The History of License Plates in the US

 Every vehicle owner needs to have a license plate on their car. This is a universal rule-breaking which can attract hefty penalties and charges. In the United States, license plate is also called a vehicle registration plate. The history of license plate dates back to 1901. When the first vehicles got on the road, there were no number plates. So who came with the idea to have a license plate?

The First License Plate
New York was the first state that made it mandatory for vehicles to have a license plate in 1901. But, it wasn’t the state agencies but the vehicle owners who made these plates with their initials. The plates during those times were made of iron or leather.

Massachusetts was the first to make state-issued license plates mandatory in the year 1903. Frederick Tudor was the first to get a number plate with number ‘1’. The license plates in the early years were made of iron and covered with porcelain. They had cobalt blue background and the number was written in white. The word MASS. AUTOMOBILE REGISTER was written along the top of the plate.

By 1918, all the states in the US started issuing their own vehicle registration plates.

License plate Issuance Authority
The Departments of Motor Vehicles is the sole authority for issuing all the license plates in the U.S. If a vehicle is being issued to the federal vehicle fleet or foreign diplomats, only then the federal government agency will issue the number plate.

License Plates Nowadays
Over the years, the government has become more specific about the installation of number plates and what all should it include. There has been a rise in the demand of custom license plate frames because these add a more personalized touch to the exterior of the vehicle and help in creating a statement also.

Number plates are mostly made of steel, billet aluminium and other types of materials. Vehicle owners can choose the background, font, size, and color as per their choice.

Last Words
As far as license plates are concerned, we have come a long way from just having the initials of the vehicle owner to having customized colors, text, and other things on the number plate. For those who want their number plate and vehicle to stand out, there could not be a more creative and economical option than a customized license plate.

5 Factors before buying Custom License Plate Frames for Your Vehicle

 When buying a license plate frame for our vehicle we must not be too hasty. Doing some research before going for plate frames is a ‘must-do’ activity to achieve the best option available. If your old license plate frame is damaged, chipped or simply faded, why not replace them with custom plate frames?But before you buy one, don’t forget to check these factors.

1. Strong Frame Material (Quality)
Due to rough environmental conditions like heat or snow, or even due to regular car wash,ordinary frame plates tend to rust. The quality of the plate frame needs to be resilient enough to withstand corrosion.To tackle this, you can opt for carbon fibre or stainless steel plates, which is both durable and long-lasting.

2. Attractive Design
An attractive looking license plate is something that gives your vehicle the perfect compliment and uplifts its style statement. Using custom license plate frames(same for motorcycle license plate frames) you can make your vehicle stand out in the crowd.

You can opt for various plate frame styles like:

• Wide bottom
• Slimline
• Semi-wide bottom style

Standard plate frames can be selected or custom made. The choices available include personalized artworks of different genres like:
• Animal paws
• Anodized colours
• Text characters
• Different font styles
• Logos, etc.

There are also options for stainless steel finishes like:
• Black pearl
• Polished mirror
• Black powder coating
• Premium frames for carbon fibre

3. Quick Installation
Installation of customised license plate frame is way easier than most people expect it to be. You don’t need to be an expert or a mechanic to install the license plate frames. Simply use the screws and fittings to attach the license plate to your vehicle. And Voilà! Your installation process is over.

Quick Tip - Chrome screw caps make the installation even better.
     
4. Smooth Maintenance
Custom license plate frames for your car or motorcycle license plate frames for your bike is extremely easy to manage. Due to their high-quality frames made of aluminium and unique coating of paint, the colours don’t fade. Even you don’t require washing it regularly.

Quick Tip - Choose a frame plate that has a barrier between the vehicle and the plate, i.e. spacers. The debris will not get collected and the paint will remain protected.

5. Affordable
Custom plate frames are affordable. You can buy them directly online, and a few companies even provide free delivery. The best thing is you pay for what you want to be displayed on your vehicle and not remain content buying from a gallery of standardised plate frames.  

Conclusion
Take a chance, give a try. Customized license plates today are more than just an accessory for vehicles. You can simply call it a business card for your vehicles regardless of whether it is a big or small car or bike. It will not just heighten your cars’ personality but also guarantee a long-term protective plate frame.

Different Types of Cycle Frames

 The bicycle frame is the main component of the bicycle which wheels and the other components are fitted into this. The most common design in today’s time for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle which consists of the two triangles – the main triangle and the paired rear triangle – known as the diamond frame. The frames are required to be the strong, stiff and light which they do so by combining different shapes and even materials.

The frame set consists of the frame and the fork of the bicycle and sometimes includes the headset and the seat post. The frame builders will also often produce the frame and fork together as the paired set.

