Where to put the L-Plate?

[Blairos]

Hi there,

I have reading another thread on a chap getting fined $400 for not displaying an L-Plate

I have just entered the land of "L-Plates" , but the thing that gets me is... Where the hell do you mount the bloody great big thing that it is?

As far as the law goes, it says it has to be 100mm x 150mm in dimension, I bought one for $3.50 from a local bookstore (these are the only ones they have) went home, looked at the area where my Rego plate is, and there is simply no way of "affixing" this without covering up rear indicators (wait for the fine for that, I hear you say :laugh: ) dangling below the plate within mm of my rear tyre, or the like...

Does the law allow me to make up my own Black "L" on a square Yellow background, laminate it, and affix on the rear of my VTR250 so (a) it is visible , (b) doesnt fall off, and (c) does not obscure any other part of my plate etc (I am sure the fine for failing to show ones plate in its entirety, refer recent news on the "flip-up" plate :shit: , would be similar)

I have attached 2 pics that show the rear of my bike, with the standard issue "L-Plate", and my proposed solution...

Of course, there may be a specific L-Plate for Bikes - if this is the case, then I look forward to finding out where I can get one (VTNZ Takanini and 2 local book stores did not have them)

Your wisdom would be appreciated...

[Fishy]

Best place for it is in the bin!. Or keep it under your seat or something, if you get pulled just say it fell of and you will re attach it when you get home.

[Mental Trousers]

Put it on the back of your jacket

[Blairos]

I was thinking that - I have a Fluro-Vest (see and be seen I say) - so I might have to see if I can somehow sew the L Plate onto it - after all, its $25, so once I make it thru to Restriced, I can get another one.

Saves doing things to my jacket

Thanks for the advice

[MidnightMike]

Just stick with the second option, a fluro jacket looks stupid enough let alone with an l plate attached. :bs:

[Grahameeboy]

Best place for it is in the bin!. Or keep it under your seat or something, if you get pulled just say it fell of and you will re attach it when you get home.

yeah but you have no tailpiece and just an exhaust under your seat so where do you put yours.........

Seriously though I often wonder what the point of L Plates is.....yep sounds like a stupid thing to say.....okay maybe it is, however they only seem go on the back plus it would be silly to say that the purpose is to let cagers know you are a learner and to give you room........eh?:slap:

[Fishy]

yeah but you have no tailpiece and just an exhaust under your seat so where do you put yours.........


Im sorry GB I'll put mine back on, yep you put me in my place by giving me the learn on that big bad SV of yours.

[Grahameeboy]

Im sorry GB I'll put mine back on, yep you put me in my place by giving me the learn on that big bad SV of yours.

You are a good boy, Son..............:Police:

[Fishy]

I try....sometimes :motu:

[Grahameeboy]

I try....sometimes :motu:

yep....I try every 8 months as you know!!!!

Now all I need is a Tuesday ride............

[Fishy]

I can't do for a while yet, bike is still in pieces and got a shit load of study to do!. Got an exam coming up shortly :doh:

[outlawtorn]

no matter where you put it it'll end up ruining the look of the bike, what you can do is mount it directly underneath the number plate and then as you are walking away from some bugger comes along and snaps the damn thing off leaving only a small yellow piece of plastic.......
bugger......
then you'll have to put a new one on some time.....
......"but officer it only happened yesterday........."

[thealmightytaco]

I've got plates made from clear file folder and the other out of a lunch box lid, lunch box lid is heaps better, and both hang out the side a little, like this...

[Kjell]

I got fed up with the L plate falling off so I found a supplier who used a laminate type plate. Stripped off the printed layer and using the still sticky adhesive affixed to the rear fender of the RG150E. :wari:

Given the shape of the bikes arse it was cleary visable from behind as required and was more aerodynamic (hugely important on a 150). At the end of my time, easily peeled off without taking paint. :2thumbsup

[Blairos]

Hi all

I fixed the L Plate (uing the velcro strips supplied with it, to the plate (given the space constraints, I had to affix it to the back-side of the plate, leaving the L partially obscured.

Then went for a 180KM ride yesterday, encountered several police vehicles with no response from them, I was in a moving traffic flow and it stayed on happily when I gave it some short speed tests.

Also, on this ride, I used this as a test to see if I would be a target for any cagers - the only "interest" I experienced was from a tailgating earthmoving Truck Driver, but a gentle applicaton of brake to make the light come on soon sorted him out. I will be monitoring this cager behaviour to determine the plate's longevity :yeah:

Thanks for all your input on this

Cheers!

[ZeroIndex]

Hi all

I fixed the L Plate (uing the velcro strips supplied with it, to the plate (given the space constraints, I had to affix it to the back-side of the plate, leaving the L partially obscured.

Then went for a 180KM ride yesterday, encountered several police vehicles with no response from them, I was in a moving traffic flow and it stayed on happily when I gave it some short speed tests.

Also, on this ride, I used this as a test to see if I would be a target for any cagers - the only "interest" I experienced was from a tailgating earthmoving Truck Driver, but a gentle applicaton of brake to make the light come on soon sorted him out. I will be monitoring this cager behaviour to determine the plate's longevity :yeah:

Thanks for all your input on this

Cheers!


Glad to see no one ran you over... did you go on any 100km/h zones? if so, what speed, if you were doing over 70km/h did any cops take notice?

