Approaching meltdown

Falcon
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Falcon 10/30/2019 8:51am
10/30/2019 8:51am
I'm not a fan of the heat gun. Put the sideplate and the decal out in direct sunlight on a warm day for 15 minutes, then go with whatever method above you prefer. (I do mine dry for best adhesion, but the soapy water method is legit too.)

I line the decal up by removing a small portion of the backing and tacking the thing down. If it's lined up, I then remove the rest of the backing and "fold" the graphic down, using a middle-out pressure motion.
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/30/2019 9:21am
10/30/2019 9:21am
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience.

1. My method is do the line up testing with backing still on
2. Remove a strip of the backing from the front hole down the middle to the very back of the background. That way the bottom and top of the background will not stick to the plate while trying to get it lined up perfectly.
3. Once the middle section is laid down and everything is lined up, I peel the backing from the top portion of the background and work that out until it is laid down nicely.
4. Now I start the bottom of the background. This always take the longest and requires the most patience of the entire debacle.
5. If needed, I will bust out the heat gun or drier and heat around the edges of the graphic or background to kind of "seal" the edges.


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BW908
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BW908 10/30/2019 9:23am
10/30/2019 9:23am
Thats awesome. I remember my 1st time.

The Shop

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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/30/2019 9:25am
10/30/2019 9:25am
Here's the other side. Lighting in the garage sucks and excuse the mess in the back! It's been cleaned up since this was taken. Haha!

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jeffro503
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jeffro503 10/30/2019 9:28am
10/30/2019 9:28am
sumdood wrote:
A helmet wrap ? I get dizzy even thinking about it. Your buddy Joel Mx216 must be some kind of wizard or sorcerer. A flat sticker...
A helmet wrap ? I get dizzy even thinking about it. Your buddy Joel Mx216 must be some kind of wizard or sorcerer. A flat sticker on a round object with no wrinkles defies all natural laws.

My nephew works for a company that does clear wraps on high end sports cars, pretty cool stuff.
That's exactly what I thought! ( about the witchcraft stuff ) I couldn't even get the dang visor decal on , but the dude has some special skills!

He actually did both of mine in about an hour. It took me a 1/2 hour to get half my visor decal on , and it was crooked as hell. haha.

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sumdood
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sumdood 10/30/2019 10:18am
10/30/2019 10:18am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience. 1. My method...
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience.

1. My method is do the line up testing with backing still on
2. Remove a strip of the backing from the front hole down the middle to the very back of the background. That way the bottom and top of the background will not stick to the plate while trying to get it lined up perfectly.
3. Once the middle section is laid down and everything is lined up, I peel the backing from the top portion of the background and work that out until it is laid down nicely.
4. Now I start the bottom of the background. This always take the longest and requires the most patience of the entire debacle.
5. If needed, I will bust out the heat gun or drier and heat around the edges of the graphic or background to kind of "seal" the edges.


Thanks Matt, yeah I miss flat plastic, my wife's 1990 CR was a piece of pie. I did them dry with the tape in place then peel strips off as you go method for years. It's was just those stupid bulbous side panels that out witted me haha. My YZ turned out good. Your zook looks great !

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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/30/2019 12:24pm
10/30/2019 12:24pm
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience. 1. My method...
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience.

1. My method is do the line up testing with backing still on
2. Remove a strip of the backing from the front hole down the middle to the very back of the background. That way the bottom and top of the background will not stick to the plate while trying to get it lined up perfectly.
3. Once the middle section is laid down and everything is lined up, I peel the backing from the top portion of the background and work that out until it is laid down nicely.
4. Now I start the bottom of the background. This always take the longest and requires the most patience of the entire debacle.
5. If needed, I will bust out the heat gun or drier and heat around the edges of the graphic or background to kind of "seal" the edges.


sumdood wrote:
Thanks Matt, yeah I miss flat plastic, my wife's 1990 CR was a piece of pie. I did them dry with the tape in place then...
Thanks Matt, yeah I miss flat plastic, my wife's 1990 CR was a piece of pie. I did them dry with the tape in place then peel strips off as you go method for years. It's was just those stupid bulbous side panels that out witted me haha. My YZ turned out good. Your zook looks great !

The YZ looks great! I swear my YZ was the easiest to put graphics and backgrounds on.

And thanks! I went with a little different style with the Zook, but I really liked the way it turned out.
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Bruce372
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Bruce372 10/30/2019 4:58pm
10/30/2019 4:58pm
Undo the gas cap, kick the bike off the stand and throw a match on it.
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danman
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danman 10/31/2019 5:51am
10/31/2019 5:51am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience. 1. My method...
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience.

1. My method is do the line up testing with backing still on
2. Remove a strip of the backing from the front hole down the middle to the very back of the background. That way the bottom and top of the background will not stick to the plate while trying to get it lined up perfectly.
3. Once the middle section is laid down and everything is lined up, I peel the backing from the top portion of the background and work that out until it is laid down nicely.
4. Now I start the bottom of the background. This always take the longest and requires the most patience of the entire debacle.
5. If needed, I will bust out the heat gun or drier and heat around the edges of the graphic or background to kind of "seal" the edges.


This is exactly how I do mine! I still hate doing them, but this seems the result in less cussing.
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/31/2019 6:55am
10/31/2019 6:55am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience. 1. My method...
Sumdood! I would gladly have done those for you! Lol, I do hate the damn Honda's though! They take a lot of patience.

