When in doubt, throw it out, Part 2

First picture depicts the previous stop/tail/turn/license mounting placement. Once the fender was on, it became PAINFULLY OBVIOUS that the license was totally buried and not viewable at all from the rear. I verified at night that not even the license plate illumination light was visible from straight on from the rear. So this configuration had to go.

Obvious solution is to create a higher bracket to raise plate so it is visibly above the fender from the rear. So I made a cardboard mock up to see what it would look like before I start cutting and bending the stock aluminum plate I have to fashion a new bracket.

After some measurement, I decided I needed to raise the bottom of the plate at least 3 inches higher than the seat frame making it nearly level with the seat back, plus I need to extend it out to clear the rear of the seat.

NOT. HAPPY. WITH. THE. LOOK. So now back to square one.

Plan is to revert to the axle mount for the plate and add illumination bolts to hold the plate and build small mounts to hold each right and left turn/stop LED lights just under the seat frame which will be visible on either side of the fender.

I will relocate the plate mount to the LH side of the bike to move it away from the pipes on the RH side. This opens up the space so the exhaust can flow freely out the back and not blacken the plate, plus I was always catching my foot on the plate when I swung my leg over.

(The primer grey color of the tank and fender signify the work in progress nature of this project. In the 50's/60's wrenchers would paint their body work in primer grey to keep the body work from rusting as they were making progress on their hotrods, so that's where I got the idea for the paint color.)

Old mount with fender in place:

Cardboard mock up mount:

Fender rises with wheel and the distance is very tight. A disaster waiting to happen: