this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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Motorcycles
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I have learned to use every trick in the book on any of my bikes that I take off road, otherwise I wind up having to go back searching the trail somewhere to find my damn plate. At the moment my KLR has double nuts on the mounting bolts plus lock washers plus Loctite. If you have lower mounting holes you can tie it on with wire through those in addition.
Last trip I shook the exhaust midpipe bolt loose, but luckily it just fell into the frame and lodged there and I found it when I was giving my bike the daily once-over in camp.
Sadly my bike only has two upper mount holes and no lower mount holes. The holes are very wide and oblong too, so the thumb screws only sit tight when they are positioned just so. Not sure yet how I want to go about securing it tightly. I don't really want to Loctite it on tbh but idk.
All of my bikes are the same way as far as mounting.
I have a license plate backing plate. They’re made in aluminum or thick plastic.
Since the holes on the motorcycle are usually wide as you mentioned I drill holes either to the side or below the license plate holes and attach the backing plate to the bike with locking nuts/washers(basically make this as permanent a connection as possible). If you use flat head bolts and counter sink them then the license plate should sit flush over the top. If drilling them below that means the plate will sit higher overall which may not be possible on all motorcycles. The backing plate stops the license plate from getting mangled as well as it’s much more sturdy. You could also drill a hole in the backing plate and using some wire or whatever to the bike as a backup but I’ve never needed to.
I’ve always just used four of these to attach my license plate to the backing plate. The ones with the spring help keep tension on the wing nut and kind of function similar to a lock washer. I’ve never had one of these even come loose in over 5+ years. I’m assuming this is on your Honda Rebel, off road venturing people might need something more robust. Also if you think plate theft is your concern then wing nuts probably aren’t your best option. My bikes are garage kept so that’s less of a concern.