MT Riders Club

Hello all.
I am asking anyone, please.
Is there anyway of finding out the exact date of MT manufacture ??
The reason WHY i am asking; is, i own 2 MT's.
One has a "B" reg (1985), the other has a "D" reg (1987).
In Peter Henshaws CCM "Roling Thunder" book, it clearly says, the contract for 1200 MT's, started in April 1984, (200 machines manufactured per month).
My "B" reg, (frame number between 201 & 400), was therefore made in May 1984 !! (in the second batch of 200 machines).
But on my V5C, on the front at the bottom, it states, "Declared Manufactured 1985".
I would CLEARLY like to know, where the HELL did the DVLA get their information from; especially when it's a year out !!
Has any others members come accross this ?? And is there anyway of finding out ?
I know Peter well, and rung him. He got alot of his information from the "Clews" family, so it must be right.
I have contacted the VMCC library, (no luck there)!! and CCM (no luck there either).
Can anyone help please? Andy

DVLA got their information from the bike's owner when he registered it , or from those back in the day who were allowed to issue dating certificates. If the declaration was incorrect , it is not the DVLA's fault, so there is no point in blaming them if the year was declared incorrectly. The DVLA will not change it, it is the Declared date, not a guaranteed manufacturing date.


The build year and registration year are not always one and the same. One owner has an MT350, which has a year code in the frame number. The bike was registered in December year 199n whereas the manufactured year code is year 199(n+1)

New civilian vehicles are held by dealers un-registered and are only registered when sold. Military vehicles are assigned a number as they are delivered. You can contact the MOD to find the details they hold

I could not find any records of manufacturing dates and in my case the DVLA would only accept the date the MoD took the bike into service as stated on the release form DISC 0 or it's predecessors.

Obviously the bikes were manufactured and possibly stored prior to going into service with MoD but when and for how long is anyone's guess. DVLA will have used the MoD release form as the only reliable evidence at the time the previous owner applied for a V5 registration document. I would be interested if you were able to turn up any manufacturing records or delivery to MoD records from your contacts.

Hope this helps, Andy

jam23a30 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 17, 2025 10:58 am

DVLA will have used the MoD release form as the only reliable evidence at the time the previous owner applied for a V5 registration document.

Hope this helps, Andy

Given the age of the bikes, the DVLA may not have inspected MOD document at all. At that time other people also had the ability to date MTs. Bunker was one of those people. The ability of a variety of specialist authorities was withdrawn, as were local DVLA offices.

When the local offices were open they could demand to physically see a bike before they registered it.

What you say applies today, but that has not always been the case