Homemade license plate holder. Inspired by Chip Beck!

[rdtshaw_imp]

Hey Hey! Me again. I was perusing the mods section as I have been prone to doing as of late and I cam across a great write up by Chip Beck on a home grown plate holder to clean up the reflecto-mess on the back of the bike. Chip Beck's original thread: http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=567

I'm into 1/10 scale remote control rock crawlers and working scale replicas of regular trail rigs. (Since I have no time to build real ones anymore ) Man boy issues, I know. My wife knows. heh. Because of that I have a bunch of different size scraps of aluminum and I was planning on rifling through that stockpile when I found some Acetal plastic blocks. I use it to make suspension components, chassis, and the like. Acetal plastic is also known as Delrin from Dupont Chemical. It is great stuff. Super strong, machinable, and resistant to pretty much everything 'cept machining. So I grabbed a 5/16" x 2 1/2" bar of it made one up. I get the stuff from http://www.mcmaster.com BTW, if you like to make things, this site is pure bliss.












I used a typical dewalt 10" miter saw to cut it down to a little shorter than a US motocycle license plate, 6 7/8". Then a trim router to chamfer the edges 45degrees on the back so there are no sharp edges.



Ran it through the drill press with a couple forstner bits to counter sink the spacers that are included in the stock plate holder. They fit into the holes in the rear light assy and align it nicely. I was able to vary the depth to get the placement I wanted so it floats off the fender a bit.



Makes a crazy mess when you drill it. lol. Should see the mess the router made. I spent some quality time with the shop vac...



Dry fit of the spacers before drilling the bolt holes.



I pressed out the stock bolts that were in the factory plate holder with my bench vise. I figured I'd reused the hardware. They were already the perfect length and they were easy to countersink to hide under the plate.



Here is the finished holder with the holes for the plate screws. This is the side that faces the fender.

[Cormanus]

Some people are way more talented at this stuff than I'll ever be, even in my dreams.

Nice one, rdtshaw. The pipe/centre-stand post was good too.

[the Ferret]

HOLY SMOKES... Nice work!

[rustyski_imp]

good work........ looks nice

[ChipBeck_imp]

That's really nice bro. Well done.

Chip

[Rick Froscheiser_imp]

Very well done!

[redbirds_imp]

Very nicely done. You have inspired me to give this a try.

[the_undecider_imp]

I made mine using a hacksaw and a file. I thought I was going overboard when fine sanded and polished mine. This one here is the very definition of overkill. I salute your talent, skill, and patience. It looks like a quality aftermarket item. If this was anodized aluminum and made by Rizoma, it'd cost $100.