eh....cops are pricks. Not all, but most.
I got the same ticket before. The officer said its not visible from 50 feet from the rear of the bike.....which it is. Its funny cause I even got off my bike and walked over 50 feet from it with the officer right next to me and my plate is visible. I said....."you can see my plate from here right?....cause I can see it" he said, "no". effing jerk.
Anyway, it was dismissed in court. I got a friend of mine to take pictures of my plate while I was riding it, I took pics of it off the bike from 150 feet away....I asked 4 different people in my apartment outside and they all said that its visible.
Took my pics to court and the judge shook his head when I told him what the officer did.
DISMISSED.
so.....what I would suggest to you is....make sure your plate is legal by the rest of the standards. Dont worry about the loose wording in the handbook, because its written loosely to give officers descretion on who to ticket and who not to.
Bottomline is.....JUDGE will determine.
My plates are all still mounted under the tail.....and everytime I get pulled over and they mention it....I tell em...I went to court over it and the judge already dismissed it.
They dont bother with me about it anymore.