Variations

The unique diamond frame, there are many different frame types which have been developed for the bicycle, and several of which are still in the common use today.

Diamond

In case of the diamond frame, the triangle which is the main thing is not actually a triangle because it consists of four tubes. These include – head tube, top tube, down tube, and also seat tube. There is a rear triangle which consists of the seat tube joined by paired chain stays as well as seat stays.

The head tube contains the headset, the interface with the fork as well as the top tube which connects the head tube to the seat tube at the top. A top tube may be positioned horizontally (parallel to the ground), or can even slope downwards towards the seat tube. This allows for additional stand-over clearnace. The down tube connects the head tube to the bottom bracket shell.

Step Through

The bicycle frames of women had a top tube which connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top. This results in the lower stand over height and was to allow the rider to the dismount while wearing a skirt or dress. The design has unisex utility bikes to facilitate easy mounting and dismounting which is also known as the step-through frame or the open frame. The style which accomplishes similar results is the mixte.

Cantilever

In this type of bicycle frame, the seat stays continue past the seat post and curve downwards to meet the down tube. The cantilever frames are the popular type on the cruiser bicycle, the low rider bicycle and also the wheelie bike. The many cantilever frames has only one straight tube which are the seat tube and the head tube.

Recumbent

The recumbent bicycle moves the cranks to a position ahead of the rider instead of underneath, and it generally improves the slipstream around the rider without the characteristic sharp bend at the waist used by the racers of the diamond-frame bicycles. The manufacturing of the recumbent bicycles remained depressed for another half century, and many models from a range of manufacturers were available by 2000.

Prone

The uncommon prone bike moves the cranks to the rear of the rider, which also results in the head-forward, chest-down riding position.

Cross or Girder

A cross frame consists of mainly the two tubes which form the cross - the seat tube from the bottom bracket, to the saddle and backbone from the head tube to the rear hub.

Truss

A truss frame uses the additional tubes to form a truss. Examples include Humbers, Pedersens, and the one pictured.

Monocoque

The monocoque frame also consists of the hollow shell with no internal structure.

7 Wonderful Reasons to Justify Need of Engraving Your Personality on Your Motorcycle

It may sound slight romantic; but, truth is you cannot deny the very fact that your motorcycle is not just another vehicle in your garage. It means a lot to you, because of its association with many naughty yet beautiful memories. Deep in your heart you have preserved a very special place exclusively for this particular vehicle which gives you an amazing feeling of flying. Since, it manifests your unique personality, then why not engrave that uniqueness vividly on your motorcycle?
The reason of engraving on motorcycles could be too many. However, out of those too many reasons seven reasons are so important that it deserves mention here and these ‘seven wonders’ are as follows:

Statutory Requirement: License plate frames are statutory requirement and without that precious piece of metal you can’t ride your vehicle peacefully and safely on the road.

Increased Attractiveness: You have to admit that, beautifully engraved customized license plate frames increased the attractiveness of the motorcycle by many fold.

Manifest’s Personality: That small piece of metal can say many words about ‘you’ by disclosing your associations, alumni, achievement and many more that you might love to flaunt.

Inexpensive: You really don’t have to shell out much to get one of this customized license plate frames for your beloved motorcycle. The price of a customized engraved plate is barely $29.95. Is not it really ‘wallet friendly’?

Too Many Design Options: You can be rest assured by the fact that you will be spoilt by too many choices of custom license plate frames. Not only that you can customize that plate further according to your choice without any additional cost. Again, so much care for your wallet!

Potential Memento: The high quality engraving ensures the lifetime longevity of these plates. That means you can keep this piece of metal as a memento and can cherish all those naughty yet awesome days that you spent with your bike.

Free Doorstep Delivery: The best part is at the end of the day you can have your engraved plate at your doorstep without any extra charge. It really does not matter where you live in USA. You will get it right there.

Don’t you think all these reasons are enough to convince you to buy a engraved plate for your bike? Yes, it is.

A Complete Guide to License Plate Safety for Your New Car

Many of you would have probably spent quite a bit of money to get a custom license plate for your car as well as a motorcycle license plate. Having spent time and money on a custom license plate, it is quite natural to protect it so that it lasts for a long period.

Here comes the role of personalized custom license plate frame and/or motorcycle license plate frames that are designed to protect your license plate generally covering the edges and corners of the plate as they are at the risk of becoming most damage attributing to various reasons like extreme weather (rain, snow, hot temperature) or accidental collisions.

Apart from getting a custom license plate frame to protect your license plate, you should also follow the below tips to protect your vehicle license plates and the registration tabs.

1. Ensure your current year license tab is attached by check your license plate periodically.

2. Make sure you remove the previous year tabs before attaching the current year.

3. Once you attach the current year sticker, slice an X or diagonal lines with a sharp razor blade through the year tab in such a way that the sticker will not come apart in one piece.

