I am meeting some friends from Mobile in Gatlinburg, Tn. this Thursday. They will be trailering their bikes from Mobile. I am coming from Greenville SC and will be trailering my bike also since I can't leave till late Thursday afternoon and we are riding early Friday morning.
I have a question. Since my trailer has never left the state of SC and is not registered and has no license plate will Tn. require me to have a license plate?

 

If it is not required in your home state, it will be fine here.

 

Thanks. I was hoping someone would give me that answer. If I am stopped by a cop can I tell them you said it was ok? lol

 

I never put a tag on a trailer till I decided to make some long distance trips and haul the bike to the area I want to ride. I have heard horror stories from some SC guys who got stopped and harassed after a leo stopped them for no tags.

I bought a tag for my 6X10 enclosed trailer just to avoid any issues when I may be halfway across the country. In SC you can get a permanent tag for about $80 and you do not have to pay property taxes on it like you do a motor vehicle. The DMV will only make you pay sales tax if you didn't already pay them when you bought the trailer.

 

Thanks. I think based on what I have heard I'm going without a tag.

 

This is the correct answer. Only trailers over 20 ft are required to have tags in Tenn to begin with and most trailers here do not have tags even then. I have owned probably 30 different trailers over the years from boats, to utility, to toyhauler, and currently tow a 5X10 enclosed daily for work. Never purchased a tag for any of them. I was pulled over a few weeks ago by THP for seatbelt and not a word was said about the trailer tag.

 

I will qualify what I told you earlier by saying....The way these blue light revenue generators operate these days, you never know what kind of hassle they'll try to give you just to squeeze a little money out of you.

Rather than deal with that crap, I'd probably opt for a cheap, permanent tag and be done with it.

 

I see all sorts of bikes with trailers coming through Iowa that are from other states that don't require plates.
If the bike is registered from a state that doesn't need a plate on their trailer, then they don't need a plate in Iowa.
You're good to go without a trailer plate.

 

You won't get hassled in Tennessee for a trailer with no plates.

 

Thanks guys. I feel good now about no plate since Tenn. and SC neither require one.