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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | Hey everyone, I know not everyone has to do stupid inspection stickers on motorcycles in their state, but I need some help. Here in Virginia, we have to have them displayed on our bikes. My problem is that I don't know where to put it that won't interfere with the overall asthetics, OR be a royal pain the butt to peel off every year. My last bike I made the mistake of putting it on the front fork and it was hard as crap to get off. I can get an inspection plate that I can bolt somewhere on the bike, but I don't really see anywhere good to bolt it on. The requirements in VA are the the inspection sticker be on the left side (from driver point of view) and that it be more forward, in other words not on the license plate area. If anyone has any good ideas I'd love to hear them, or even better if someone has already done this, I'd love to know where you put it. I'd like to try to avoid the front forks, or anywhere on the windshield or fairing if possible. The only two ideas I currently have are the plastic piece between the lower unit and the oil cooler, or possibly on the rear tip-over protection/foot peg. I gotta get it inspected in the next week or so, so if you guys (or girls) have any good ideas I'd appreciate it.
Marc | |
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | How about the little clear plastic bat wing hanging under the left mirror? Even if it gets messed up, it can be replaced faily easy. | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | marc, just my two cents. They (the dealer) placed it on the upper portion of the left fork. Not the best place, and don't know if will get me in trouble. If you look down the left side from the top you can see it fairly well. However, I'm going to get a plate and mount it to the left side bolts on the fender toward the rear at the next inspecation. Also, I need a DoD sticker to get on the military base, and it too must be visible displayed on the left front side. Placing it on the rear tip over would not be acceptable, but you may get away with it.
Edited by varyder 2008-04-09 10:07 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | You know, the bat wing isn't a bad idea. It's smoked, so if I put the sticker there, it'll be visible, but not too distracting. Thanks for the idea, sometimes it just takes a different set of eyes to see something obvious. Thanks cjnoho. Varyder, I wanted to do the plate as well, where on the rear fender were you thinking of. With the saddlebags I'm not sure there's anywhere to bolt it. At least that wouldn't be really bad looking. My buddy had an idea as well. When looking at the motor from the left side, there is a bolt on the upper right behind the motor. If you put the plate facing down, then that might work. Like I said, I've never really liked the forks because it was such a pain to take off. The bat wing idea might be good because it's plastic and I won't worrk about scratching it up as much. Plus, I could use some goo be gone and not worry about damaging the paint. Thanks for the ideas guys, if anyone else has any, I'm still accpeting ideas!
Marc | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I'm talking about the rear portion of the front fender. You'd have to come out some with longer bolts and spacers, and the plate going to the rear. Sorry for the confusion. These bloomin' state goverment don't ride so they don't care. Speaking of which, isn't the current US DOT a woman who rides? Maybe she can get something changed where we cyclist don't need no stinkin' inspection sticker mounted.
Edited by varyder 2008-04-09 11:07 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 88
Billings, MT | try putting the sticker on a small piece of aluminum angle, then mount it behind the plate so that is readable from the left side of the bike and is pointed towards the front of the bike | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 80
Richmond, Texas | My dealer told me that they were in the process of getting a license plate and inspection sticker holder for the Visions. In Texas they have to be displayed to the rear of the vehicle. Its basicly a stupid tax of $12.50 every year, but its good PC for cops to hassle you if they cannot see the sticker. I hope the get it done soon. | |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 10
Prince George County Va | Divesharc,
Same problem as you here. After the same dealer placed the VA inspection sticker on varyder's Bently, they thought they had better place the sticker in a more visible location, behind the fork, left side, on the black portion of the fender. I too need to place for the DOD stickers to get on post for work which must be permanently mounted, no plate, but I was going to try it anyway. The Vic dealer was told by a state trooper that they cannot sell mounting plates for inspection stickers or they would close them up? However the Hundred Dollar store here does sell a "Military ID Sticker Plate" about 3x5 so I bought one. (Parking mine at the HD shop is a story in it's self) To mount the plate on the left side, up front, visible from both sides but still hidden, that don't make sense, I found futile. Everywhere I tried to mount the plate in the area behind the fork it would have hit the side when turning, the fender would have rebounded into it, blocked the air for the oil cooler, on and on. So mandatory stickers are now side by side on the fender and I have a new shiny plate fore something else, Vision Pilot Sticker Hmmmm - now where to put it, thanks again Songfan. I make sure the wheel is turned left when parked and you don't even notice them, much…. Heck everyone else is looking at other parts of the bike.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| divesharc - 2008-04-09 7:36 PM
Hey everyone, I know not everyone has to do stupid inspection stickers on motorcycles in their state, but I need some help. Here in Virginia, we have to have them displayed on our bikes. My problem is that I don't know where to put it that won't interfere with the overall asthetics, OR be a royal pain the butt to peel off every year. My last bike I made the mistake of putting it on the front fork and it was hard as crap to get off. I can get an inspection plate that I can bolt somewhere on the bike, but I don't really see anywhere good to bolt it on. The requirements in VA are the the inspection sticker be on the left side (from driver point of view) and that it be more forward, in other words not on the license plate area. If anyone has any good ideas I'd love to hear them, or even better if someone has already done this, I'd love to know where you put it. I'd like to try to avoid the front forks, or anywhere on the windshield or fairing if possible. The only two ideas I currently have are the plastic piece between the lower unit and the oil cooler, or possibly on the rear tip-over protection/foot peg. I gotta get it inspected in the next week or so, so if you guys (or girls) have any good ideas I'd appreciate it.
