put her on the road I don't know. I cant imagine it can be much fun flat out at 40mph on an old trials bike...can you? Any thoughts? Appreciate you reading this waffle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbofurball Posted July 12, 2021 Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 Registered bikes are more desirable / easier to sell for a couple of reasons: It can be insured easily, it's less likely to be a "hot" bike, it can be used in trials which have bits of road between sections (common on classic trials), and it's easier to take to competitions overseas (though I don't know how much that will be happening after Brexit). Also, it means that when selling potential buyers don't have to take your word on the age and model of bike. All my bikes are plated, I found having an unplated bike to be a pain in the backside in the past. As for 40mph (if that) on the road, I love riding green lanes on trials bikes and the low speed for bits of tarmac to link them up isn't all that bad when you know what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted July 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 There's some very good points there, thank you for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnesy Posted July 12, 2021 Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 That's a result well worth the effort of writing the letter... Could I ask what office/department of the DVLA you wrote to ? Might give it a shot and see if my 348 was registered in a past life.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted July 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 43 minutes ago, barnesy said: That's a result well worth the effort of writing the letter... Could I ask what office/department of the DVLA you wrote to ? Might give it a shot and see if my 348 was registered in a past life.. Hi Barnsey, I wrote the following letter to DVLA along with form V888 [downloaded from DVLA's website]. I received the answer from a Jacqueline Davies 'Vehicle Casework Unit'. I'm thinking that if your bike was registered with the DVLA it's on their database & all they need to do is access that using frame & engine number, confirm it with you, then you fill in a V62 + £25 & Bob's your Aunt's second cousin, sorted! All it took was a few minutes & a second class stamp, well worth trying at least. Let us know how you get on please. Re: V888 I bought this 1981 Montesa with a view to restore back to it’s original condition. There are signs that lights & lighting wires from the magneto are present, indicating that this bike may have been registered as a ‘road bike. Would you mind checking your database to see if this bike has been registered? Frame No. 51M ***** Engine No. 51M ***** Kind regards Nicholas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnesy Posted July 12, 2021 Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 Hi Fox889, thanks for getting back to me, I'll give it a shot and as you definetly worth the price of a second class stamp !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnesy Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 That's the form, letter and photos sent off .. Fox889 could I ask how long did it take to get a response? Cheers B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 On 7/12/2021 at 5:15 AM, turbofurball said: As for 40mph (if that) on the road, I love riding green lanes on trials bikes and the low speed for bits of tarmac to link them up isn't all that bad when you know what to expect. 348's and 349's were some of the fastest trials bikes, riders running late in the SSDT were clocked well over 60mph. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbofurball Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 3 hours ago, b40rt said: 348's and 349's were some of the fastest trials bikes, riders running late in the SSDT were clocked well over 60mph. At trials tyre pressures that sounds terrifying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b40rt Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 6 hours ago, turbofurball said: At trials tyre pressures that sounds terrifying! Half the tyre was missing by fort bill 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2021 22 hours ago, barnesy said: That's the form, letter and photos sent off .. Fox889 could I ask how long did it take to get a response? Cheers B The initial response was pretty quick, maybe around 3 weeks which is perfectly acceptable. However, the actual dvlc form I filled in is now on week 5 or 6, doesn't really matter as the bike isn't finished anyway. Let us know what they say, be very interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Road speeds, older bikes were much faster. 349 monts were quick but I would bet a jumbo swm was faster. My air cooled yamaha mono would do 60mph, indicated by the bikes speedo with the choke on at the ssdt and that was std gearing. The year before I had a 303 fantic which I had geared up and I would pass yamahas easily. Power delivery is different and gearing is much lower on modern bikes. My TRS does about 35! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox889 Posted August 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Sitting on a trials bike is uncomfortable……sitting on a Montesa trials bike on a public highway might be very uncomfortable bordering on madness! Be a while yet for this 349 as the engine hasn’t been touched yet, but has been promised end of this month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 11 hours ago, fox889 said: Sitting on a trials bike is uncomfortable……sitting on a Montesa trials bike on a public highway might be very uncomfortable bordering on madness! Be a while yet for this 349 as the engine hasn’t been touched yet, but has been promised end of this month! It's a whole world of comfort better than any modern bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnesy Posted August 23, 2021 Report Share Posted August 23, 2021 Got a nice letter back from the DVLA... unfortunately they have no details on there records for my bike. Will have to go through the long winded registration process if I want to confirm the manuals 68 mph top speed!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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