Just wondering if any other V4 owners have experienced their number plate deforming? It happened on my recent European trip. After a 350+ mile day on the Autobahn in ambient temperatures around the low to mid 30's, I noticed the plate was bent inwards towards the exhaust on the exhaust side of the plate as I was chaining up the bike at our hotel that evening. Not sure if I'm just unlucky in having a dodgy spec material number plate, or if it's due to poor design of the heatshield on the underside of the pannier concentrating the heat of the exhaust directly onto the edge of the plate over a long day in warm conditions.
If you’re going to change it and want to keep a level of legality, search fourdot plates. I went for the square plate that uses standard size letters (mine is a 6 digit plate), far too expensive, but great quality and might solve your problem.
My plate is 7 digit so I'm not sure if that would be an option. I'll look into it though, cheers for the suggestion. I'm going to fit the Evotech tail tidy when they are back in stock, so maybe that'll help.
I’ve tried to compare the standard can and Akrapovic slip on and it looks like the standard can end cap is shaped to slope down but the Akrapovic end cap is horizontal. I wonder if that difference, small though it is, is the issue. I agree with Pete, fit a metal one. Andy
In Spain with temperatures often above 40 degrees, we have already seen it on more than one occasion, indeed the exhaust stream hits directly on the methacrylate plate and it melts. The solution is to get a license plate holder (here it is very common for them to put it in the distributor with their advertising on the edge) that completely covers the license plate, and this makes it much more rare that this will cause you. In reference to the complete Akra system, if you come to Spain, let them know that the traffic police are already looking quite intensely and with bad intentions, at the issue of exhausts NOT approved for driving on the road, (as is the case of the system complete racing with catalytic suppression) and if they detect it in a control, they will seal the motorcycle, you will not be able to use it, having to hire a transport to be able to take it, and in addition, they will have to pay the fine to be able to leave the border with it, the fine being quite large, (for EU residents, around 500 euros, plus passing the technical inspection again to recover the homologation and therefore the documentation) All the best
while you're at it, can you see if it has "got" the rear of the indicator body yet? - there is another thread running with signs of indicator droop due to similar exposure. This happened on several of my Elefants. (jokes to follow)
Don’t focus on the negative, hang a string of sausages over it, 10mins each side at 100mph should do it
I used to have an apartment in Menorca (didn't have a bike over there though) and whilst I can't say I noticed too many loud bikes, the attitude to number plates seemed very 'relaxed' with many, mainly off-road style bikes having a small plate under the seat in front of the rear shock - essentially like a mudguard so that it was all but invisible and definitely so when dirty. Don't know what, if anything, the Police did about it but you certainly wouldn't get away with it here yet loud pipes rarely an issue, guess the Policing priorities are different...