1. My method is do the line up testing with backing still on
2. Remove a strip of the backing from the front hole down the middle to the very back of the background. That way the bottom and top of the background will not stick to the plate while trying to get it lined up perfectly.
3. Once the middle section is laid down and everything is lined up, I peel the backing from the top portion of the background and work that out until it is laid down nicely.
4. Now I start the bottom of the background. This always take the longest and requires the most patience of the entire debacle.
5. If needed, I will bust out the heat gun or drier and heat around the edges of the graphic or background to kind of "seal" the edges.


danman wrote:
This is exactly how I do mine! I still hate doing them, but this seems the result in less cussing.
Haha I know a lot of people hate doing them, but I’m the opposite. I love installing new graphics and backgrounds
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Bjorn645
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Bjorn645 10/31/2019 8:45am
10/31/2019 8:45am
Not read any replies but seriously - soapy water on the plastic before hand. Press the soapy water out from underneath the decal repeatedly as you slide it around to fit properly. trust me it ends up sticking as good as ever and up until I learnt that simple trick nothing worked...
Indy mxer
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Indy mxer 10/31/2019 10:25am
10/31/2019 10:25am
KMC440 wrote:
Always start with two beers of your choice as you are putting together the parts and pieces you'll need. Then just before beginning take a big...
Always start with two beers of your choice as you are putting together the parts and pieces you'll need. Then just before beginning take a big swig of Knob Creek small batch 100 to rest those small muscle twitches. Continue as you normally would with liberal doses of "the Creek" and BOYC.

If done right you'll walk out in the morning hung over and think the graphic fairy elves paid you a visit!
lmao!!
tprice07
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tprice07 10/31/2019 10:32am
10/31/2019 10:32am
Take the plastics inside so you can be comfortable while doing it. Flip on some tv, grab the wife's hair dryer, a towel, and some soapy solution in a spray bottle. Take your time and if you get frustrated walk away from it.
Boomslang
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Boomslang 10/31/2019 10:55am
10/31/2019 10:55am
Motofinne wrote:
Man i remember when i rode the CRF150R in my last mini bike year and my dad did my graphics on the bikes. He was close...
Man i remember when i rode the CRF150R in my last mini bike year and my dad did my graphics on the bikes. He was close to losing his mind when he tackled the muffler side number plate. Hondas of that era were a pain in the ass regarding applying the graphics.
I was on the CRF 150 for three years in a row.....i could easily have slit the Japs throat who designed that side number board.
You-n-Gs-town born & bred 11/1/2019 7:35pm
11/1/2019 7:35pm
Prestrech and then heat like they show in this video on how to wrap a car rear view mirror.

wrapping a mirror

As long as the graphics don't do anything funky don't be afraid to stretch as needed and has previously been mentioned start from the center with equal amounts of overlap on all sides from there.

With a little practice you'll be able to bend even the sharpest edges and whatnot without any relief cuts like most graphics come with.

I'm not an expert by any means but i started wrapping my plastics after they start showing signs of aging and if there's no deep gouges or anything its like having brand new plastics.




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BAMX
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BAMX 11/1/2019 8:17pm
11/1/2019 8:17pm
Excaliburbmx wrote:
Decal works application kit and their decals are so hard to beat. Ask for Sean Murdock he is the best
sumdood wrote:
I use the kit. I have leftovers from when I did a polisport upgrade on my YZ250, which came out great. This bike is my son's...
I use the kit. I have leftovers from when I did a polisport upgrade on my YZ250, which came out great. This bike is my son's '06 CRF250. I did the fenders, front number plate, shrouds, fork guards with no issues. Those pieces came out tits, no wrinkles, no bubbles, & centered, very little drama with those parts. I prep the plastic with the 2 cleaners, sort of "test" the graphic with the backing still on and try to get a feel for where to start once I start, get the plastic warm with the dryer, get the graphic warm, peel the whole backing off, soak both pieces, and try to work from the center out. It was going great until I got to the egg shaped side panels, no matter what I had a triangle shaped over lap I guess you call it. I finally just made a slit and let it over lap and cut the over lapping part of with a razor blade. It's good from afar but far from good as they say. It's not too bad, it's like it came with built in battle scar.....Laughing I thought I knew the technique and had it wired.... wrong Unsure
DoctorJD wrote:
CRF plates are the absolute worst, especially the single-muffler bikes. My son used to have a 04', and my god those muffler-side plates were beyond rage-inducing.
The muffler side of those old Hondas is the worst. In 07 or so, we did Mammoth and had to use black backgrounds for our class. Bike bandit screwed me by holding shipment for a small part so, I got everything the day that we left. Needless to say, that bulging side panel with an install in a parking lot left a lot to be desired. My buddy said that it looked like my number plates had AIDS. The next year, I jut ordered plates and backgrounds from Dirt Digits and they came installed perfectly.
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yz25
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yz25 11/1/2019 8:21pm
11/1/2019 8:21pm
Bruce372 wrote:
Undo the gas cap, kick the bike off the stand and throw a match on it.
Hanging out with a non mx crowd.... they have no clue why I’m laughing my butt off... they wouldn’t get it if I tried to explain. But that’s some good stuff right there!!!!

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Kelz87
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Kelz87 11/2/2019 3:37am
11/2/2019 3:37am



I’ve posted these before, but this was my from my 1st time applying graphics. A lot of Windex, a hair dryer, and a plastic card made installation easy on the KTM. Literally no air bubbles

My 2016 KX250 graphics were a b**** tho for some reason. There are a lot of small contours/crevices on those number plates and fenders
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