VINYL WRAPPING OF BIKE PARTS...

[wordsmith]

I've become a bit intrigued by this!   Thinking of attempting a carbon-look vinyl-wrap of my OE pannier lids.   Is the cheap-as-chips vinyl sheeting as found on E Bay Motors good enough/ suitable for this type of job?   If not, what should I purchase?   Given that the bike is indoors/ out of the sun for most of its life would I get reasonable fade-free life from the application?   Any tips, hints, do's, don't's will be greatly appreciated.   I have some scrap carbon-look vinyl pieces here and might have a little attempt on something that can be thrown away if necessary...

Edited April 23, 2019 by wordsmith

[nicksta43]

Lately I've been thinking about doing the same. After two years of daily use they are starting to not present well. Even though it's kept indoors at home and work. They've accumulated some scrapes and fading. 

I've been trying to decide between vinyl wrap and paint. 

Interested in hearing from people who have used wrap or painted their lids.

[bugie]

@wordsmith- I've wrapped a couple of items before. Not an expert by a longshot but basically what you need to do is to heat up the vinyl to make it plyable. Once warm stretch it and stick it down. The key here is to not heat up too much that it distorts, and likewise not to stretch it too much that it distorts any design on it. You need to figure out odd corners that will require creases in the wrap as you will need to cut and shape these. There is not much else to add to that.

@nicksta43- You may also want to check out plastidip. It's a very durable rubbery spray that can be easily peeled off once you are fed up of it. I have used it on my cars radiator grille and it has easily lasted 3 years on the front.

Edited April 23, 2019 by bugie

[nicksta43]

@bugie

I'm well aware of Plasti-dip. 

I painted this car with it about six years ago.

I also use it on my homemade shorty windscreens. 

Not really what I'm looking to do this time. 

I think I'd like to match the grey that's on the side panels. Which likely means paint if I want it really close. But maybe there is a vinyl that kinda sorta is close enough. I haven't looked around much yet but it's been floating around in the back of my head for a while now.

[wordsmith]

Looking more closely at the OE pannier lids,  they are quite deeply dished - i.e. somewhat concave in shape around the middle area.   I wonder if heat-shrinking the PVC will make it adhere to this shape?   Any views on this?  The pic below shows what I mean, the wobbly line highlighting the dished area.   Memo to myself: must stop regarding alcohol as one of the main five food groups.

[betoney]

7 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

Memo to myself: must stop regarding alcohol as one of the main five food groups.

That sounds like one of those "maybe tomorrow" type goals.  🍺

[nicksta43]

@wordsmith

I've been watching videos on YouTube and with proper automotive grade vinyl wrap that doesn't appear to be an issue. 

Vvivid+ vinyl is available over here for not very much money. A 2'x5' sheet is around $12-$26 depending on color. Not accounting for screw ups that would be enough to do it. Not sure what the price is over/under there. 

I'll probably order some in the next couple weeks if you want to wait and let me be the guinea pig. I'll probably order enough to do the lids and the side panels as I want them to match. Not sure what color but they make a matte black metallic that looks close on color to the factory side panel color. Or they make all kinds of different colors in carbon fiber. 

[wordsmith]

3 hours ago, nicksta43 said:

I'll probably order some in the next couple weeks if you want to wait and let me be the guinea pig. I'll probably order enough to do the lids and the side panels as I want them to match. Not sure what color but they make a matte black metallic that looks close on color to the factory side panel color. Or they make all kinds of different colors in carbon fiber. 

Thanks a lot nick - I'd be very happy to let you trial the product and process!   Please update us all here.   Meantime, I'll have a trial with what leftover carbon-look vinyI I have and see what happens.   Will post-up results.   Just gotta get hold of a heat-gun...

[sirepair]

I applied some vinyl to the noted dished area of my saddlebags. Came out OK. 

Keep in mind that the surface of these are a "low surface energy" material. Most adhesives don't stick to them.  I purchased some 3M wipes to enhance the adhesion.

[nicksta43]

@sirepair So was the 3M material you used specifically for "low surface energy" use?

Have you had any issues with it in use?

[sirepair]

27 minutes ago, nicksta43 said:

@sirepair So was the 3M material you used specifically for "low surface energy" use?

Have you had any issues with it in use?

Yes, 3M Adhesion Promoter:

www.amazon.com/3M-Adhesion-Promoter-Sponge-Applicators/dp/B07MVK1PG6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?adgrpid=56306676376&hvadid=274732303081&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9015892&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7037397969243445942&hvtargid=kwd-301511304159&keywords=3m+adhesion+promoter&qid=1556112279&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

To date I have not had any issues with the vinyl, but I went in to the mod with low expectations!  I am careful not to blast it with the hose and wash gently the 2 or 3 times a year that I wash it. I would rather ride than wash!  And I have a whole roll of vinyl if it blows off!

[whitecrow]

On 4/23/2019 at 4:13 PM, nicksta43 said:

@bugie

I'm well aware of Plasti-dip. 

I painted this car with it about six years ago.

I also use it on my homemade shorty windscreens. 

Not really what I'm looking to do this time. 

I think I'd like to match the grey that's on the side panels. Which likely means paint if I want it really close. But maybe there is a vinyl that kinda sorta is close enough. I haven't looked around much yet but it's been floating around in the back of my head for a while now.

Check out dipyourcar.com They have made some real progress in the last few years, also have come out with a lot of new colors and finishes. Like you I’ve dipped my cars a few times and my friends cars as well, it’s an awesome product if applied correctly. I think it would sick to the side cases no problem. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by whitecrow

[DeepSix]

I wrapped my bike and I will tell you, you have to make a choice if you’re not a pro, either don’t do it or except that it will have flaws and be ok with it looking great for a short distance. 

The problem is all the compound curves and angles on this bike. The parts are small but they are an extreme pain in the butt to get wrapped and have them be perfect. I’m pretty happy with mine but closer than about 5 feet and you can see all my blunders. I’m good with that because I don’t care if it’s perfect and it didn’t cost me $500 to have a pro do it. 

If you do it yourself:

1) Don’t by cheap wrap. I used Vivid wood grain vinyl on on some cabinet doors. Just flat surfaces and it was a bastard to work with. It also had questionable adhesion at times. I used 3M perfect Blue vinyl with a diamond white stripe down the middle (seamed together, not one piece) on my bike and it was AMAZING to work with. 

2)use primer adhesive on any inside radius to prevent lifting. I use a lot of it to avoid one spot ruining a whole job. 

Hope that helps. 

Edited April 25, 2019 by DeepSix

[wordsmith]

Many thanks for this realistic appraisal, DeepSix.   Gives me food for thought!   Frankly, my preference is to paint (rattle-can approach) the centre part of each pannier lid, as I did pretty satisfactorily with my last Tracer.   Then, I matched the dished panel on each lid with the gunmetal paintwork of the tank and put some thin gold pinstripe around the edge of the panel (see pic) - the bike's body colour was dark blue.   I was lucky enough to be able to find a household paint that was a near-perfect match, given that the panniers were feet away from the tank, so even as a pretty fussy guy I was satisfied with the result.   

The issue this time is that I have so far been unable to find the colour in a can that will give me a near-exact (at worse) match to my Lava Red - and near enough won't be good enough.   The lids have been dressed-up a little with some pinstripe, but I'd still like to go that extra step, whatever it's gonna be. 

Edited April 25, 2019 by wordsmith

[sirepair]

Colorrite.com is a great source for OEM matched paint. You can even get their paint in rattle cans.  IDK if they ship down-under, or if there is an Aus company that does the same thing.