Marc
Here's an idea if you ride 2-up a lot. Put the sticker on the bottom of the left side passenger floorboard and keep the floorboard in the up position, when you want to have cleaner look just put the floorboard down, that is what a buddy of mine does on his GL1500 Goldwing with the inspection sticker and the base sticker he needs to get into Norfolk Naval Base (he paints planes for both the navy and the air force). | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | I had also thought of underneath the floorboard. The only problem was that it's not a smooth surface underneath it. THey put these rubber mounts there, and after awhile I'll need to peel the stickers off. THey are a pain in the butt to get off because they don't stay together, they tear in little shreds if you don't use a razor blade just getting them off glass. I think I'm going to try on the backside of the wind deflector for now and see how bad it is. I looked at it and I can get that off pretty easy if I want to take the defelctor off. It'll be seen, so no issues when I get pulled over, but because it's at an angle to the rest of the bike, when you look at it, it'll be at almost a 90 degree angle to the view. BTW....am I a total idiot for spending this much time pondering the placement of a stupid sticker? It's just seems garish when opposed to the beauty of the bike itself, a real eyesore. | |
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | The rear of the front fender sounds like a good idea, but its a rough surface, may have trouble removing the sticker. If you see black & white, just pull your batwings in before you stop. Its something that needs pondered(?) now to avoid a hassle later. | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | vavision - 2008-04-11 7:22 PM So mandatory stickers are now side by side on the fender... Randy, I'll be taking my MSF course on Thu or Fri next week on post so I should be getting my stickers soon. Where did you mount them, on the left side black portion of the fender? I'm doing the CG farewell ride, are you going? | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | divesharc - 2008-04-09 8:36 PM Here in Virginia, ... Marc Okay Marc, where in the Commonwealth are you? You can't hide as your bike looks way too cool while riding and you'll get noticed, so fess up... What are you riding? Tour, street, premium, comfort.... pictures? | |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | One other place to consider is at the front tip-over. There's a bolt hole on the bottom of each front tip-over (for a tie-down) and you may be able to engineer a nice looking plate with a tab on it that would bolt into that hole. You could radius the plate to match the curve of the tip-over.
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Cruiser
Posts: 196
| We put mine on a plate mounted on a fender bolt in front of the fork. Kinda stands out, but it hasn't caused any problems and it is visable without having to be stopped! | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 235
Evergreen, CO | Since I live in a state without the "stickers", I'm not sure how large the stickers are, but if it is of sufficient size, what about those triagular fold out clear plastic wind deflectors just below the fairing? It should meet a "visibility" location, and hopefully would not be all that difficult to remove a sticker from either.... Just my 2c worth..
Ted
space_cwboy | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 294
rhode island | I live in a sticker state, 32 year's riding, 7 motorcycles, inspection stickers 0 
WE don't need no stinkin stickers
Edited by sandman 2008-04-12 8:22 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | Varyder, I'm in the Fredericksburg area. I have a black Tour Premium. No pics to show, only had it for a week and a half. I haven't seen any other Visions yet, but the dealer that was here shut down unexpectedly. Not only did it make it harder to get one, as I had to go into Maryland to get mine, but I think it scared people about the brand, which is too bad. The funny thing is that the dealer didn't close because of anything other than they sold the parent company, which mainly dealt Volvo and Mercedes, and the new owners just pulled the plug. I think they were losing money, but I heard it was because they got delayed so long in getting much needed business permits and DMV approval. Oh well.
As for the sticker, I'm going to put it on the backside of the wind deflector. It'll face towards the rear, so head on you'll jsut see the back of the sticker. I never really worried too much about asthetics, but it just seems a shame to have a big old ugly sticker right in plain view. I will say, I don't think Victory really thought about this, which surprises me somewhat. Granted, my last bike didn't come with an inspection plate either, but it was so easy to add one that they didn't need to. Each state is different of course, and it's hard to account for all this, but the auto manufacturers do it all the time. IN FLorida, there's no limit to the tint, at least there wasn't when I lvied there, but VA has limits on percentages of light reduction. THey found the least tint limits, and then put that on the rear windows of my Tacoma. Just thought they might do something similar. Oh well, these are the things that make owning a bike an interesting experience I guess, especially a brand new bike. I'm really curious though to see what changes they'll make in the next two years to address some of the issues or concerns that they're having. I'll be disappointed if they don't. But it'll also probably make me mad since I'd like to have those things on my bike. I really think Victory would do well to offer current owners a signifigant discount for items that can be added to it due to design deficciencies. I saw the post about the lower wind deflectors to help with engine heat. $200+ is a lot of money IMO, and if you wanted to help/correct the heat issue, it'd be nice to get them at cost (maybe that is cost, I dunno, but I doubt it seriously) to make last year's owners a little more happy with their major purchase. Just my two cents.
