Author Topic: Vinyl Wrapped C14  (Read 2348 times)

Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Vinyl Wrapped C14
« on: June 22, 2019, 02:15:05 PM »
I dropped my Connie last month and scratched up some of the fairings pretty bad. I didn't want to spend money on new ones, so I decided to vinyl wrap it.
It was a huge pain in the ass. It looks better in the photo than in person, there's lots of wrinkles and flaws that stick out to me. But... I wanted to do a color that was 'different' and I do like the green.


Offline Jethrobolas

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 35
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2019, 03:43:54 PM »
Looks good from my house!  So do the ghia and micro!!! That wasn’t on accident 🤣

Offline maxtog

  • Elite Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 8869
  • Country: us
  • 2011 Silver
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2019, 04:38:22 PM »
From the photo, it looks pretty damn good.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline MAN OF BLUES

  • Arena
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2898
  • Country: 00
  • WHISKEY.Tango.Foxtrot.
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2019, 07:23:19 PM »
nice... I like...  :thumbs: :thumbs:

hell with everyone else, just make them stay 10 ft away, and threaten them...

 considering doing the Spray Plasti "dip your ride" thing this year, to mine..  maybe doing a wild thing, never before seen.. you gave me food for thought.

46 YEARS OF KAW.....  47 years of DEVO..

Offline maxtog

  • Elite Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 8869
  • Country: us
  • 2011 Silver
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2019, 10:41:27 PM »
hell with everyone else, just make them stay 10 ft away, and threaten them...

Ride faster!
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline MrPepsi

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1108
  • Country: 00
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2019, 04:11:46 PM »
Love it.
Maybe share the kit you used.
Brent Johnson 
2009 C-14 "Razzi"

Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2019, 05:51:37 PM »
Ride faster!

So fast the letters fly off!


Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2019, 05:53:45 PM »
Love it.
Maybe share the kit you used.

I bought two 5'x10' rolls of Avery Gloss Radioactive Green and used nearly all of it. A hair dryer, x-acto knife, and a roll of 3M knifeless tape.

Offline maxtog

  • Elite Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 8869
  • Country: us
  • 2011 Silver
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #8 on: June 24, 2019, 06:11:26 PM »
So fast the letters fly off!

LOL!
Well, hope you like the "debadged" look.  Did you use new adhesive, or just try to stick the letters back on after prying them off?  If the latter, it could be that the adhesive was just compromised (and probably not designed for re-use).
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2019, 07:37:30 PM »
They're cheap chinese sets from ebay. You get what you pay for I guess. Kawasaki wants nearly $50 per side.

Offline Michelle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 80
  • Country: au
  • Saving the chubby unicorns
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2019, 12:52:56 AM »
How did you do the fuel tank? I wrapped mine a while back and I struggled so much with the waist part of the tank - and one pannier lid - that I gave up on the whole job.
Neutron Silver 08 1400GTR ABS with KTRC K-ACT and ECO
Glitter White 2010 1400GTR
Windsor Green 1997 GTR1000

Offline Rubber_Snake

  • Arena
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 273
  • Country: us
  • 2009 GTR1400 ABS, Black
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2019, 07:55:23 AM »
Hey Andy,

I think it looks great!   :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Could you share some of the difficulties you experienced putting the wrap together?  How long did it take you?  Would you do it again?

Ray
2009 GTR 1400 ABS, 48k miles, AMSOIL synthetic 10W-40 (since new), AMSOIL synthetic 75W-90 final drive (since new). Helibar Horizons, Oxford heated grips, V-Stream windscreen, Mountain Runner Flash, Brian’s low fuel eliminator farkle, ST2 smart brake module and smart turn system, Two Brothers Black Series M5 w/P1X decibel killer.

Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2019, 07:45:19 PM »
How did you do the fuel tank? I wrapped mine a while back and I struggled so much with the waist part of the tank - and one pannier lid - that I gave up on the whole job.

I did it in 3 pieces. Left, right, and top. The seam is along the sharp upper curve.
The pannier lids were the toughest, and it shows.....

Offline blue72beetle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
  • Country: us
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2019, 07:57:11 PM »
Hey Andy,

I think it looks great!   :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Could you share some of the difficulties you experienced putting the wrap together?  How long did it take you?  Would you do it again?