[Blairos]

The traffic flow was over 70Km/h, and they did not seem to worry - I would have been more of a menace at 70k given the conditions (sunny and dry)

[Kjell]

Given the shape of the bikes arse it was cleary visable from behind

I never got pulled over while running home in a 50~60 area, sometimes up to 0200 given my shift work, not to worry I had exemptions to my license hours that the only times I couldn't ride was between 0245 and 0430 given the shift work and oncall duties.

The duty cops would rest in a petrol station just off the motor way entrance, and usually returned the wave I gave them.

Just ride safe and sensible, and have the plate 'available' to avoid fines if pulled over.

[Folcan]

what I found worked well was take the red reflector off and make a hole in the L plate and hold it on with the Reflector.. cus the Reflector at the back is held on with a nut so it holds it pritty well

[race_demon]

place it on your tail above your rear light and behind your back seat i have on my bike and if they upll you over "your learner plate is not visable" just ask them how they knew you were a learner or you could get a peice of carboard secure it to the bottom of your licence plate and stick it on there thats what i did on ym bike also but the way i ride nothign lasts:D

[bobsmith]

Darn it, I am too late again... I was going to suggest that you paint your L sign on the back of your helmet.... (well someone's gotta try it)

Ok, I'll just go around and find another victim

[Blairos]

Darn it, I am too late again... I was going to suggest that you paint your L sign on the back of your helmet.... (well someone's gotta try it)

Ok, I'll just go around and find another victim

LOL - what happens when you get past the learners phase? Get a new helmet? :rofl:

[bobsmith]

Not sure.... I am thinking about this myself as I'm getting a fxr150 this weekend and it just doesn't have much room.... damn the loser plates...

[Blairos]

Not sure.... I am thinking about this myself as I'm getting a fxr150 this weekend and it just doesn't have much room.... damn the loser plates...

I have enacted a cunning plan with regards to my L-Plate....

[bobsmith]

Ahhhh... I should really read the whole thread.

thanks

[metric]

drilled the bottom of the number plate and bolted it on underneath...

[Speedracer]

From day one I had no L-plate.
I got pulled up twice on the bike. Both times the cops mentioned the fact I was on a learners, however neither cop mentioned the lack of an L plate or gave me a fine for anything. :Pokey:

I bought an L plate the day of my restricted test and it sat on my bike for about 3 hours all up. I just jammed it unsecured between the numberplate and the wof/mudflap.

[GIXser]

Take the L plate and bend and twist the fuck out of it, ps make some holes at the top of the plate, amke it so it fits underneath ya rear seat even rip the thing in half doesnt matter, then when ya get pulled over, (if) say you lost it last week, (rode over a peice of timber bla bla bla and you managed to find the pieces on the road ( or similar story) tell them you are sorry you will re mount when youve got all the pieces, theya er not able to give you a ticket with that excuse, its worked very time for me, with no number plate-- touch wood touch wood , touch wood---

[GIXser]

touch wood touch wood touch wood, what me superstitious!!!!

[sunhuntin]

my number plate has a hole in the middle for the rego card, so the L is under that, held on with the same bolts.

on the old gn, it was bolted to one side [the old plate had more holes] but its positioning blocked an indicator, so it lost a corner.....its current placement meant its been chewed/melted by the tyre, so its opposite corner has a nice big bite shape to it.
been checked at a roadblock and no comment made, depsite its a rather sorry looking plate.

[adam666]

I saw a bike yesterday which had it well mounted.

Mounted partly behind the number plate, so that the bottom left corner of the plate sits at the inside corner of the L

sorry, cant upload any crappy paint .bmp for example :)

Ive just bought a bike (94 KLR250) which needs a little work, so figured if I get my licence now, by the time Ive got it running and had a bit of off-road practice, I should have most of my 'L TIME' complete :p

cheers
Adam
(woot-1st post :) )

[sunhuntin]

i think this has been asked before, but does anyone know the legal bits for wearing the "L" if you are on full? i certainly dont feel like a learner in my own town [still on learner license btw] but when i went to wellington i was glad i had the plate since i dont know that place at all, and couldnt work out the remerging bit when the bus lanes got too narrow.

what im asking is whether its ok for me to put the plate back on when riding in unfamiliar territory, with a full license, therefore still a learner on those roads and likely to muck up somewhere.

[Ixion]

Technically, illegal.

Though if stopped, I rather imagine a "Oh , I'm awfully sorry officer, I loaned the bike to my [insert relly] , who is still learning. He must have left his L plate on , I didn't notice it. No harm done, I'll remove it right now" should be enough to avoid a ticket.

The rule forbidding them (unless a learner is driving, about to drive , or you are an instructor) was aimed at stopping people keeping the on permanently because son or daughter of house is learning and it is too much hassle to put them on or off. That was why the previous attempt to force L plates on us, some years ago, was abolished - every other car had them on.

The present scheme is not working either, I see lots of cars with L plates , that obviously are not being driven by a learner. In a car you would presumably be more likely to be stopped , since a cop would notice the absence of the licensed instructor. On a 250 bike, there is nothing to indicate that the rider is *not* actually a learner. So it would only be if you were stopped for something else.

I keep meaning to do a little experiment, stick one on Ratty for a week and see if I am treated differently. I even have one, Postie left it when he borrowed Ratty for his restricted. Must get round to it.

[sunhuntin]

thanks for that ixion...i may just put it on when i am going to be riding in unfamiliar roads....as i said, wellington scared me witless when merging.

cheers