Appeals: Statute Of Limitation On Appealing Old Speeding Conviction

My question involves traffic court in the State of: North Carolina

Hi, this is my first post on this wonderful forum I came across so be easy on me :)

I was wondering if there's a time limit as to how long after receiving a conviction for a minor speeding ticket that I'm allowed to file an appeal? It's a shot in the dark since I'm pretty sure it's not possible but I received a speeding ticket for doing 44 in a 35 back in January of 2007. My court date was in February 2007 but I did not appear due to the nature of my job and I was ignorant for not hiring a lawyer to represent me. I let the conviction go through and then paid the fine after receiving a letter from the court notifying me of the decision. I was wondering if it is now possible to hire a lawyer to re-open this conviction and file for an appeal to plea for a lesser charge? This is the only traffic infraction I have on my record other than one I received back in 2001.

I'm doing this for insurance reasons as I am looking to purchase a motorcycle and have been pricing insurance policies online. That 1 infraction on my record would nearly triple my premium so perhaps it's just wishful dreaming to have it expunged from my record in exchange for a lesser charge?