4. Utilize anti-theft license plate fasteners if available.

5. If you suspect people loitering near the rear of your vehicles, call the police.

Now that you have made sure of the physical safety of your license plate with motorcycle license plate frames and/or custom license plate frames for your car, it is time to protect your license plate data too. Below are a few tips to follow.

• Follow your local compliance regulations that are designed to ensure users have authorization and a legitimate purpose for accessing the data.

• Some jurisdictions go further requesting that agencies purge license plate data after a set number of days as a guiding principle for data management and security best practices.

• Since regulation compliance varies between states and jurisdictions, it is important to know how the provider complies with the regulations.

In terms of privacy issues around data, the best ALPR systems have the ability to comply with storage regulations, produce audit supports, and put the power of data management in your agency’s hands.

Some Fun Facts About Your License Plates

License plates have strict rules and regulations and are mandatory for all the vehicle owners now. But have you ever wondered what the case was a century earlier? Who proposed the idea of license plates? What did the first license plate look like? To know the answers and many other exciting facts about license plates, please continue reading.

1. Origin
The license plate or “registration plate” was first introduced in France in the year 1893 after the Paris Police Ordinance was passed. It found a late entry in the US when New York started to bear license plates from 1901. It is interesting to know the fact that the New York residents made their plates with leather pads or metal plates with the initials of the owner engraved on it. The car owners were expected to make their own until 1909.

Massachusetts was the first state to bear a state-issued porcelain license plate from 1903. The very first license plate featured number “1” and was issued to Frederick Tudor. It is interesting to know that his family is still holding an active registration tag until now. The porcelain plates were later replaced and experimented with card boards and pressed soybeans.

Delaware State is still issuing porcelain state and is the only state issuing till date.

2. Vanity Plates
Personalized vanity plates were first issued in the state of Pennsylvania in 1931. The first vanity plate only had the driver’s initials. The “vanity plate” was born in the year 1965 when states began allowing drivers to customize their plates with numbers and letters. The Vanity plates have fascinating history with different plates. In 1979, a man in California received 2,500 notices of citations for his “NO PLATE” vanity plate.

Almost all states in the US offer vanity plate options, with Virginia issuing the highest percentage of vanity plates and Texas the lowest.

3. Size of plates
Size of license plates was not constant. The width of the plates expanded as more characters were added.

4. License frames
License frames were introduced for the easy installation and protection of license plates. Lately, license frames have also introduced custom license plate frames, which offer the customers the privilege of displaying new slogans.

So, if you want a spot in history, try something unique with your license plates or custom license plate frames.

Is It Worth to Invest in a Personalized License Plate?

Vanity plates or personalized plate that portrays recognizable slogans or phrases on the number plates may be a symbol of pride for most, but lately, it is relied upon as an excellent form of investment. Vanity plate sales are also a good source of revenue for state licensing agencies.

In the UK, the registrations are done by DVLA. The registrations are sold or transferred with some restrictions. Private dealers or entrepreneurs, who saw a great opportunity in the sale of something in demand, did the trade of Vanity plates. The profit gained on selling the personalized registrations plates raised an excellent benefit for the UK treasury.

What are personalized plates?
As mentioned above, personalized or custom license plates, registered under your name or someone else whom you nominate, come in the form of letters or numbers that spells out a meaning or slogan. The authorities are very strict with the rule that a combination of words should not be offensive or racial. Also, the selected words should not be used by anyone else. This blog tours you through the various benefits of owning a personalized license plate and its investment benefits.

Why are personalized plates worthy of investment?

1. Personalization
These plates, as the name suggests, is an ultimate personalization. The combination can be anything ranging from your name, or profession or passion or anything that sets you apart from the crowd. How does this personalization make a good investment? The personalized plate will be unique and the only one of its kind in the database, thereby raising the standard of the license plate. The personal information, like name or passion, could be unique to someone else too. This makes it a worthy investment in case of a future sale.

Nowadays, custom license plate frames are also gaining popularity as these also raise the worth of your personalized license plates.

2. Uniqueness
There are highly sought-after number plates. If you invest in those custom plates, the value will increase over time. There are license plates like “F1” that have multiplied for almost 28 times over the years. This justifies how worthy it is to invest in good license plates. Make sure that you protect your frames with the right license plate frame.

3. Branding
Custom license plates are an excellent form of promoting your brand. This is a unique form of marketing your business. The custom license plate frames with personalized messages are also a perfect way of branding your business.

Hope this article justifies how a personalized license plate makes a perfect investment. While investing for a custom license plate, investing in a custom license plate frame is also a worthy option.