Rick Kretschmer's License Plate Archives

Rick's 1977 U.S. Motorcycle Plates

(Yet another high school graduation year set)

On this page I display my collection of U.S. motorcycle plates from the year 1977. Now up to 17 of 56 states and other jurisdictions in my collection and shown on this page.

Latest noteworthy updates to this page

November 9, 2023 – Added Indiana and Wyoming plates.
July 11, 2023 – Added Minnesota and U.S. Virgin Islands plates.
February 14, 2023 – Added Alabama, New York, Tennessee, West Virginia plates. Added a Mississippi Shriners plate.

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Introduction

Many license plate collectors, myself included, either have or are working on a "birth year set", which is a collection of license plates from every state from the year they were born. Not only do I have a 1959 birth year set of U.S. passenger car plates, but also a 1977 high school graduation year set of U.S. passenger car plates. 1977 plates are more significant to me than those in my birth year set, because I actually remember seeing them in use.

As I searched on eBay for U.S. 1977 passenger car plates to add to my collection, I couldn't help but notice the many 1977 plate types besides passenger car plates. I found these to be interesting enough that I began a U.S. 1977 non-passenger plate set*, which, whenever possible, shows full-sized non-passenger plates with an embossed year "1977" or "77".

Later, I also decided to build a U.S. 1977 motorcycle plate set. 1977 motorcycle plates are a lot easier to find, and a lot less expensive, than 1959 motorcycle plates. And so, that's the subject of this page. In the case of motorcycle plates, I'm not concerned whether the year 1977 is embossed on the plate, printed on a registration or expiration sticker, or not even present at all if that's how the plate was used in 1977.

The plates on this page are arranged in alphabetical state name order, followed by other U.S. jurisdictions in alphabetical order. Motorcycle plates are shown on the left, and thumbnails of 1977 regular passenger car plates are shown on the right for comparasion purposes. All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

You'll find quite a bit of variety in the sizes and shapes of these plates. Standard dimensions for full-sized plates were agreed upon in the mid-1950s and implemented across all of North America almost immediately. Standard dimensions of 4 inches by 7 inches for motorcycle plates were also developed if not at the same time, within a decade or so. However, states only very gradually switched over to those dimensions, with Maryland being the last straggler in 2008. Therefore, you'll see a lot of 4 by 7 inch plates, but also a lot of odd-sized plates in this 1977 set.

* For the purpose of my U.S. 1977 non-passenger plate page, I use the term "non-passenger" rather loosely. Usually among plate collectors, it refers to a plate that would not have been used on a personal passenger car or motorcycle. By a strict definition, then, special interest plates, handicapped plates, vanity plates, and the like are usually not thought of as non-passenger plates. On that page, however, anything other than a standard, sequentially-numbered passenger car plate is fair game for inclusion.

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My 1977 U.S. motorcycle license plates

As you can see, this project is still very much in progress.

