So my bike was only available in black which is fine. The paint is apparently made of black toothpaste, which is not. Scratches super easily, and not resistant to any chemicals that I tried. Brake cleaner, goof-off, etc. I looked at the kits from wrapmyspyder, but I don't want my bike to be covered with flowers, skulls, or lightning bolts. Plus, if all you want is paint protection, they seem very pricey to me. Nothing against them, if they had a clear or black set for reasonable money I'd have bought it. So I figured I'd try something a bit different. Vinyl wrap from rvinyl.com. 3M 1080 and 2080. I bought sample sizes of a few different colors, decided which I liked then bought more of what I wanted. Under a hundred bucks total. Let me start by saying I will not win any awards for vinyl wrapping. It's simply not a skill I have yet, nor do I plan to do enough to develop this skill to my satisfaction.
Vinyl wrap however, is a fairly easy, inexpensive way to change the color/protect the paint on your vehicle. It's 100% reversible at any time. It's supposed to last for a few years depending on how it's taken care of. I figure I'll let it sit for a while, then if I decide I like the color change I'll have the parts painted professionally at a later date. Seriously, it's only 8 pieces for the whole bike so it shouldn't be that expensive. On to the show:
Top Panel, with under 500 miles on the bike.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
After: This is chameleon satin vinyl. This is a video btw, click on it and you can see the color change.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Using a piece of fishing braided line to saw the emblems off:
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
One side finished. The remainder of the adhesive wiped off with finger pressure, then I followed that with some clay bar followed by a good wipedown with alcohol.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Back on the bike. I layed down some blue painters tape, then put some thicker clear tape on that to make a ledge. I cut new pieces of 3M trim adhesive to go on the back of the letters. I put the first letter on, then used a drill bit to hold spacing between the letters.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Completed-ish. I covered the panels shown plus the mirror fronts with the chameleon, and the panels the mirrors attach to plus the nose with metalflake black. Nearly invisible compared to the rest of the bike. I still have to do the tank cover, and I have enough of either color to do it. However, that's a pain in the cunning linguals so I'll put that off till later. I'll take better pics once the sun comes out; the chameleon presents as dark gray in the shade but turns a vivid color change in the sunlight.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
Vinyl wrap however, is a fairly easy, inexpensive way to change the color/protect the paint on your vehicle. It's 100% reversible at any time. It's supposed to last for a few years depending on how it's taken care of. I figure I'll let it sit for a while, then if I decide I like the color change I'll have the parts painted professionally at a later date. Seriously, it's only 8 pieces for the whole bike so it shouldn't be that expensive. On to the show:
Top Panel, with under 500 miles on the bike.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrAfter: This is chameleon satin vinyl. This is a video btw, click on it and you can see the color change.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrUsing a piece of fishing braided line to saw the emblems off:
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrOne side finished. The remainder of the adhesive wiped off with finger pressure, then I followed that with some clay bar followed by a good wipedown with alcohol.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrBack on the bike. I layed down some blue painters tape, then put some thicker clear tape on that to make a ledge. I cut new pieces of 3M trim adhesive to go on the back of the letters. I put the first letter on, then used a drill bit to hold spacing between the letters.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on FlickrCompleted-ish. I covered the panels shown plus the mirror fronts with the chameleon, and the panels the mirrors attach to plus the nose with metalflake black. Nearly invisible compared to the rest of the bike. I still have to do the tank cover, and I have enough of either color to do it. However, that's a pain in the cunning linguals so I'll put that off till later. I'll take better pics once the sun comes out; the chameleon presents as dark gray in the shade but turns a vivid color change in the sunlight.
Untitled by Uncle Grr!, on Flickr
hyea:
