UK Triker Forums

"What is the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval Scheme?
The Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA) scheme is a pre-registration inspection for
mopeds, motorcycles, three wheelers and quadricycles that have not been type-approved to
European standards"

So basically , EVERY trike on the road UNLESS it is a commercially manufactured one ( Boom/Rewaco etc ) should have a Q plate meaning it has been tested /passed and registered correctly .

or UNLESS the whole un molested chassis has been used in which case it wouldn't need one and can have the original date related plate .

OR for bike based rides it is a genuine BOLT ON conversion with MINIMAL work done for such things like mudguards etc but NOT welded to the bike chassis ..

Just spoke to the guy with the trike , says he was on to DVLA before he took on the trike and they said all fine as it was made pre MSVA so was allowed age related plate .. Will be leaving it but a bit disappointed as it's a nice ride ..

So, if that DVLA guy is correct, there are Grandfather rights for pre-MSVA Trikes!

It was the dvla that allowed a load of conversions to be registered as trikes pre msva. Thus you have probably thousands of trikes and bikes on original plates that should be on a "Q". I know of people that have questioned them on the requirement for this, to be told "no its fine, carry on, you dont need an msva"
This has perpetuated the myth of grandfather rights, and meant that people adopt the why bother attitude. Should such a machine get pulled by vosa they would not be impressed, but mot inspectors, dvla, and even insurance firms generally don't have a clue.
My own trike falls into this category, and i plan to msva it, probably next winter - need to finish it first!
It should be said though, that a Q plate does not mean something has beeen built correctly, since any Q plated machine built pre msva would not have been inspected. So what does the whole process achieve? Not a lot, in most cases in my opinion, especially since a bolt on conversion could less stable or safe than a properly fabricated frame.

when I built my first trike, Reliant based, what I tried to do was just alter the body type from saloon (or what ever it was) to "open body" "open tourer" "convertable" but what ever I put the log book came back unchanged, after I'd been using it about 6 months I got a letter saying I had to have it inspected, this came from a local licensing office, a very nice lady came to my home looked at it asked if it had been MOTed after it had been altered, which it had, said I could keep the reg. number, took the logbook and tax disc and sent me new ones with reliant trike on.
So as far as I know this is a legal trike, not just a reliant that has a taxation class saying tricycle.
will add a photo of it (it was painted trotters trading last time I saw it on ebay have you seen it)

I think you will find that because you have changed the steering that will count as a major modification and will require msva

The changes were done pre msva and it was inspected the person I sold it to checked with DVLA and they said it was registered as a 3 wheel trike, reliant based and had kept it's original number on the points system, the problem is with the trikes that are registered with a reliant log book but wern't inspected and will still be a saloon, estate or van on the V5, the taxation class will still be on the lower scale, I had to get mine weighed to prove it. If it has a massive V8 in the it will be in a higher taxation class (and I suppose you'll need a car lience to drive it)

You can drive a trike on a full bike or car licence

Herby01 wrote:You can drive a trike on a full bike or car licence

Not any more they changed the law in 2014 i think .I'm sure it's bike licence now I could be wrong on details as I didn't take much notice as it didn't affect me

Just read through the 1st post - interesting stuff. And I think there is a massive error in the Points system wording from the Gubmint. I can't reveal what it is cos I may try using it to retain an age related plate. Its grammatical and means two things if read as is and if read as it SHOULD have been written ! ! ! May be a bit harsh not sharing but its there for all to see LOL!