Painting factory turn signals...

One modification I would like to undertake is making my front turn signals less noticeable. Some very creative and unique examples are shown on this site. I feel that as I am trying to mod my bike as inexpensively as possible that the method I will be chosing to do is painting the cases from the inside reflector back to not eliminate but reduce the visual obtrusiveness of these signals.

However, not being one for paint and body (I am more of a wrench and screwdriver type) I have a few question for those that have done this mod and are more knowledgeable in the process.

1) What prep needs to be done to the surface that will be painted?
2) What is the best (albiet still cost efficient) paint to use that can be picked up easily?

I am looking to do this but in the 2001 Red color.

[image: Posted Image]

I am also willing to try the de-dumboing mod and insert smaller flush mount signals BUT do not have the know-how to simply make an insert with the 2001 red plastic. However, if anyone out there already has a mutilated 2001 red passenger cowling that they wouldn't mind cutting 2 more blanks out of and sending them my way I would happily pay a reasonable fee for that service. Here are some pics of what I believe to be the cleanest install of a homemade blank from a seat cowl.

Dumbo Ear blanking plates

De-Dumboed

Thanks to the original authors whose pics I photo jacked from other threads to provide visual aides to my topic.

Ps. how are the yellow blanks attached to the fairing above. I have seen other installs that appear to be screwed in to something BUT the above example is very clean. Would love to know how this install is done. There is a great write up on how to do the whole fiberglassing and re-paint and do all that extra work on here BUT I was unable to come across the how to install a blank with flush mounts write up. Just pictures of bikes that had it done before and after BUT not a real step-by-step guide.

Thank-you one and all for advice and input.

Ps. how are the yellow blanks attached to the fairing above. I have seen other installs that appear to be screwed in to something BUT the above example is very clean. Would love to know how this install is done. There is a great write up on how to do the whole fiberglassing and re-paint and do all that extra work on here BUT I was unable to come across the how to install a blank with flush mounts write up. Just pictures of bikes that had it done before and after BUT not a real step-by-step guide.

Thank-you one and all for advice and input.

Don't know how it was done in this example (which I love BTW better than totally closing the opening).
But I would glue a backing plate to overlap the insert and silicone it in place from the inside. That will give you a matching depth and will allow you to go back to stock if you ever decide to do so. Or use epoxy instead of silicone as a permanent solution.

Ps. how are the yellow blanks attached to the fairing above. I have seen other installs that appear to be screwed in to something BUT the above example is very clean. Would love to know how this install is done. There is a great write up on how to do the whole fiberglassing and re-paint and do all that extra work on here BUT I was unable to come across the how to install a blank with flush mounts write up. Just pictures of bikes that had it done before and after BUT not a real step-by-step guide.

It was really quite simple, and I thought I covered the steps in detail in my original writeup. After carefully making a template of the opening out of thin cardboard and making the tedious cutting and grinding work to the donor cowl plastic--and adding a some touch-up paint to the ground and tapered edge, each blanking plate is glued in place with a little bit of clear silicone. A few little blobs in about 6 locations around the plate is all that's requiired to hold it tight forever. No need for a continuous bead of silicone!! Mine have been on there for years.

It was really quite simple, and I thought I covered the steps in detail in my original writeup.

I was not meaning that you didn't cover it well in a write-up. I just had not found it. I actually came across your pictures in another de-dumboing thread where someone had fake carbon fiber inserts...not my taste but to each their own. I saw your pics and thought yours where the best example of this method. Thank-you for filling me in on proper technique for this method. I will keep my eyes open for any inexpensive red plastic...or still open for a generous donation from someone :biggrin:

Ps. Trace do you have a link to yuor original write up. Would appreciate it if you do. Thanks.

Ps. Trace do you have a link to yuor original write up. Would appreciate it if you do. Thanks.

