How to decorate your bicycle rack?

[BGD]

Ok chaps - a question on bicycle racks, and what else you need to decorate them with.

We are relative newbies to this motorhoming lark, and I inherited our old-dog-van "Martin" with a bicycle rack attached to it's rear.

It's the bog standard fold-up-when-you-don't-it style, with three slots for pushbikes. From memory, I think it may be a Fiamma, but they all seem to look about the same.

Now, the way it's mounted to the rear of the van, with our two pushbikes on it, the rack base with the pushbike wheel channels on it sticks out maybe 3 feet, and although it is mounted above the rear bumper (which contains the number plate) you're pretty hard pressed to see the van number plate below it, unless your line of sight from behind was pretty low - I'm guessing that cars a dozen metres behind would be OK, but once close up behind probably can't read all of my number plate. (Sometimes not a bad thing perhaps).

I have now fitted another number plate to the rack - it sits vertically against the bike wheel channel, but it is not illuminated.

I know that we are in Spain, and things are a bit different here, but I would value advice from a UK perspective, as the van is on Brit plates.
(Incidentally, the van is quite a bit wider than the bike rack, so the rack doesn't interfere with people seeing my rear brake and sidelights at all).

So, if I was in the Uk:

Do I need that second number plate?

Do I need one of those bloody awful red and white triangle thingies bungee'd to the pushbikes as well?

Does the secondary numberplate need to be illuminated?

Are there any other rules on this in the UK..........?

Any information on this from those who really know the UK regs would be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Bruce.

 

[voxol51]

Unfortunately Bruce its Spanish rules that say you must use a square warning thingy with red (reflective) diagnal stripes on it whilst carrying bikes on a rack.

Good ol' Britania says the bikes must not obscure the lighting or number plate.
So as long as your lights are still visible I guess the extra number plate is ok.
Should it be illuminated? Dunno, but I remember back in the year 19~# when the reflective number plates were first intoduced that part of the safety hype was the fact that even without illumination the plates could still be seen even when the vehicles tail lights were no longer visible due to distance.
If this is the case, why do we need illumination on the rear plate in the first place??
(Except to keep Lucas and Britax in business.)

Voxy