CARBON FIBRE

[shinn281]

Going for a radical one here, but I've been having issues with my pimping of late. I decided I didn't like all the gold stickers so opted to change them to black. Only issue being that they were under lacquer. All was going well with the belly pan but the side fairing has been a whole different story! Lets just say I forgot how much of a bitch silver was to paint!!

Anyway, I have now decided to scrap all my original plans and wrap the entire bike in carbon fibre!!! I will post pics once it is done but wanted to ask peoples' opinion and has anybody already done it?

[lloydie]

Not an easy job as I'm sure bsm will tell you .
Good luck as you will need it !
Remember we want lots of good pics and a good write up on how you get on with it :-)

[shinn281]

I shall try my best, first lot of wrap should arrive at my house tomorrow so I shall get cracking once it arrives! After I've got back from a trip to Cadwell that is.

[VTRDark]

It will be interesting to see how you get on with that. You will want to practise on some small bits first. The more round ans the more angles the more difficult.

(:-})

[tony.mon]

It will be interesting to see how you get on with that. You will want to practise on some small bits first. The more round ans the more angles the more difficult.

(:-})

Yep. Practise on a spiky football first.

Or something alive, like a cat.

That'll get your eye in, sho' nuff.

[agentpineapple]

for what its worth, heres my expirence with vinyl wrap, as carl said start small, practise makes perfect, start with the correct tools, get a good craftknife/scapel. also a hair dryer or heat gun will be needed. i never used those plastic spatchel thingys myself, but i've heard they're good for bigger areas.
another tip, always cut a bigger piece of vinyl than you think you will need, it gives you room to manuevre. also, buy the best quality vinyl you can afford, theres a fair bit of difference between them.
prep the bodywork first, make sure its clean of grease and dirt.
small parts with few angles are easy enough, things like the nose cone and infil panels. its when you start on the bigger panels the fun really begins. work from the center outwards, try not to be to forceful as the vinyl can tear. small bubbles can be popped with a scapel so don't worry if you have a few.
with awkward curves you'll need to heat the vinyl, just don't pull to hard or you'll distort the pattern off the weave. by far the toughest part is decreasing radious items like, the fuel tank or crash helmets, i couldn't figure those out for love nor money.
attention to detail, make sure you line the carbon weave up from panel to panel. otherwise it'll look odd. practise on the single seat cowl to start with, good luck dude, be prepaired for lots of swearing....
done properly it looks good, done badly it can look awful, i look forward to seeing lots of pictures.

[8541Hawk]

Or you could always get some real stuff.......

[agentpineapple]

i've had email correspondence with mario, he seems a nice guy, i also have his price list from 2010. some off the prices aren't bad when you compare them against honda.
i know carbon vinyl wrap isn't everyones cup of tea, but it does have advantages, the main one being it protects your paintwork from the elements...
and done properly it looks good imho. although nothing beats the real thing, i'd love to buy a full mario faring in c/f...........

[leevtr]

Or you could always get some real stuff.......

Looks like a dodgy 1980's dogtooth suit...just needs some shoulder pads and a flat top !

[shinn281]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I wish I could afford the real deal! I was planning on starting with the seat cowling and going from there and I'm very mindful of making sure it all matches and flows through the bike. If the wrap turns up today I shall try and fit it to the seat cowl and anything else I can before rage sets in and I destroy my garage!!! I'll hopefully post some pics later on today.

[Snoogle]

I was texting a mate about wrapping my bike earlier today as it happens, and then I see this!

Good luck with it Mr Shinn!

Ps. Hello again everyone!!

[AMCQ46]

Ps. Hello again everyone!!

where have you been hiding?

[Snoogle]

Ps. Hello again everyone!!

where have you been hiding?

Probably best to start a new thread lol

[shinn281]

Cheers Snoogle. Gutted though as I was expecting some of my carbon wrap to arrive in the post today so I could get started. Unfortunately it didn't

[shinn281]

Finally the carbon fibre wrap turned up today and I had my first go! I think it looks pretty good and only took 30mins!

What do you guys think?