yes, i had thought of using bolts instead of welds but at the moment i hate bolts as i've had upwards of 20 shear on me....
my bike's downtube is aluminum so drilling through is out
it's also 50mm diameter which means if i go the plate + U bolt/clamp the heads of the stock bolts into the holed will be on the downtube and i feel will cause slipping or torquing on the bolts causing more shearings :/
i was thinking something like this, but the original mounting bolts as seen in this pic will still protude onto my downtube :/
http://motorbicycling.com/attachments/f6/4526d1230773962-oversized-tubing-solved-img_1040.jpg
this is the bike it's going on, the rear bolts sheared because the front mount wasn't gripping enough and as it vibrated there was extra torque on the rear bolts which inherantly snapped like glass.