[eddie]

I use a cover on my bike daily and quickly discovered that I have to be careful removing it or risk bending the license plate.
Tonight, I found some 1" wide steel bar stock and cut and drilled out a few strips just long enough to go vertically from each of the two corner holes in the tag. (see photo).
It was bare steel, so I painted them black for corrosion protection and so they wouldn't stand out. Installed, they aren't noticeable at all and the license plate should no longer get bent by the cover.

 

[OpenRoad]

You'd think the gov't would make those plates out of sturdier material instead of what could pass as metal tissues. I didn't know how fragile they were until I accidentally bent my brother's license plate. There are plate covers out there but they're generally bulky, at least your fix is hidden.

 

[Cruze]

Nice and low key which is great. These license plates these days are pretty trashy. But I feel if they were sturdier, they would be a deal more expensive.

 

[eddie]

I guess I should mention that I removed the metal tag bracket when I got the bike and bolted the license plate directly to the fender.
Have a look and you'll see there's a mount built into the plastic fender. The metal bracket is really just a convenient way for Yamaha to
hang the required reflectors. All I had to do upon removing the bracket was line up and drill two holes to run the tag bolts through.
Nylon nuts and washers on the inside hold things nice and secure and the whole area's cleaned up a bit for free without looking hacked-on.

 

[TheScrambled]

Did you just leave the reflectors off after that or were they moved somewhere else on the bike?

 

[eddie]

Did you just leave the reflectors off after that or were they moved somewhere else on the bike?

I took them off completely. The numbers (42) on the side panels are reflective, though. Not red, but bright enough. I left the front ones on because the left side is part of the brake line guide.

 

[eddie]

Rim stripes are the way to go if one really wants side visibility.
Here are a few I've done.

 

[Cruze]

I love how well they attract attention when they shine. They're so darn bright ! *early morning, lack of better words, need coffee lol.

 

[YamiGuy]

Rim stripes are the way to go if one really wants side visibility.
Here are a few I've done.

Smart.

I wouldn't mind getting it in a color that doesn't stand out too much, a white that isn't too bright is the way I would go.

 

[eddie]

Smart.

I wouldn't mind getting it in a color that doesn't stand out too much, a white that isn't too bright is the way I would go.

White or silver against the silver rims would be discrete during the daytime. The photo flash does tend to exaggerate the brilliance.
I thought about a 1/6" red stripe on my red/white SCR.
If it's subdued white you're after, they sell a black tape that reflects a white-ish color. Here's my FZ-09 rims with that color against the blue/purple rims.

 

[Cruze]

That actually doesn't look too bad at all. Daytime it looks pretty low-key which is what you want. That flash often makes me think that people put LED rings around the rim or something :|

 

[eddie]

I had a friend get me to order stripes for his customer's Yamaha.
Then the customer became unreachable and I got stuck with 70 feet of red and white striping. =(
To cut the loss, I did my Tacoma's wheels with the red.
The "spokes" of the mags made using the striping tool a bear. Got it done, though!
While I was at it, I decided to cover the welded flange along the bottom of the cab to make it less unsightly.
I'd thought about just painting it black. Then I remembered the black reflective tape! (insert maniacal laughter here)

 

[Cruze]

That looks pretty cool ! Nice thinking on the fly, sucks that the customer disappeared but hey, at least you put it to use

 

[OpenRoad]

Their loss, your gain but 70 feet of striping is a lot. Maybe outline the scr950 enough to make it look like something from Tron. :grin2:

 

[Rokrover]

I guess I should mention that I removed the metal tag bracket when I got the bike and bolted the license plate directly to the fender.

A good suggestion I implemented today. That tacked on metal factory mounting bracket looks like it was an afterthought. You can still keep the side reflectors as pictured - a Dremel tool works well to drill the plastic accurately. The plate now seems more secure, too. I once had the plate fall off my Suzuki 650cc thumper from vibration fatigue!

 

[eddie]

Their loss, your gain but 70 feet of striping is a lot. Maybe outline the scr950 enough to make it look like something from Tron. :grin2:

The rolls I buy are 35 feet each. That's enough to do two rims on both sides with some extra for screw-ups and later if/when the striping gets damaged during tire changes and such. The plan for "Houdini's" bike was to lay down a 1/4" white stripe with a 1/8" red one in the middle. The tool I found online is a bit pricey for what amounted to some plastic pieces, but, it does allow accurate placement.
Here's a better view of a similar job I did for my Yamaha dealer on his personal Super Tenere. =)

 

[OpenRoad]

I once had the plate fall off my Suzuki 650cc thumper from vibration fatigue!

Those must be some weak screws or you liked to take your Suzuki 650cc thumper off road riding a lot. If that happened to me, I'd be paranoid of my plate falling off and periodically check the bolts to make sure they're tight.

The rolls I buy are 35 feet each. That's enough to do two rims on both sides with some extra for screw-ups and later if/when the striping gets damaged during tire changes and such. The plan for "Houdini's" bike was to lay down a 1/4" white stripe with a 1/8" red one in the middle. The tool I found online is a bit pricey for what amounted to some plastic pieces, but, it does allow accurate placement.
Here's a better view of a similar job I did for my Yamaha dealer on his personal Super Tenere. =)

Nice! Now you just need to convince someone to let you do this to their bikes! Don't think it'll look that great on a scrambler design like the scr950.