Are you meant to have a smaller registration plate (same registration as your car) on the bike rack? That's how it works in Australia.
The license plate and registration laws in the US are very fragmented. Some states out the registration on the license plate, some on the front or side window, and some are moving to digital only registration.
Essentially with almost no work, you can make proving you don't have a validate plate or registration difficult. You can just print a fake temp tag (paper license plate dealerships use) for a state like Texas but drive around in any other state since they have no way of knowing it's a fake temp/dealer plate.