Ray

The bike was down a couple weeks, but I didn't work on it each day. Heat helps around curves, but the more you heat and stretch it the more it loses it's gloss. When you pull the vinyl in one direction, it puckers in the other direction. You can stretch to pull the wrinkles out, but by the time you get to the edge of a panel you've stretched so much that there's just no where for all the vinyl to go. It's kinda hard to explain. I also rushed some of the pieces because I wanted to get back to riding it, lol.
I imagine cars are easier to do because they have large panels without very many compound curves. Motorcycle have all sorts of curves and edges.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Having done this myself, I see all the imperfections every time I look at it. Kinda ruins it for me.
I'll probably pull it all off next winter and bite the bullet and replace the pieces that I had scratched up from dropping it. At least I have canyon cages now.

Offline Michelle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 80
  • Country: au
  • Saving the chubby unicorns
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2019, 08:01:04 PM »
Thanks. I tried to do the tank in one piece. Twice. I managed to do the pannier first go, but when I came to repeat the process on the other one the crinkles around the edge simply refused to go away. I ripped it off and started again with a new piece of wrap and it did exactly the same. When it didn't work the third time I threw the whole lot in a box and it is still there down the back of the shed.

After watching a whole lot of yootoob I think the trick is to use bigger pieces of vinyl. I wasted more in the end than I would have if I'd just laid a whole sheet over it and discarded the outer three quarters.
Neutron Silver 08 1400GTR ABS with KTRC K-ACT and ECO
Glitter White 2010 1400GTR
Windsor Green 1997 GTR1000

Offline Snype

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 98
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #15 on: June 29, 2019, 08:41:57 PM »
I've always wanted to try this with selective parts.  I have a black model and wanted to do the fins something different.


Snype

Offline VirginiaJim

  • Administrator
  • Elite Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11333
  • Country: england
  • I've forgotten more than I'll ever know...
    • Kawasaki 1400GTR
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2019, 05:25:34 AM »
Thanks. I tried to do the tank in one piece. Twice. I managed to do the pannier first go, but when I came to repeat the process on the other one the crinkles around the edge simply refused to go away. I ripped it off and started again with a new piece of wrap and it did exactly the same. When it didn't work the third time I threw the whole lot in a box and it is still there down the back of the shed.

After watching a whole lot of yootoob I think the trick is to use bigger pieces of vinyl. I wasted more in the end than I would have if I'd just laid a whole sheet over it and discarded the outer three quarters.


Or just get it professionally done.  I decided that after trying to install the clear protective kits on the bike..
"LOCTITE®"  The original thread locker...  #11  2020 Indian Roadmaster, ABS, Cruise control, heated grips and seats/w/AC 46 Monitoring with cutting edge technology U.N.I.T is Back! Member in good standing with the Knights of MEH.

Offline Michelle

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 80
  • Country: au
  • Saving the chubby unicorns
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2019, 07:28:56 AM »

Or just get it professionally done.  I decided that after trying to install the clear protective kits on the bike..

I'll just paint it. I'm better at that than wrapping anyway.
Neutron Silver 08 1400GTR ABS with KTRC K-ACT and ECO
Glitter White 2010 1400GTR
Windsor Green 1997 GTR1000

Offline MAN OF BLUES

  • Arena
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2898
  • Country: 00
  • WHISKEY.Tango.Foxtrot.
Re: Vinyl Wrapped C14
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2019, 01:58:49 PM »
I bought two 5'x10' rolls of Avery Gloss Radioactive Green and used nearly all of it. A hair dryer, x-acto knife, and a roll of 3M knifeless tape.

I'm gonna have to take a ride over there.. the corporate offices are about 3 miles west of me... and the "film production" factory is just 2 miles east of me... we used to "dumpster dive" there as teenagers (in the '70's), for full rolls of "dayglow" and "mirror" sticky paper... like 4 foot wide rolls, with 200 feet...
I'm sure I can get someone there to "edjamacate" me on application, I probably know 20 or more people at each place...


46 YEARS OF KAW.....  47 years of DEVO..