Collector status

The first I ever heard of collector status was in the '1985 Tank Stickers' thread, Forgiven mentioned he was going to try to get some collector status plates.

Is this something found "only in Canader....ey?" or is there such a thing in the lower 48....NY specifically?

 

Not sure about NY but the way it works in the Mitten is (if I remember correctly):

25+ years old
3 year plate is $35
Can only be driven OCCASIONALLY

The last one is the big one. Means the vehicle should only be ridden/driven on occasion, to go to and from car show, weekend poker run, parades, etc.

I have driven mine every day since I got her road worthy back in March. I live in a small town where the cops see me ride by on my way to work every day. I would have gotten a ticket and had my bike towed by now if i had historic plates on her.

My next XJ won't be a daily driver, so I may use the historic plates then, but I doubt it.

A plus side to the historic plates is dirt cheap insurance. But when you only pay $100 a year for the insurance, plus the $125 PER VEHICLE/PER YEAR that my wonderful state charges you through the insurance company, it's cheap enough.

 

The collector status in Canada is different depending on which province you live in. In British Columbia, the bike has to be 25 years old ( except for extremely rare and no longer manufactored bikes), has to be in original condition ( but may have era specific modifications - like mufflers), can't have any rust, and can only be driven for pleasure use only - no to and from work or school. Insurance and registration for a year for my 750 seca is about $140, whereas for a newer bike could be $1000, so it's really worthwhile to keep all those parts you take off and change out. I cringe everytime I see someone on here taking an old bike and chopping it up or moding it out, then throwing the old parts away. Those parts are going to be really valuable to someone who wants to get a bike back to 'original'

 

Currently, bikes are really cheap to insure and plate in NY, I have 3 bikes on the same policy, premium is $72/year for basic coverage. When I had one bike it was $75/yr. and the more bikes I got the more the premium went down. I still find that hard to believe, but it's true!

Plates, I think, are $15 - $17/yr., something like that so it doesn't seem likely collector status would give me much of an advantage. Think, just out of curiosity, I'll see what NY has to offer anyway.

 

Dude, where have you been? It went up, it's now $143.00. PER VEHICLE/per year.

Tip: Haggerty and one other collector-car/bike insurance company (I forget which) have a deal with the State that allows that vehicle to be charged at 1/3 of the "recovery fee." But they are pretty adamant about the usage thing. It's pretty cool though, I can run a real 1974 plate on my Norton as its plate; you don't have to get one with the little "X" in the middle.

 

$143...Gee, gives me something to look forward to when I renew in the spring. You'd think with all the money they are making off of us that there would be a couple less potholes in the road.

 

every state (or province is a little different) check your local DMV/DOL. Here is WA there is a specific mileage per year restriction. You have to make a case (write a short essay and cut/paste some magazine articles) for your vehicle being collectible. 25+ years old is an automatic qualifier.

 

In Arkansas you can apply for an 'antique' plate for anything that is over 25 years old. You only pay once for registering it (XJ550)was $18 and that's it. No need to get tags or pay a yearly fee. The only requirement is that you must have another vehicle that is not 'antique' that you could drive daily. The lady at the revenue office tried to set me up with a standard plate for my 30 year old Yamaha! I said no thanks it's an antique. Insurance was $189 per year, but no state fee here that's just good coverage from Progressive.