Bike Rack License Plate Holders: What's Legal and What You Need to Know

john78372
Aug 27
5 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

You bolt the rack on, load two bikes, and back out of the driveway. Somewhere in there your license plate stopped being visible, and you probably didn't notice until someone mentioned it.

This is the second most common thing people email me about, right behind blocked brake lights. Here's the short version of how to fix it.

The legal part, briefly

I'm not a lawyer and I won't pretend to know your state's statute. Every one I've read wants the same basic thing: the plate legible and unobstructed. If your rack or your bikes sit in front of it, that's a problem an officer can see from behind you in traffic.

I wrote up Minnesota's statutes as a starting point. Read your own, and the states you drive through. And if you do get a lighting-related ticket while running our lights, that's what our Crash and Traffic Ticket Protection plan is for.

There are two holders, and picking the wrong one is the usual mistake

We make two license plate holders. They are not interchangeable, and which one you need depends entirely on whether you have one of our lights.

If you have, or are buying, a Kody light — you want the add-on holder that bolts to the light.

If you don't — you want the standalone pivoting holder that bolts to the rack.

The pivoting holder does not work with our main light sets. If you order it expecting it to pair with a light kit you already own, it won't fit. I'd rather say that plainly here than have you find out when the box arrives.

The holder that bolts to your light

If you're ordering a light, this is the easy path. Plate options sit right on the order form next to cable length and connector, and picking one means the holder arrives already installed.

Kody add-on license plate holder bolted to a bike rack light, with the plate light mounted above the plate

The add-on holder, bolted to the light, with the plate light above the plate.

No Plate Accessory — just the light.

Plate Holder, No Light — $35. The bracket and plate mount hardware, no electrical.

Plate Holder With Light — $85. The bracket, the plate light, and the wiring for it.

Plate Light Ready — $15. No holder and no light: just the plate light wiring run into the main harness so you can add one later. More on why that matters in a moment. This one currently shows up on the Small lights.

Already own a light and skipped the holder? The License Plate Holder add-on starts at $35, with or without the light. Order the size that matches your light — there are separate versions for the Small, Medium and Large. It comes with both Phillips screws and thumb screws, which matters more than it sounds: thumb screws mean you can pull the plate off without hunting for a screwdriver.

It fits most decorative plate frames, but not all. If yours is thick or oversized, ask me first.

One exception worth knowing: if you're running the Large double 16-inch, talk to me before adding a plate holder. It's not a combination I always recommend.

The standalone pivoting holder

If you don't have a Kody light, the Pivoting Kody License Plate Holder mounts straight to the rack. It starts at $95.

Standalone pivoting Kody license plate holder with its rack mount, showing the friction hinge

The standalone pivoting holder. That hinge is why the plate stays readable loaded or stored.

The pivot is the point. A plate bolted rigidly to a rack is readable in one position and useless in the other. This one hinges, so you push it into view with the bikes loaded and push it back when the rack is folded and stored.

We make rack-specific mounts for it — 1Up, Cravot, Hollywood, Kuat, QuikrStuff, RockyMounts, Saris, Swagman, Thule, Yakima — plus a u-bolt universal mount for everything else. Powder-coated steel or aluminum, stainless hardware so it doesn't corrode or rattle loose.

The plate light, and when to buy it

If the holder has moved your plate away from your vehicle's own plate lights, you want one. Otherwise you've got a plate that's legible in daylight and invisible at night, which is half a solution.

The plate light is two white LEDs on a short cable with a 2-pin SAE connector, mounted on a second bracket above the plate. It runs off your vehicle's tail light circuit, so it comes on with your running lights. Bought together with a holder, that's the $85 Plate Holder With Light option — on a new light, or on the holder add-on if you already own the light.

Kody plate light and the plate ready 2-pin SAE wiring harness it plugs into

Plate ready — the 2-pin connection run into the main harness, and the light it plugs into.

There's one thing worth knowing here, and it's about when you buy the light rather than the light itself.

The plate light plugs into a 2-pin SAE connection coming off the main cable. Order a 7-blade connector and that connection is standard — it's there whether you use it or not. Order a 4-pin and it has to be added.

So buying the plate light at the same time as your light is simple either way. We build it in and it shows up ready. It's the upgrade later that's harder. Decide a year from now that you want a plate light, and the connection may not be on your harness.

That's what the Plate Light Ready option is for. Twenty dollars, no holder and no light — just the connection, sitting there waiting for you. Against a harness you can't easily add to later, it's the cheapest decision on the order form.

Right now that option shows up on the Small lights. If you're ordering a Medium or a Large and you think a plate light might be in your future, get in touch before you order and I'll make sure the connection is on your harness. It's a small thing to sort out now and a nuisance to add later.

And if you already have a holder and want to add just the light to it, that isn't a standard option on the site yet. Email me and I'll take care of it.

The pivoting holder works differently: its plate light comes with a 2-pin SAE extension that plugs straight into the 4-pin connection on your vehicle.

If you're not sure which trailer connector your vehicle has, the Trailer Wiring and Connector Guide covers it.

What I'd do

Buying a light anyway? Add the $85 Plate Holder With Light to the order. It arrives assembled, it's the cheapest route to a lit plate, and it's one shipment.

Already have a light? The holder add-on in the size that matches it — and take the version with the light if you drive at night. Which you do.

No Kody light? The $95 pivoting holder — and while you're at it, check whether your bikes are covering your brake lights too, because they probably are. The buyer's guide to light sizes covers that decision.

If none of this matches your setup, get in touch. Tell me the rack, the vehicle and what you're carrying. I answer these myself.