Avoid pressed plates – paint your own

I like classic bikes. I don't like reproduction ('repop' in transatlantic-ese) pressed number plates. In fact, I loathe them. Whether restored and gleaming or rumpled, rusted and wonderful there's nothing that lets a bike down more than a quick squint at the rear showing up a repop pressed aluminium plate looking like a gold bonnet mascot on an invalid carriage. Ugly. Untoward. Unnecessary. Wrong.

Truly awful!

Obviously there were pressed plates in the 1950s and ’60s, probably in the ’30s and ’40s too, but for the most part, the 'classic' number plate was freehand (or possibly stencilled), white paint on a plain black sheet of ally or steel.

Much better! This is what we're aiming for…

Few cared what the number plate looked like. And no-one felt the need to waste their hard-earned on a plate that heralded its owner as someone with more cash than sense and an unhealthy obsession with pointless detail (that would be saved for readers of classic bike magazines published by Morton's). A registration plate was simply a necessary adjunct to a pleasurable life astride two-wheels. Something decreed by men in striped trousers somewhere in Whitehall. Necessary for the common good perhaps, not necessary for attention beyond being in place to put you on the right side of some curmudgeonly copper.

And the thing about painted plates is they age. Beautifully. The paint chips and fades, the plate, buckled, scratched and holed in places looks right. Take the time and trouble to restore a bike or maintain one in original condition and it's surely worth the small effort to recreate an original plate rather than toddling off to ebay for a pressed affair with all the charm of a fart at a funeral.

For bike enthusiasts with access to a computer (er, you) and a cheap printer (or a local library with free access) recreating the look of original plates is simple. Fire up a word processor, DTP package or any program with which you can manipulate text, type in your registration number and apply a suitable style. I use Arial Black at 164pt with appropriate leading and kerning tweaks.

Plate stencil using QuarkXPress

Print off a couple of copies. Take one and coat the rear with a thick layer from a stick of white chalk. Position your sheet of black enamelled steel or ally cut from an abandoned road sign or whatever on your bench, and cover it with the print-out, numbers up, chalk down. Fix in place with masking tape.

Now, with a sharp pencil, carefully trace the outlines of the letters with the pencil magically transferring the chalk onto the plate. When you're done, remove the print-out. No need for great delicacy, the chalk outline is pretty robust.

Time for paint. I find the best is Humbrol white enamel for a 'just registered' look, or white enamel with a hint of a Humbrol brown stirred in for a creamy, aged appearance. Experiment to find the look you prefer. Using a fine brush, paint in the letters and numbers taking special care not to go over the lines (the curves are trickiest). Set the plate aside to dry.

6x4 white on black, painted but not aged

You can age the plate further by putting it on the ground and dropping handfuls of pebbles and earth on it, wiping it over with an oily rag afterwards. Homebrewing your own plates in this way is quick, cheap, easy and satisfying and makes for a plate that's far better than anything you can buy.

If you want to make a black-on-yellow plate use the same method but find some yellow plastic for the plate rather than attempting to paint it – it's difficult to source the correct yellow hue. The 7x5 yellow plate shown below was made from plastic cut from a discarded Addis kitchen bin with plenty left over to make more plates.

7x5 black on yellow – better from a distance