SuzukiSavage.com - License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!

Digger

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Colorado Springs, CO
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License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
10/31/14 at 20:37:26

Was piddling around with some other stuff and noticed that the bike's (see my signature block) license plate was developing a long crack. I took the plate off. The crack was much more visible and even longer on the back side of the plate:

To attempt to stop the crack from propagating any further, I decided to stop drill it. I made a “best guess” as to where the crack appeared to be headed and used a centerpunch to make a dimple in the plate about 0.1” from the end of the visible crack along the crack's presumed future path.

I then worked my way up to a 5/16” hole:

Finally, to “plug” the hole I'd drilled, I popped in a ⅜” long #10 machine head screw and nutted it down good and tight:

I then made a note to check said plate whenever I do an oil change on the bike. That should be the end of that problem...

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
www.astronautbiker.com

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Todd James Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 239 Mansfield, Ohio Gender:	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #1 - 10/31/14 at 21:22:42 I drilled holes on the center line of my license plate to mount it after it started to crack at the top. No more cracking, and it looks better than hanging down behind the tire swinging in the breeze.
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
Reply #2 - 10/31/14 at 22:51:05

Mount it on a plate of , whatever, thin steel or aluminum, see how it goes.

It's not rocket science,dude...
I Saw the vicious,absolutely Wicked, shaking the rear fender goes through,when I was on the Guzzi following my girl on the Suzuki. It was so vicious I literally questioned my own sight for a second. I looked at it and asked myself"How is that possible, How can I have ridden that and had that happen and not be aware of such a tremendous shaking?"
It didn't do it Every Time she pulled away, only when she was accelerating at a certain rate.. I didn't have time to figure out just how it was, but I saw it,,

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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stinger Serious Thumper Offline I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 848	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #3 - 11/01/14 at 02:01:21 Mine did not try and rip in half, they did! Always horizontal. Even the license plate holder ripped. I just replaced my second one. Lots of wind buffeting back there. Got smart and applied a thin aluminum plate behind the license plate. Pretty solid now.
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ALfromN.H. FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Dragon Slayer Posts: 1421 Rochester, New Hampshire Gender:	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #4 - 11/01/14 at 02:26:56 I had a scrap piece of bituthane (ice & water shield) from a roofing job so I stuck it to the back of the plate, trimmed it and never had another problem for quite a few years. AL
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bobert_FSO

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Wichita KS
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Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
Reply #5 - 11/01/14 at 07:17:58

One old trick that I saw and used as a teen in the '60s. When you get a new license plate, keep the old one and mount the new one on top of it. It is a cheap "rat" way to get the same result as using a nicer-looking backer plate under your license plate. The idea is to create more mass and stiffness that doesn't vibrate and "flap" as easily as a thin license plate.

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runwyrlph

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Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
Reply #6 - 11/01/14 at 07:32:18

ALfromN.H. FSO wrote on 11/01/14 at 02:26:56:

I had a scrap piece of bituthane (ice & water shield) from a roofing job so I stuck it to the back of the plate, trimmed it and never had another problem for quite a few years.

AL

yup, I cut a piece out of a plastic drum - about 3/16 thick pretty tough plastic - made a backing plate - problem solved

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2007 s40 -stock -white spacer out -repaired to rideable condition!

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oldNslow Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2708 Rochester, NY Gender:	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #7 - 11/01/14 at 09:51:49 When I noticed mine starting to crack at one of the bolt holes, I reinforced it with two layers of duct tape on the back side. I like Todd James' idea - moving the bolt holes to the center of the plate. Even though I haven't had a problem since using the duct tape, I think I'm going to relocate the holes too.
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
Reply #8 - 11/01/14 at 11:14:59

You guys otta get someone to follow you and watch as you accelerate. I think that hard shaking is around the top half of second gear in hard acceleration. Maybe in other places,too. I didn't get to study it. That the fender can shake like that and the rider Not even be aware of it amazes me.
There's a reason why the plates break.

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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Digger

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2005 No Login

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Ya gotta be tough to
ride singles!

Posts: 1604
Colorado Springs, CO
Gender: male

Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off!
Reply #9 - 11/07/14 at 19:11:05

Lots of good inputs here.

I ended up using a plastic license plate holder that I got from Aerostich and used four mounting screws:

Also, the nut and bolt I was using to plug my stop-drilled hole (as shown in the OP) ended up interfering with the bike's license plate bracket, due to their location. So, I replaced said nut and bolt with an aluminum pop rivet (with a 3/16" diameter mandrel), as shown in the above photo. The head of the pop rivet had a low enough profile so as not to protrude past its recess hole I drilled in the plastic license plate holder, just behind said rivet.

The reason the pop rivet looks the way it does is that, after installation of same, since it was still a wee bit loose, I laid said rivet against an anvil and gave it a few taps with a big hammer.

You can see the crack running under the red reflector at the upper-right corner of the license plate. Where the crack hits the edge of said license plate, I applied a narrow length of stainless steel tape, bent it over along the long axis, and then hammered it flat.

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
www.astronautbiker.com

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Demin Serious Thumper Offline We need more chlorine in the gene pool Posts: 2435 Warren,Ohio Gender:	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #10 - 11/08/14 at 04:02:02 Todd James wrote on 10/31/14 at 21:22:42: I drilled holes on the center line of my license plate to mount it after it started to crack at the top. No more cracking, and it looks better than hanging down behind the tire swinging in the breeze. Same thing I do when I use the stock set up.
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Srotag Full Member Offline Have Thumper Will Travel Posts: 100 Wherever it is warm and sunny Gender:	Re: License Plate Tryin' to Fall Off! Reply #11 - 11/10/14 at 06:45:15 I knew before I got my Thumper that the dangling stupid looking tag mount would be the first thing to go. Removed and cut mount, then drilled holes in plate like the guys above. Replaced tag light with a small LED strip mounted in the fender with 3M body tape. First pic posting Woo Hoo!!
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