I know there was a thread on this but now can't seem to find it now.

Anyway, some folks have been removing the ugly black rear fender extension / license plate holder and replacing the tail light with the Acerbis tail light and license plate holder combo. I've been keen to do that as well, but with funds running short and wanting to save up for a Muzzy (or equivalent), I was looking for some other way. Turns out you can just unbolt that hanging eyesore and salvage the license plate holder off it, and then remount just the license plate holder just under the tail light by simply drilling two holes in the rear fender. No need to remove, reposition, or replace the actual tail light. Here are a couple of photos of different angles. I did cut the wiring to the license plate light - didn't look like there was a plug. Just cap off the wires so they can't short out on anything and zip-tie to the frame. Afterwards, I noticed a little rattle at resonance RPM - turns out the license plate was vibrating. Slip a rubber washer in between the license plate and the holder and that went away.

Anyway, this is a zero-cost mod for those looking to clean up the back end.




Edit: fix image link

 

looks good, even more like a dirt bike. can see how much suspension travel it really has!

 

The only problem I see, and it depend on the local law enforcement, but I think the license has to have a clear light. I might be wrong. But nice job on another free mod. Free is always good. I actually have been getting a lot of compliments from guys all over town on my, I mean Gravy's mod LOL, I gotta give props to the artist. haha



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Yep - I need to check local laws. Sdunne says we don't even need blinkers here in NC, that's what our arms are for . So I'm hoping we don't need a license plate light either. By my figuring, the light was pretty useless since it is usually the first thing to get covered with mud. If we do need one, I'll just mount a few white LEDs back there using the wiring from the original light that is zip tied underneath the fender to the frame. Either way, I'm happy with it.

 

H'mmm, mount LED's or drill a hole in the bottom of the tail light?

White light is white light. A hole will provide it without the expense of LED's. Although LED's are cool looking, it's something else to mount. I couple of holes, followed up with a file should make a nice white light for the license plate!

And it also doubles as a place to drain the water out of the tail light.

 

That's interesting!

A good friend of mine was just up in Georgia riding his plated Suzuki DRZ-400-E. He was pulled over for something and the LEO gave him a hard time about no directionals on his bike. My friend responded with, "We don't need them in Florida!" to which the LEO responded, "Does this look like Florida? You ain't in Florida right now and here you need directionals!" Not one to give up, my friend when asked for his insurance card responded, "In Florida we don't need insurance." The LEO responded with a nice little citation for no insurance card and missing safety equipment. Some folks never learn to shut up.

 

Thats not to bad but still hangs past the fender, thats not what I wanted but its still effective. About the wire plug, yep there was one cause I unpluged it and re wired mine. It is located under the seat, with small bullet plugs. But cutting and caping the wire works too.

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Speaking of Insurance, I got liability on mine, even though it's not required here in Washington State. I was told that if you choose not to have insurance you had better have a lot of money in the bank, like $100,000. So I got liability just to cover a car, building or a pedestrian that might get in the way. I called Geico and for 100,000/300,000/50,000 it was only $80.00 a year, quite a nice price, and a little piece of mind for me. As far as turn signals, if you're bike is registered in a state that doesn't require them, I am really surprised if they can ticket you while traveling through another state that does require them. Oh well.

deej

 

Edit and moved, whoops wrong place, I am so confused sometimes. LOL

 

It's amazing what you can dig up with Google. I found the motorcycle inspection procedure for North Carolina. It is quite enlightening. The bad news is that I need a license plate light. From the regulations:

It also says that the tail light will fail if it is "cracked, discolored or broken and allows entry of water" so that rules out cutting a hole to let out some white light for the plate. However, I think it would be OK to mount some white LEDs in the rear tail light as long as it was still sealed up. I'll have to check on how feasible that is. That would be the cleanest solution, I think - short of getting the Acerbis tail light unit.

The good news is that there is no mention of the gas tank needing to be metal, so I think we will be good with IMS and Acerbis aftermarket tanks here in NC. Also, while it does say that the exhaust pipes will fail inspection if:

It doesn't say anything about not using an aftermarket pipe, nor anything about noise level.

So, while technically I think drilling the first baffle constitutes a violation of (e), installing a Muzzy should still be fine. So, the way I read this is that I need to get a Muzzy before my bike comes up for inspection .

HOWEVER, there is a note in the "General" section stating that:

Does that mean that by installing, say a Muzzy, which doesn't have a catalytic converter would be considered "rendering inoperable" the catalytic converter in the stock muffer? If the inspector was having a bad day, could this be a reason to fail the inspection?