Fake California Motorcycle Plates
from the 1920s – 1930s
A gentleman named Bob Brost aka Repo Bob manufactured fake California motorcycle license plates forty or so years ago. Many of these plates are still around, but fortunately it is possible to identify these fakes.
Some of the easiest “tells” are the shape of the number 4, the shape of the number 5, and the spacing, font, and misalignment of the “CAL”.
Observe these fake plates:
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Now contrast to these real plates:
Also note that the font used from 1921 through 1924 was narrower than the thicker fonts used in 1920 and from 1925 through 1933. For more details, check out Scott Broady’s article, about California motorcycle license plates here: https://www.motoplates.com/userfiles/file/Calif-Plate-History.pdf
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Differences between fake plates and real plates:
Notice the smoothly curved real “2”, and also font thickness, vs the fake “2”
| Fake 1923 | Real 1923 | |
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How large is the area “inside” the 4?
| Fake 1922 | Fake (many yrs) | Real (many yrs) | ||
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How far does the bottom of the 5 continue curving back upward?
| Fake (many yrs) | Real (many yrs) | |
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Look at the "2" after CAL, fake vs real
| Fake 1922 | Real 1922 | |
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Is the CAL spread out too far and/or misaligned?
| Fake (many yrs) | Real (many yrs) | |
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Are the plate numbers misaligned too far left or too far right?
| Fake 1922 | Real | |
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Differences between different years:
1920 – Unique font thicker than 1921 – 1924; not as thick as later years
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1921 through 1924 same thin font
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1925 & 1927 – Unique thicker font, but not as thick as 1926 & 1928, similar to 1930, 1932, 1933
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1926 & 1928 – Super thick font
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1929 - 1932 –similar to 1925, but “3” isn’t symmetrical top to bottom as in 1925-1928
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1933 – similar to 1925 with symmetrical top to bottom 3
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Motoplates.com – Vintage/Old/Antique Motorcycle License Plates