Not sure about NSW, here in SA the plate must be a reflective plate supplied by the Reg of MV, must also be illuminated by a number plate light at night, I suspect NSW would be similar.
What I find annoying with these racks more so than the #plate is the fact that the tail lights, brake & indicator lights are obscured & some times to the point that they are impossibile to see when there are mountain bikes with the fat tyres.
This creates a real danger for the following traffic when you cant see what the vehicle is doing as in braking &/or turning. I fail to beleive these things are legal when cops will book you for a light not working, a broken lens etc. Where's the difference between a light not working & a total abscure light. If you rear end some one because of this then you are done for neg, the fact that you could not see his movements is not an isue.
I have even had this discussion with several cops & highway patrols back when I was working as we often had then in at work, the very first H/W patrol that I asked said that he hadn't noticed, others just shrug their sholders. Thats untill rear end one of these people then you are in the sh%t.
Only last week I saw a van exiting a servo driveway with three bikes on a rack with another kids bike handing upside down on the same rack, this draged on the road all the way through the driveway, then continued to swing around every where as it travelled down the Hwy.
I would love to see them banned completly, maybe bikes on a couple of roof bars like some of the more sport minded riders do would be a better alternative
JC.
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Be your self; there's no body better qualified ! "I came into this world with nothing , I still have most of it"
JC, I could't sleep all night after reading your post, so I have modified the bike rack. Still got to get the number plate.
I took the front wheel off the bike and I think it is a bit better. As for the number plate, they are a pain in the chest , some years ago I walked right in to one of them. ( I was walking along the back of all the cars in a car park)
The sun was in my eyes and I turned my head to the side and bang I went down on to my knees . the rack was sticking to far out from the car.
My chest was black and blue for 2 weeks, I rung the cops that day and told them what happened ,this clown asked me if I had damaged the car and if I did I would have to pay for it. I told him that it was a sick joke and I hung up on him.
We had to buy 2 plates for our bike rack,one for the back of the Suzuki when we have the bikes on the back and one for the motorhome when we don't take the Suzy.Cost $66 each in Qld. Also as JC pointed out we had to buy a Trailer Board from Supercheap and put in on the Bike rack as well because it blocks our indicator lights out on both vehicles. Once you buy a bike the cost seems to go up and up.cheaper to walk :)
here from the horses mouth :NSW Bike Rack Number Plate must be bought from the RTA. Trailer Board ,I think I get away with it if I take the front wheel off.