Got my first ticket...

[parkze]

I have been pulled over a total of 5 times now and always have got warnings. Today I got nailed for having an unreadable plate location. It is a 25 dollar fine with a bunch of fees making it 79.00 dollars. I also got a warning for illegal lights, and no insurance. I didn't have my card on me cause it runs out this in early July and I was calling Friday about changing it to the same company as my jeeps are on. So as long as I show them I have it I am good. The lights were my front and rear turn signals for having blue bulbs(I knew this would get me some day), My marker light for being blue(Seems a bit petty to me but whatever), and my tail light for having a clear lens(it has a red light in it so I thought this was legal). Anyway my plate location is the only thing I was really cited on, but I do have to replace the bulbs and show my insurance. The cop was nicer than expected...his first impression as he came up to me was that he was a total deucher in a uniform with his tough guy walk and talk. I guess he was nice enough to not nail me for the lights. Weird thing is when I did all my mods and such, I was worried about my lights and the plate wasn't really in my list of worries. But it has been the reason for my last two stops, I guess its time to fab some sort of fender eliminator bracket thingy. Any suggestions, I dont want it to ruin the lines of my bike...thats why I chopped the shovel in the first place. He also informed me that the swingarm location is illegal in PA and he has been handing out citations for them all year. He must have read my mind because thats where it was gonna go. Anyway just wanted to rant a bit and see what ideas people have for a license plate brackette.

[depths_of_mind]

Yea.. that license plate is a bit Obscure, you may have recieved a warning all around if you had insurance paperwork on ya, on the lights though.

[RossW]

I believe in most states the tail light is in fact supposed to be red (it serves as both a light and a reflector). As for the plate, use some aluminum sheet to make a bracket which allows the plate to just hang down a little more, something like the bracket in this picture just without the turn signal stalks: http://web.mit.edu/rossw/www/bike/IMG_0144.jpg

[zcphoto]

too bad about the plate location cuz that looks cool how you have it

[sharpie6]

I hacked all of my fender except for the piece the tag bracket mounted to. Works for me. Too bad you chopped the whole fender.

[SilentTJ]

^ that's what i did to mine too

[Kapp555]

I was riding with a guy who got nailed for that license plate location here in Az. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I wasnt aware that the rear light had to be red. Oh well learned something new today. We all get tickets sooner or later. If yuor gonna get one though it might as well be speeding =P

[SilentTJ]

i'm curious as to whether or not the tail light lens HAS to be red. that seems a bit unnecessary. i thought it was as long as the light shines red when turned on, that's all that mattered.

[IndyGunner]

holy crap you have like 4 inches of chicken strip on those tires... LEAN MAN LEAN!!!

[Shifty]

I so want that tail lamp.

[Psycho1]

my plate is just held onto the bike with 2 short pieces of plumbers strap at the back of the bike. Cheap and legal.

[Suzukii600]

i'm curious as to whether or not the tail light lens HAS to be red. that seems a bit unnecessary. i thought it was as long as the light shines red when turned on, that's all that mattered.

well i asked one of my best friends that is the main traffic sheriff here, the tail light/ running lights are the only lights on a vehicle that have to be red the lens can be any color you want it to be as long as it shines through red, however he said the statutes about colored lights says you can have any color but green as long as they are in the center of the vehicle... he also said to look up the the laws on where your licence plate can be mounted... he said here it only has to be on the back of the bike and visible from " i think " 20 feet, but he wasnt sure on the distance without looking it up and he was at the grocery store... if its the same there just take a picture from that distance to court with you and the judge will drop it.

[SilentTJ]

yeah, the plate i can understand there being a ticket issued, florida changed their laws back in october stating the tag had to mounted at the rear most point of the bike, horizontal, and lit. a lot of people were really upset at this because it made swing arm mounts illegal, and you risk a $1000 fine on the first offense. it was tied in on a wreckless driving bill, so wheelies, speeding 50mph over, which is why the fine is so ridiculously high for even the tag. i was just really confused about the tail light. i thought the lens color didn't matter. cops make mistakes too, he probably got it mixed up with some other law, and may not have been 100% sure, which is why he didn't issue a ticket for the lights.

i agree that you should look up the PA statutes, although i don't see you getting around the plate issue. if anything, fix it, take a picture of it and take that to court and maybe the judge will be lenient since you fixed it.

[parkze]

Its only 79 bucks so rather than go through a hassle, I will just pay it probably. Thanks for the input on how to mount the plate guys.

[redciv1]

I took some mesh Gutter Guard from Home Depot cut a little smaller than the tag to look invisible and then painted the mesh black.