Bike Rack and License Plate Visibility

Dingo

Well-Known Member
I have the 1 up two bike rack. When in the up position it blocks the license plate. Removing when not in use is a PIA, since I would have to drag it and store inside my small apartment.

I did get 2 inch tall reflective letters and stuck those on with the plate number/state.

Asked one of our customers, who is a police officer about it. His thought is it raises his suspicion, and would be better with out the reflective letters.

What do you guys think?
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I've literally gotten over a dozen tickets for this. There is ZERO fix for it other than taking the rack off. Mounting the plate on the rack is also completely illegal as I brought that up the last month when I was in court for it.
 

02camaro

Well-Known Member
i dont think there are any better options than buying their mount. i wouldnt do stickers, that seems like a fictitious plate ticket in a heartbeat.

https://www.1up-usa.com/product/license-plate-holder-2/

I've literally gotten over a dozen tickets for this. There is ZERO fix for it other than taking the rack off. Mounting the plate on the rack is also completely illegal as I brought that up the last month when I was in court for it.

did the judge reason why its illegal?
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
To me the biggest aggravation is storing the rack once it's off the car, as it takes way to much of the garage floor. So I just bought one of these.
swagmanXmount.png

It should help once I place it on an unused section of the garage walls (if i can find one).

Can the tag be moved under the hitch so it's technically still on the car but not covered by the rack? I guess the same could be true with the rack open and 2 or more bikes actually on the rack, as the tag may not be that visible either... Scratch that, it would be too low and possibly out of regulation. Probably best just to remove it.
 
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walter

Fourth Party
I believe our local law enforcement officer mentiones this a while back. Putting the letters on the rack with stickers or a make shift plate could be considered falsifying documents, or something along those lines.

Did You get pulled over specifically for the rack?
 

Dingo

Well-Known Member
I believe our local law enforcement officer mentiones this a while back. Putting the letters on the rack with stickers or a make shift plate could be considered falsifying documents, or something along those lines.

Did You get pulled over specifically for the rack?
No, not pulled over in 15 yrs.

Just trying to NOT give a reason to be pulled over.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Is it still illegal if you get a 3rd plate and attach that to the rack?
This is what I’ve done (my pics are in the thread Link posted by @gmb3). This way you can display a legitimate plate in clear view and also show that the original plate is bolted to the car and properly lit.
 

Carson

Sport Bacon
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Hi.

Vreeland has this pretty correct. Yes, the rear plate has to be affixed to the vehicle. Yes, it has to be illuminated at night. It also needs to be clearly readable from a distance of 200 feet.

I don't think stick-on numbers on the rack is a good idea. It's so odd that it would attract my attention and I'd look to investigate further.

As far as a third plate on the rack itself, I don't know any law that addresses this directly. It certainly would seem to allow an officer to run the plate easily, which is the whole point. But I'm guessing an officer could still say the legal plate, the one affixed to the vehicle, is not readable. But that seems to be splitting hairs to me.

There's no perfect solution.
 

Dingo

Well-Known Member
Hi.

Vreeland has this pretty correct. Yes, the rear plate has to be affixed to the vehicle. Yes, it has to be illuminated at night. It also needs to be clearly readable from a distance of 200 feet.

I don't think stick-on numbers on the rack is a good idea. It's so odd that it would attract my attention and I'd look to investigate further.

As far as a third plate on the rack itself, I don't know any law that addresses this directly. It certainly would seem to allow an officer to run the plate easily, which is the whole point. But I'm guessing an officer could still say the legal plate, the one affixed to the vehicle, is not readable. But that seems to be splitting hairs to me.

There's no perfect solution.
How about getting a trailer plate? Would that fly?

Would be nice if the state could issue a small plate like used on motorcycles, and affixed to the rack.

Just trying to avoid any reason to be pulled over.
 
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