Maine Biker Network

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Motorcycle Registration and Inspection Sticker Changes for 2012

Today I recieved a letter from Gary Hinckley, Vehicle Services Director, Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, that was sent to Eric Fuller of MMPAC. It is the official explanation of the changes we will deal with this year concerning getting our motorcycles registered and inspected. Below is the letter. If you are unsure of what to do this year read this letter. You might even want to print out a copy and take it with you when you go to register your motorcycle.

Please keep in mind that this letter really only pertains to the registration of a motorcycle going forward. The law requiring the display of an inspection sticker on motorcycles will also be phased in over the 2012 year. This means that what ever month you currently have your motorcycle inspected will remain the month of inspection. Unless you decide to change the inspection month by getting the motorcycle inspected early, nothing will change other than the sticker will be affixed to the registration plate in the upper left corner. During the 2012 year it is legal to have the inspection certificate in your pocket OR the sticker displayed on the plate. This means that until the motorcycle comes due for annual inspection you are legal with the current law requiring the certificate of inspection to be carried with the motorcycle registration. Beginning March 1, 2013 all motorcycles will be required to have the inspection sticker displayed on the motorcycle registration plate.

Motorcycle Registration and Inspection Sticker Changes

Garry Hinkley, Vehicle Services Director

Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Last session, the legislature passed LD 221, “An Act to Make Changes to the Motorcycle Inspection Program.” LD 221 changed the law to require the motorcycle inspection sticker to be displayed on the vehicle’s registration plate. Previously, a law was scheduled to go into effect to require the inspection sticker’s display on a mounting bracket, or on the motorcycle’s rear fender.

The new requirement starts in March, and will be phased in over the next year. The inspection sticker will be placed in the plate’s upper left corner. In order to accommodate the inspection sticker, all motorcycle registrations (except those classes not required to be inspected) will be changed to a fixed March expiration. That is, starting in April 2012, when a motorcycle is registered or renewed, the expiration date will be changed to expire in the next March. The registrant will be issued a combined month/year sticker, which should be placed in the upper right corner.

In order to transition into a mandatory March expiration, registration fees and excise taxes will be prorated for the correct number of months. BMV has modified and tested our computer system to correctly calculate prorated motorcycle registration fees. The Bureau has provided our municipal agents and their computer vendors with instructions for the proration of all fees. However, motorcycle registrants should review their registration fees and taxes at the point of registration. If it appears fees were not prorated correctly, they can be most easily corrected at the counter. The standard annual motorcycle registration fee is $21.

In the future, when an owner registers a newly acquired motorcycle, the registration fee and excise tax will be prorated to reflect a March expiration. However, fees for delayed renewal will be calculated in accordance with existing state law, and generally full fees will be charged. That is, after the transition to mandatory March expiration is complete, anyone renewing late will be charged full annual registration fees and excise taxes, as is the case today.

To facilitate fee calculation and to ease the municipal clerks’ workloads, the Bureau encourages motorcycle registrants to use the online service Rapid Renewal to renew whenever possible. Approximately three-quarters of all Maine registrants live in towns participating in Rapid Renewal. https://www1.maine.gov/online/bmv/rapid-renewal/

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Permalink Reply by LadyValory on February 2, 2012 at 8:30pm

Thank you for posting and clarifying the details for us Josh.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Neil MBN Founder on February 3, 2012 at 8:55am

Thanks Josh. Your efforts are much appreciated.

For our fellow Facebook users... Please take the time to share this with your Face book friends.....

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by paul hodgetts on February 3, 2012 at 9:49am

thanks for your help Josh.You too Jeff.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Poulin on February 3, 2012 at 12:11pm

Thanks for sharing this, nice to see the rumors, being confirmed !

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Permalink Reply by Willie Campbell on February 5, 2012 at 3:00pm

Thanks Joshua for keeping us all up on this.

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Permalink Reply by Willie Campbell on February 5, 2012 at 3:55pm

Jeff Neil MBN Founder said:

Thanks Josh. Your efforts are much appreciated.

For our fellow Facebook users... Please take the time to share this with your Face book friends.....

Thanks

Done, Jeff, with a little plug for MBN as well. Here's what I posted on FB in case anyone wants to copy it:

"Just read about the new 2012 requirements for Motorcycle inspections & license plate tags. If you're interested, info is at: http://www.mainebiker.net/forum/topics/motorcycle-registration-and-.... While you're there, check out the rest of the site and join if you like what you see."

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Permalink Reply by Mike Franklin on February 8, 2012 at 5:47am

Hypothetically, if I didn't get an inspection sticker last year and my registration expires in July, what should I do? Also, March seems an odd month for renewal. Many riders don't dust their bikes off and get them out until May, meaning they can be cited on the way to the inspection station. Just sayin'

-Mike

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Neil MBN Founder on February 8, 2012 at 8:08am

Thanks Willie!

Mike, the legal way to do it would be to first register the bike if it has expired. And then you can get a permit from your local law enforcement to ride your bike to the inspection station.

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Permalink Reply by annmarie gadbois on February 8, 2012 at 8:36am

Thanks for sharing this. I read what you sent to my email and was just wondering even after reading it all the picture that is in my email shows a motorcycle tank with the sticker on it's side. If that is where it is really to be placed I'm not so sure those with custom paint jobs are going to like this too much (including me) as big money has been put into someone doing a custom paint job. Correct me if I'm wrong and the picture isn't what will really be.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Neil MBN Founder on February 8, 2012 at 10:21am

Annmarie, that picture is a picture of my bike with a Maine Biker Network sticker on the tank, LOL... The inspection sticker will go on the license plate

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Herndon on February 8, 2012 at 11:15am

Mike, I agree with Jeff. What I would do, and I am not advocating anyone follow my lead, is start getting my bike ready for inspection now. Then the very first day that I decided the weather was good enough to ride, I would take the bike to an inspection station an get it legal. Then when the bike came due for registration renewal I would register it and get the pro rated registration. In your case Mike, that would be July and your 2012 registration would expire in March 2013 but your inspection sticker would still be valid until the month in which you had it inspected. As for March being an odd month for registration, remember that you do not have to have the vehicle present when you register it. All you need is the paperwork so March has no impact on registering a motorcycle. This isn't a big deal. Just remember that starting in 2013, all motorcycle registrations will expire in March every year but the inspection sticker will be valid for one year from the date of inspection. No matter what month of the year that may be. As has been said, 2012 is to be an implementation year for this change and starting March 2013, all motorcycles registered in Maine will have to have the inspection sticker displayed on the registration plate.

Mike Franklin said:

Hypothetically, if I didn't get an inspection sticker last year and my registration expires in July, what should I do? Also, March seems an odd month for renewal. Many riders don't dust their bikes off and get them out until May, meaning they can be cited on the way to the inspection station. Just sayin'

-Mike