Nope. I searched and searched....it appears to be long-ago purged from the Modifications forum. Although my de-dumbo mod was popular, I don't recall any other member carving up a seat cowl (to get a perfect color match) to make the plates. There were several awful carbon-fiber plate attempts that look far worse than the lights themselves, but since phony carbon fiber stuff was the tits a few years ago, that seemed to be an easy choice. Several members filled in the holes and did a total repaint, but getting an acceptable match to the OEM Pearl Yellow has proven to be simply impossible. Soooo....that's why I made the plates from a seat cowl, plus the seat cowl has the same slight curvature as the front fairing, instead of just a flat plate painted to match. Didn't think about that, now didja? :fing02:

Painting the rear 2/3rds of the light seems like a pretty good way to go if you don't have the wherewithall to make de-dumbo plates like I did.

I wonder if HS can find my original write-up in his archived files somewhere, somehow??

plus the seat cowl has the same slight curvature as the front fairing, instead of just a flat plate painted to match. Didn't think about that, now didja? :fing02:

You are right had not given it that much thought. Just thought yours looked better than the others I saw. I guess you had put added thought into it and that would explain your above average final product.

I wonder if HS can find my original write-up in his archived files somewhere, somehow??

Not sure who "HS" is (assume he's a mod of sorts around here...remember I'm a newbie here) BUT it would be great that if you are the pioneer of the seat cowl mutilation into de-dumboing blanks and you had a thorough write up of the process that it could be pinned right underneath the complete fiberglass and re-paint method. Just for financial and labor intensive options for very similar results.

Also I wonder if TimmyTheCop is around as his final product of painted signals seems to be the best example I could locate on here and would like to know his method for the painting process. Or if anyone else out there has done it and could provide info and perhaps pics of their end product as that would shed light on the quality of their process.

Not sure who "HS" is (assume he's a mod of sorts around here...remember I'm a newbie here) UT-OH :excl:


Also I wonder if TimmyTheCop is around as his final product of painted signals seems to be the best example I could locate on here and would like to know his method for the painting process. Or if anyone else out there has done it and could provide info and perhaps pics of their end product as that would shed light on the quality of their process.

The signal lenses are alot like the abs that the other bodywork is made of. My paint is actually expoxy sealer and it was just sprayed on

Not sure who "HS" is

:laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: You have no idea how funny that sounds! Hispanic Slammer [HS] owns VFRD.

Okay, I'm going to briefly recreate my De-Dumbo mod right here. I'm missing only one picture from the orginal writeup.

1. Take a piece of heavy paper and trace the hole in the fairing. Use whatever skills you learned in elementary school make an accurate trace of the outer edge of the hole. This may require that you transfer the resulting fish shape from one piece of paper to another or whatever. You're on your own here.

2. Using an Xacto knife, cut that traced shape into the heavy paper or postcard stock. Check your resulting template over the fairing hole, of course. It must be perfect. Paper is cheap. Make templates until you're sure you have it right. Incidentally, since the right and left holes are mirror images of each other, you only have to make one perfect template.

3. Lay that template over the seat cowl at a spot that you think matches the curvature of the fairing. These two pictures give you a pretty good idea where that spot will be. I'm holding the plate in the exact spot it came from. That lower corner is within a smidge of the lower edge of the cowl. You can see various things written on my template. This is so I can relocate the template to the mirror-image spot on the other side of the cowl for what will become the right side piece. Left came from left, right from right. You gotta figure your own way to do it precisely.

[image: Posted Image]

[image: Posted Image]

4. Tape the template in place and trace the shape with a Sharpie. The inside of your line can be a mess. It's only the outer edge (that you worked so hard to make perfect) that matters. Remember that the other side is the mirror image. Think about that when you move the template to the other side. Mirror-image.....what was the outside is now the inside of the template.

5. Cut it out from the seat cowl. I used a jigsaw to do the real rough cuts, then used a Dremel with a 1/2 inch diameter sanding drum to VERY carefully work my way to the edge of the Sharpie mark. Slow and smooth.

6. Frequent checks with the front fairing is recommended as you work the Sharpie line.

7. So now it's done, perfectly shaped to fit the hole. But it's too thick due to the inner lip that the light base sits on. The Dumbo plate will not lie smooth with the fairing. So....