Marc
ps-where are you varyder? | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | divesharc I'm south of Richmond. If you're not satisfied with the dealer in Md. you can check out Catlin's in Colonial Heights. They're just around the corner from I95. There's a Victory rider in NOVA who comes down to get his serviced. I heard about the dealer shut-down, which is a shame to itself, it seems Victory would have help find another place for them, but I really think that we are dealing with distributors and not dealers. They're called dealers, but Victory doesn't seem to give them the backing like an auto manufactuter would or the Hundred Dollar store. There are 3 Midnight Cherry Tours in this area, one being mine and I've met one other. I haven't seen the third but I know it's here. Catlin's has sold 5 or 6 Vision's so far and another I think is in the works. I agree about the lower wind deflectors and I've heard they are good, but the price is steep at $229.00, but I'm cheap anyway. I've only got functional accessories such as the luggage rack and taller windshield, no additional chrome except what came with the premium package, minus the front forks. I should be rolling up your way for Rolling Thunder the end of May, are you going? | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | I'm really happy with the dealer ship, they even called me the next day after I bought the bike to make sure everything was good with the bike and see if I had a good ride. Believe it or not, they are closer than going to Colonial Heights. I go out to the 301 bridge and it onyl takes about an hour from my place. It takes 1-1/2 to get to the Colonial Heights area. Plus, every time I met them before I bought a bike before them, they were always very friendly and helpful.
I only went for functional accessories as well. I promised the wife I wasn't going to go crazy and do exhaust upgrades and such. I ordered the CB/ICOM and a tall windshield. The intercom was so she could tell me when she needed a break. How is the taller windshield. Getting it installed on Tuesday. I'm hoping it helps a little. I rode for 4 years without a windshield at all, and since I started riding this bike, I noticed that at highway speeds the buffetting is worse than no windshield at all. Hoping it cuts down on my head getting bounced backa dn forth, and gives the wife a little more air pocket. I'm 6'3", so I think I need it. Does it seem to help?
I think Victory of Southern Maryland is doing well with the Vision. They said they sold their first 12 pretty quick, and had to get their rep to get them some more, and I think mine was number 4 from that lot. I can say that I get a lot of people talking to me when I stop for gas or to get a drink. I get the "that's different" from the HD guys, but overall everyone wants to just look at it. I took it to DC to the National's game and it was parked right at entrance to the garage, and lots of people were stopping at looking at it. Pretty cool feeling. I'm sure in another year or two they'll be all over the place and it'll calm down, but I feel like a proud papa right now.
Don't think I'm doing the big ride up to Rolling Thunder. I'll probably go up later, but I've never been a big fan of riding in large groups, and that's about as big as it gets. Hopefully I'll see you out on the road when I cruise down that way.
Marc | |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Cool beans, it's good to hear you've got a good dealer. The taller windshield works very well with the pillion. She wouldn't ride otherwise and finds the pocket very sufficient. It's funny to hear her say when she gets on "can you roll up the window?" I usually ride with it down and even comptemplate putting the stock one except when she rides. You being 6'3" it should be a help for you too. | |
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Cruiser
Posts: 297
VA | Hey varyder, I just thought I would let you know that I got the taller windshield today and it makes a huge difference. When we discussed dealers I told you that mine was pretty good. I can back that up. I got my first service, and they did it for me while I waited. That's one, but one of the owners actually lent me his personal bike so that I wasn't stuck at the shop while they did it. Granted, it's a little older V92, but I thought that was pretty darn cool of them on both accounts. Just thought I'd let you know. | |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 30
| For my military base decales I used a 3x5 piece of plexiglass and made a right angle bracket tht uses the front fender to fork leg bolts to mount...I placed the plastic "knife-edge" into the wind so that from the front all you see is the thin 1/8 inch side fo the plastic...from the side you can view the decals in all their glory...I made a thin felt gasket to place betoween the bracket ant the fender to keep the paint intact...also aligned the plexiglass plate with the forks to keep the line going in the same direction...it is fairly unoticeable and have no problem with MP's
08 Vision - Black
Northern AL
retired AF - 28 yr 4mo 16 days | |
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Inspection Sticker placement help?