	Alabama Alabama motorcycle plates conformed to the standard 4 inch by 7 inch dimensions starting in 1968, and had the same basic design between 1974 and 1994, with the colors varying each year. The "M" prefix was constant on motorcycle plates. All motorcycle plates were replaced annually through 1994.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Alaska
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Arizona
	Arkansas Arkansas motorcycle plates began using numbering format xx 00 in 1968 and 4 inch by 6 inch dimensions in 1969. New plates were issued annually. Starting in 1971, plate colors alternated between black-on-white in odd years and white-on-black in even years. This all ended after the 1978 plate, except that the numbering format continued to maybe about 1980.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	California
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Colorado
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Connecticut
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Delaware
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Florida
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Georgia
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Hawaii
	Idaho Idaho adopted the 4 inch by 7 inch North American standard dimensions for motorcycle plates in 1967. Green-on-reflective-white multi-year base plates came out in 1968 and were renewed with stickers in subsequent years. Motorcycle year stickers were completely different from passenger car stickers. They do not seem to be applied in a consistent location. What appears to be a vertical number 20 is actually a number 2 over a letter O, and is the county code for Owyhee County. These motorcycle plates were apparently replaced in 1984 with plates that weren't identifiable by county.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Illinois
	Indiana Indiana motorcycle plates were issued annually through 1996, and had only numeric plate numbers though about 2010. Even then, because they replated regularly, the addition of letters wasn't because they had run out of numbers, but rather an effort to assign prefix letter(s) to all non-passenger plate types to eliminate duplicate plate numbers. Motorcycle plates became reflective in 1968 and adopted standard dimensions in 1969.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Iowa
	Kansas Kansas motorcycle plates were similar in design and 4 inch by 8 inch dimensions between 1961 and 1988. New plates were issued annually through 1974. The 1975 plate was a multi-year base plate renewed with small little stickers through 1979. The stacked letters H/V are a code indicating the biker lived in Harvey County.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Kentucky
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Louisiana
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Maine
	Maryland Maryland motorcycle plates were larger than most and were the last to adopt the North American standard dimensions, issuing plates in this 4-1/2 inch by 8-1/2 inch size starting with the 1971 base through 2008. This undated red-on-white base was used between March 1975 and March 1980, but is known as the 1976 base. Numbering formats were all-numeric on this base, starting at 10001 and using both 5-digit and 6-digit numbers.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Massachusetts
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Michigan
	Minnesota Minnesota issued orange-on-white plates to both passenger cars and motorcycles in 1974 and renewed them with stickers in 1975. For passenger cars, it did the same in 1976 and 1977. But motorcycles were issued these blue-on-white plates in 1976; they were renewed with stickers through 1980. The dimensions are close to being standard, but are actually oversized by 1/4-inch in length and 3/16-inch in height.
	Mississippi This obviously isn't a regular Mississippi motorcycle plate. Those are colored red-on-white, are fully embossed, and frankly are rather boring-looking. They issued these colorful plates to motorcycles owned by the Shriners and pretty much only used in parades. This type began sometime in the early-to-mid 1970s and continues to the present day.
	Missouri Missouri motorcycle plates had fixed April expirations from 1970 until just a few years ago. New plates were issued annually through the April 1979 plate. The 4 by 7 inch standard dimensions began on the April 1972 plate. There is apparently no hidden meaning behind the numbering format.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Montana
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Nebraska
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Nevada
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	New Hampshire
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	New Jersey
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	New Mexico
	New York New York issued this design between 1973 and 1986 and replaced it in either 1987 or 1988. There were several variations with different shape and positioning of the bolt holes and location of the state abbreviation. Apparently all motorcycle plates expired in April each year. Motorcycle plates were one of the few types that used expiration stickers, as most vehicles got windshield stickers indicating the registration expiration date. New York motorcycle plates have been standard-sized since 1966.
	North Carolina North Carolina switched to both standard dimensions and reflective backgrounds in 1967. The six-digit, all-numeric numbering format began in 1973. Motorcycle plates continue to be issued annually through 1978.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	North Dakota
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Ohio
	Oklahoma Oklahoma motorcycle plates were made in these non-standard 4-3/8 by 7 inch dimensions and were issued annualy between 1961 and 1979. That is, with the exception of some mid-1970s plates made by Arkansas due to a riot and fire at the Oklahoma prison that made their plates.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Oregon
	Pennsylvania Even though Pennsylvania stopped using the abbreviation Penna on passenger car plates after 1957, and the state shaped outline after 1970, motorcycle plates continued to be made and issued with both through 2001. Same with the non-standard 4-1/2 by 8 inch dimensions. This undated, reflective, yellow-background base was issued as a general replacement in 1977 and was used without any validation sticker the first year.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Rhode Island
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	South Carolina
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	South Dakota
	Tennessee Tennessee motorcycle plates were state-shaped and county-coded between 1936 and 1965, but starting in 1966 became rectangular and conformed to the 4 inch by 7 inch standard size. Also starting in 1966, the numbering format became Zx0000, with the "Z" fixed and the second letter variable. A dash was added between the letters and numbers in 1970, and then was replaced with a space in 1981. All motorcycles were issued new plates each year though 1982.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Texas
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Utah
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Vermont
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Virginia
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Washington
	West Virginia West Virginia motorcycle plates became standard-sized starting with the 1968 plate and were issued annually through the 1990 plate. Most years, colors alternated between yellow-on-blue and blue-on-yellow. Plates in odd-numbered years between 1965 and 1977 had debossed (sunken rather than raised) numbers. West Virginia regular motorcycle plates nearly always have plate numbers with a "G" prefix.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Wisconsin
	Wyoming Wyoming motorcycle plates were issued annually through 1974, and had odd 3-1/2 inch by 8-3/16 inch dimensions between 1950 and 1993. County prefix numbers began in 1937 and continue to the present day. County number 10 is Fremont County, which is in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the state, with no towns anyone has ever heard of. The 1975 plate had the year debossed, and was renewed with stickers for 1976 and 1977.
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	American Samoa
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Canal Zone
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	District of Columbia
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Guam
(1977 motorcycle plate wanted)	Puerto Rico
	U.S. Virgin Islands For most vehicle types, the U.S. Virgin Islands used 1975 plates for three years, issuing windshield stickers in 1976 and 1977 to show registration was current. But it continued to issue new motorcycle plates annually, usually with non-standard dimensions, through 1986. The "T" prefix indicates the vehicle was registered on the island of St. Thomas. I think the pink background color is fitting for a tropical island. Dimensions are 8-1/8 by 5-3/16 inches.