8. Using the Dremel, very carefully taper the back of the plate (of course), to a fine edge, about like the back side of a butter knife. When this is done correctly, the plate will lie flush with the fairing. You will obviously grind and check, grind and check, until you're satisfied with the smoothness of the plate in the fairing. Your results may vary!!

9. To make the plate much more flexible so that it conforms to the fairing, use the Dremel for a long, long time to thin the plate. Your goal is to remove about 1/3 of the thickness. If you burn through....you're screwed.

10. Using your choice of the various touch-up paints available, put several thin coats of paint along the edge of the plate, at the knife edge, to cover the black plastic that is sure to show a little bit. If you have a black bike, ignore this step! :pissed:

11. Now, with the perfectly shaped, carefully knife-edged, and thinned plate, use a few strategically placed small blobs of clear silicone to glue it in place. I used strong clear packing tape to hold the plate to the fairing for 24 hours while the silicone cured. You might find that you need to apply pressure at some points on the plates to make them sit flush with the fairing. To do this, put something under additional long swathes of tape, such as a wine cork, to add additional side force to the tape job. [Note: It's always better to let blobs of excess silicone get thoroughly cured and THEN trim the excess away a few days later than to wipe that crap and make a bigger mess than you dreamed of. Just saying'.]

12. Once it's all fully cured, add more silicone to the joint from behind for added strength. Let that get fully cured too, before you remove the tape. Hopefully when you're done it will look like this:

[image: Posted Image]

[image: Posted Image]

[image: Posted Image]

That's all there is to it!

Don't know how it was done in this example (which I love BTW better than totally closing the opening).
But I would glue a backing plate to overlap the insert and silicone it in place from the inside. That will give you a matching depth and will allow you to go back to stock if you ever decide to do so. Or use epoxy instead of silicone as a permanent solution.

What I did with mine (which are REAL carbon fibre, made by our very own Rivcyko), is to put aluminum behind them. Mine actually have replacement indicators in them (LP knockoffs) and there is a largish threaded plastic stem that goes through the middle of the blanking plate (and the aluminum) and a nut holds it together. The aluminum is larger than the blaking plate, and sits in behind the front of the cutout. The back is held in using a wellnut in the original mounting hole, and a slightly smaller headed allenhead than the other fairing ones. It's all rather fuctional, easy to remove to replace bulbs, and to revert to the OEM indicators, I just unscrew the allenheads, unplug the indicators, and plug in the old ones again, fit the mouting screw and it's done.
However, much as I like the looks of these ones, I may remove them shortlyish and replace the crappy LP knockoffs with some smaller LED ones.
[image: Posted Image]

Not sure who "HS" is (assume he's a mod of sorts around here...remember I'm a newbie here) UT-OH :excl:

Not sure who "HS" is

:laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: :laughing6-hehe: You have no idea how funny that sounds! Hispanic Slammer [HS] owns VFRD.

See I didn't know the initials "HS" but in my browsing of posts I have come across a number of posts by "HispanicSlammer". So I guess that makes since. Now I know and I am sure I won't forget. I mean vfrd is great and would not want to offend the creator/owner by not knowing who he is :biggrin:

The signal lenses are alot like the abs that the other bodywork is made of. My paint is actually expoxy sealer and it was just sprayed on

Thanks for that TTC. Did you have to prep the plastic any? (ie. sand the plastic to help paint stick)

Okay, I'm going to briefly recreate my De-Dumbo mod right here. I'm missing only one picture from the orginal writeup.

Trace thank-you for re-posting this info. I can see why you said you did an excellent write up CAUSE you did. The step by step photos are great too.

What I did with mine (which are REAL carbon fibre, made by our very own Rivcyko), is to put aluminum behind them. Mine actually have replacement indicators in them (LP knockoffs) and there is a largish threaded plastic stem that goes through the middle of the blanking plate (and the aluminum) and a nut holds it together. The aluminum is larger than the blaking plate, and sits in behind the front of the cutout. The back is held in using a wellnut in the original mounting hole, and a slightly smaller headed allenhead than the other fairing ones.

Do you by chance have a pic of the back of this setup to see the mounting setup better? Thanks again.