FOR THE DO-IT-YOURSELF DUCATI OWNER

MONSTER LICENSE PLATE RELOCATION BRACKET MAKING YOUR OWN BRACKET ON THE CHEAP AND LOOKING GOOD DOING IT

$18

A Bunch- Grinding/Cutting Tool, Drill, Assorted Bits, 10mm Wrench, 4mm and 5mm Allen Wrenches, 20ga. Sheet Steel, Hammers, Flat Black Paint, Primer, Sandpaper, Rivet Gun

BEFORE

These before shots are with two inches of overhang cut off already!

AFTER

The first step is to gather the necessary tools. 1.  Rubber mallet 2.  22 gauge sheet steel, about 12x18".  Available at Home Depot or similar. 3.  Electric or pneumatic grinder with thin cutting wheel. 4.  Electric drill and various drill bits. 5.  A block of wood with a hard edge. 6.  8 thin flat washers, 4 lock washers for the long screws on the back, and four or more nylon washers in metric size to fit the four screws. 7.  Various zip ties. 8.  Primer and paint.  I used an epoxy primer and flat epoxy enamel for durability. 9.  Sandpaper. 10.  Rivet gun and two rivets (not absolutely necessary)

These are the parts after you've disassembled the existing bracket.  I won't go into an explanation of how to do that because it's very simple.  The wires are also hard to mix up in case you forget where they went.   The only part that requires work here is to cut off the existing reflector/bracket area that extends below the license plate.  The previous owner had already done that on mine.  If you don't like the idea of cutting stock pieces (which I wouldn't have done), you can bolt the license plate directly to the bracket you make, instead of bolting the bracket to the bracket you make.  You'll end up with the license plate bracket, two signals, and the license plate light.

Now, take the flat sheet of steel, and stick it up underneath the rear of the bike, as far back as it will go and still remain level with the black plastic piece.  Then mark on the sheet two lines, which is where you will bend the bracket down on each side.  You want the bends to be inside the frame, so that it will be flush with the black plastic piece on top and will bolt easily to it with the four screws.  Still confused?   The two tubes of the frame are not flush with the black plastic piece from the top.  You want the bracket to be flush with that, so the bends for the edges need to be inside the frame rails.  Once marked, cut the grooves along the lines just until the cuts go under the cover of the black plastic piece.  You'll end up lopping off the rear of your bracket in the end for fine tuning, so you just want the general area.

Next, take the steel, line up the edge of the wood block with the cut you made, and bend it down on one side.  Now, do the other side.   You don't want a hard edge, but I said to use a hard edge block of wood.  That's just cause it's easier to line up with.  Once the bend has started, you can finish it by hand.  If you really want to get fancy, you can bend it over a steel pipe or something.

Next, bend down the portion in the middle at the point the cut lines go to, as shown.  This is angled downward, not straight down.  You can see from my picture that the plate is at an angle.  Now, you will bend the sides around.  This is done by hand and again, not straight down.   It will be wide at he front and narrow at the rear, and have a nice slow curve going around each side.  The sides are angled downwards instead of straight down.

Now you will cut from the very bottom of the rear edge to the top of the front, going forward.  This will make it look like a lopsided pyramid from 3D view, but a wedge from the side.

You'll notice that the edges you bent down around the rear stick down further than the rear tab for the plate.  This is where you will cut the edges even with one another, and make the edge continuous all the way around.

Now drill a hole through the tab that you bent around and the tab underneath on each side.  These are for the rivets that will secure them together to prevent vibration and rattling.  Now use the rivet gun to pop the rivets in.  If you don't have a rivet gun, you can simply use a nut and bolt with a lock washer.

This is the point at which you should get the exact position of the bracket down and cut off however much you need to off the rear.   Stick the license plate bracket, license plate, and license plate light up underneath the black plastic piece with the bracket in place and see how much you need to cut off the rear.  Once you get that done, you can put it all back in place and see where the best place for the turn signals are.  I mounted mine as far forward as I could.  Keep in mind, the lock button for the seat gives you an inch less room going backward than the other side, so mark that first.  Then drill the holes for the bolt and wires, and mount them.  They probably won't be even at this point, but you should put the bracket up under with the signals on, test to see that everything fits up under the black plastic still, and bend each side of the bracket so that it is even.  DO NOT PULL ON THE SIGNALS TO BEND THE BRACKET.  They are not as strong as steel and will break.  Just hold the bracket and push on the sides of the steel until it's straight.

This is also the point at which you should stick the bracket up under and mark through the top where the four holes are.  Before you drill, make sure that the signals don't hit the frame, and that the license plate light still fits up under the black plastic.  Then take it off and drill it.  Then mount it in place and check for fit.  Fine-tune all the angles and make sure they are straight.  My turn signals are actually angled down and forward slightly.

Now use a piece of the steel you cut off the back of the bracket to make the license plate light holder bracket.   It needs to be a wedge type shape as shown.   The small end should be just wide enough so that the two bolts coming out of the back can go through and be secured.  Mark and drill those holes.  Then bend it at a 90 degree angle about a half inch above that.  Now mount the light on the bracket.  With the plate/signal bracket up in the

bike where it will mount, stick the license plate light and bracket up underneath, between the bracket and the black plastic piece.  The two holes at the front (of the bike) will be uncovered, but now the two rear most hole will be blocked by the new bracket.  Get it straight underneath and mark and drill the holes.

Sick of drilling yet?  I was.  Now you need to put the license plate and bracket where they will be on the new bracket and mark and drill the holes in the bracket.

Now you get to take off all the signals, lights, and brackets.  Sand all the bare metal with a rough grit paper then smooth it with a fine grit.  After that, prime it with the epoxy primer.  Let that dry and then hit it with the flat epoxy black.  The flat looks exactly like the black plastic on the bike.  Now for the last of the drilling.   You need to drill two small holes about a half inch apart.  Send one of the long zip ties up through the hole, and down through the other.

Now for final assembly.  Stick all the pieces onto the bracket and bolt it into place with the lockwashers and nylon nuts.  Plug the wires into their original sockets and zip tie the entire mass with the zip tie that is waiting there.  Make sure no wires are hanging down.  If I left anything out, it must not have been important.  Make sure everything is tight and that there is no interference anywhere.  Test the signals for proper operation and adjust as necessary.  Enjoy!

This page is in no way associated with Ducati.com, nor is it an entity of Ducati Motor Holding, S.p.A.  All content, information, and views expressed herein are those of myself and do not reflect those of Ducati or its affiliates.  The "DUCATI" logo and "Circle D" are registered trademarks of Ducati Motor Holding, S.p.A., all other content on this website is copyright 2006, Monster Man Productions.

As you can see, the stock license plate monstrosity on the back isn't too visually appealing.  I didn't want to cut any of
the stock parts, so I removed the entire thing and went to work custom making my own.  I went to the hardware store
and bought a 22 gauge piece of sheet steel, about 12"x18".  I then  started bending around where I wanted the edges.  
I cut it small enough to fit up under the black piece covering the frame, and the sides come down at a slight angle.  
Off the bike, the bracket looks like a door wedge.  As the sides go toward the front, they slowly taper, so it looks like
a triangle from the side.  The plate mounts on the back, far enough forward that the original license plate light fits in
front of the plate and underneath the black piece on the tail.  The turn signals were placed on the side plates of the
new bracket, and are angled downward slightly.  After it was formed, I sanded it smooth and primed it with an epoxy
primer, followed by a flat black epoxy.  It matches the black plastic on the bike perfectly.  It's hard to visualize, so I
drew these step-by-step instructions.  Follow along as I help make your Monster (or other Ducati) look cleaner....