this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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Motorcycles

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My fucking license plate fell off! (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by dingus@lemmy.world to c/motorcycles@lemmy.world
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

UPDATE: Fucker gets the zip tie treatment. I zip tied the shit out of it so we'll see lmao. The springs are unfortunately too long for the reflectors with the springs. Also I think one of the main issues is that the washers that come with these reflectors are way too goddamn small for the hole they sit in on my bike. So idk.

I'm pissed af right now! Took the cover off to ride to work this morning and saw it was missing. I have no idea when it fell off.

I should have known this would happen...the plate would always get caught and slightly dislodged while putting on and taking off the cover. And the shitty thumb screws seemed like they could easily loosen with vibration. I have no idea why it doesn't have a more secure attachment point.

No idea how long it will take to get a new one either. At least I took the day off tomorrow morning so I can fuck around a bit. Looks like I can likely file for a new one at my DMV without a police report, but I might try to report it to the police anyway as per some other randoms on the internet.

When I get a new one, that fucker is getting fucking zip tied on this time. No more shitty thumb screws.

It would have been such a nice morning ride into work too.

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[–] daveywaveyboy@feddit.nl 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I feel your pain. On one bike my plate is drilled through and secured with bolts and nyloc nuts. On the other it is pop riveted on. But when I lived in Switzerland they have a rule that you can have one plate and use it on all you bikes. They all have to be insured but insurance is way cheaper for the second bike. Logic is: you can only ride one at a time. Same for cars. So I was riding in Germany and a police car pulls in front of me with the FOLGEN signs on, we come off the motorway and drive for a while to a police station. “Do you know why we stopped you? Please watch our screen. Here we follow you - you are doing 170 this is fine. But here the limit is 100 for the tunnel and you are still going 120 - this is enough that we fine you. And here in the tunnel … your plate falls off”. Well shit. They wouldn’t close the tunnel so I couldn’t recover my plate. They impounded my bike because no plate. I had to walk out of there in full leathers and weekend bag, get a lift from a stranger in a nearby cafe, get a bus, get a train back to Zurich. On monday, report my plates lost at Kenton police. Get new plates at Traffic office. Next day go back to the police, collect my bike, back to work. I am no longer in CH, now my two bikes have two different plates, pop rivets and locking nuts.

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Holy shit that is fucking ridiculous. If they literally saw your plate fall off then they should have let you retrieve it. Shit behavior imo.

[–] poleslav@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Aw man that’s the worst sorry to hear it! And yep, my license plate was hanging on by a thread or two with one nut and the other nut was somewhere in space probably. thankfully my buddy noticed and had a zip tie. I got new nuts that are retro reflective for the top holes but ever since that day the bottom two mounting holes are held on by zip ties and they have yet to fail me.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I have my plate bolted on with nylock nuts and loctite. The bolts for the bracket also got an application of loctite.

4 years now and it hasn't gone anywhere.

[–] Initech_vs_Initrode@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 weeks ago

Nylock nuts are the way. No thread-locker needed on them.

I always keep some zip-up ties in my riding gear. If I pass a parked bike with a missing license plate bolt, I'll zip-tie it back into place.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Nice plausible deniability there.

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

👀👀👀

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.