If you have a CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE you MUST READ THIS!

Even if you ride a box-stock motorcycle, you cannot possibly deny the fact that you enjoy gazing at those custom jobs. Whether it’s a billet laden radical chopper, a bobber or a vintage old school knucklehead chop, each custom motorcycle is an expression of the owners love of the lifestyle and the machine. Lately, sport bikes have undergone tremendous modifications and in the custom world, there is no limitation to what a fertile mind can produce. Extended front ends, stretched swing arms and flashing LED systems aside, one of the more popular accessories out there is the vertical license plate mount. Who knew that after spending several hundred dollars on this popular modification, it would be the one item that keeps on costing?

I saw it with my own eyes. A biker was issued a ticket carrying a heavy monetary penalty for displaying his license plate vertically instead of horizontally (to the ground). I have also overheard a series of similar stories where bikers riding custom motorcycles with this mod have experienced the very same thing. Here, insult is added to injury because persons who desire to customize their motorcycles spend heavily on accessories such as the vertical license plate mount. Sadly, some of you have paid twice.

I’m not a Cop or a Lawyer, but I never remembered having a problem reading a license plate that was not mounted horizontally. I’m not suggesting that I am better than anyone, but I have actually been capable of deciphering the plates when they were mounted upside down and covered with mud. I further am not suggesting that I try to read every license plate, but I do enjoy seeing those ‘vanity’ plates (you know like; HWG WYLD or VIBR8TR or EZ LAY etc.) which by the way cost the owner a little extra, just like their custom parts.

This law was not only ubiquitous to every law enforcement officer (looking to use an equipment violation for probable cause to stop or detain) but it was also deleterious to individuals that enjoy the sleek look a vertical plate mount provides. Customization of a motorcycle is akin to freedom of expression, and in my humble opinion persons desiring to modify their machine shouldn’t be singled out, fined or otherwise beleaguered for their artistic creations. Laws such as this one do nothing to enhance personal safety or protection of the general public and are a prime example of bureaucratic profligacy. Haven’t we seen enough?

Someone somewhere, must have agreed with me and thought that this particular law was just plain stupid, and lobbied the DHSMV and the Senate to get the statute reviewed. For once, I bring you good news! The law has been changed. …

Here then are the facts, as available on the Florida Legislature’s website at www.leg.state.fl.us:

The law was changed by a Committee Amendment sometime back in April of this year. It became effective on July 01, 2009. The Florida Statute appearing at TITLE XXIII Chapter 316 “STATE UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL” More specifically Chapter 316.2085 “Riding on Motorcycles or Mopeds” was modified. I am showing the original and the modified version here:

The original Statute (at 316.2085 (3)) read:

(3) The license tag of a motorcycle or moped must be permanently affixed horizontally to the vehicle ground and may not be adjusted or capable of being flipped up. No device for or method of concealing or obscuring the legibility of the license tag of a motorcycle shall be installed or used.

Upon review by the Florida Senate the words ‘horizontally’ and ‘ground’ were removed from the vernacular by being struck through, at line 71 on page 4 of 20 in (the) Florida Senate – 2009 Bill No. CS for SB 1100.

The amended statute now reads:

(3) The license tag of a motorcycle or moped must be permanently affixed to the vehicle and may not be adjusted or capable of being flipped up. No device for or method of concealing or obscuring the legibility of the license tag of a motorcycle shall be installed or used.

I wonder if all Florida Law Enforcement Officers are aware of this change. It seems unimaginable that something so significant to bikers would be a topic at the shift meeting, or even casual conversation at the doughnut shop. I guess we will see how it goes, as now we once again have regained just a little bit more of our freedom to express ourselves in chrome and steel.

But just in case, always remember that the informed biker is a vigilant one whom armed with the correct information has the ability to enlighten Officers that are not aware of such changes. State and local Law Enforcement Officers are required to carry Florida Statute books, or have the capability to peruse the Statutes whether in paper format or on the handy computer mounted in their vehicle. If for some reason you are stopped for a vertical plate, remind Officer Friendly that Craven said that the law has been changed. After they let you out of the cuffs for mentioning my name, ask them to look up FS 316.2085(3) to verify that it is now legal for you to fly your plate in a perpendicular fashion.

Until next month – SPEED SAFELY!