Going full stealth

CF for the fairings + CBR front fender then she is all done for now.

Damn the CF fairings look good. :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:

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Is that actual carbon? If so I bet that wasnt cheap, but damn is it ever cool looking :fing02:

Just carbon fibre vinyl wrap. It seems to be pretty tough stuff. I cant stop looking at it.

ahhhhh, like that laptop wrap material! thats a cool idea. Might borrow it to fortify a few bits on my 5th gen

Interesting... Now lets see some pics of that on the bike... Now! Lol

[image: View Post]Jessman, on 09 May 2012 - 08:49 AM, said:

Interesting... Now lets see some pics of that on the bike... Now! Lol

:+1:

OOHHH  I love that!
I have a bunch of plastics prepped for paint, but I've never painted before, so it will probably come out bad.
Now, this is a great idea.

Do you mind sharing where you sourced that wrap, how much is enough to cover the bike and the price?
I am thinking to do the tank as well.
I also wonder if stickers will hold on the vinyl.

Will be working on the bike for the next few days after work. Just taking my time and having fun with it. Will have pics up after I finish.

I am kind of new to this CF wrap but it looks like there are 2 grades to the stuff. Automotive which has some kind of UV protection and plotter which is used more for decals and such.

Rice, look up Di-Noc on ebay (only get the genuine 3M stuff). It comes in different sizes, it will take stickers, and I believe it will even take paint ok.

Maybe I will do a mock up on the RH side to see how it looks which should be very good I think.

Here is my own homebrew theory which may be way off base but I think I have found the solution as to why my bike always looks better in person than in a pic. The bike has so many subtle angles that just do not show up in 2d. Its almost like my brain gets confused trying to size up the dimensions from a 2d pic so it doesnt look as good as in  3d

Hopefully the CF should solve this problem by making the dimensions pop better. I'm not a fan or hater of CF finishes. When I see it in a pic now I think it looks good because my brain can actually make sense of the dimensions.

Just my theory. Probably bs. :happy:

[image: View Post]Rice, on 09 May 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

OOHHH  I love that!
I have a bunch of plastics prepped for paint, but I've never painted before, so it will probably come out bad.
Now, this is a great idea.

Do you mind sharing where you sourced that wrap, how much is enough to cover the bike and the price?
I am thinking to do the tank as well.
I also wonder if stickers will hold on the vinyl.

I just ordered the basic automotive style wrap to start. Not the 3m. Figure it was a 50 buck shot in the dark and if I liked it I would go back over it with the pricey stuff. Just got mine off of ebay for 50bucks shipped. search black carbon fiber vinyl and a lot of stuff should come up. I should be able to do all the red fairings minus the front fender with 2qty 60x36 sheets which is a standard size apparently. The front fender would be impossible to do so I got a 85 dollar Hotbodies fender for a CBR1000 to paint instead of messing with my 250 dollar original. Hope that helps

Am I the only one who thinks making a bike harder to see is a bad idea?

[image: View Post]Ryanme17, on 09 May 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

Am I the only one who thinks making a bike harder to see is a bad idea?

You've got a good point. I am not sure if it is better to keep it flexible or make it harder--it may create tension zones and eventually crack? Time will tell? But don't take my word for it, I'm going on intuition only and I really don't know nothing about bikes...

C

I got some of the 3M stuff and did the red nose piece just above the headlight.  It came out real nice.  With the extra, I wrapped the fork tubes.  IMO, it hits off great with the carbon fender I snagged from Powerbronze.  I can't wait to see your "Stealth VFR".

Got the 2 tank panels and the nose to go. Its slow going but better to do it slow and get it right the first time. Then just need to put resin on the back of the fairings at the seams to seal it and should be able to get the fairings back on after that. Hopefully the new front fender will be in today. Damn it looks good so far.

I had to do the nose piece in 3 pieces like a window tinting seam. The curvature of the piece made it impossible to lay on smoothly in one piece.

[image: View Post]Headhunter, on 10 May 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

I had to do the nose piece in 3 pieces like a window tinting seam. The curvature of the piece made it impossible to lay on smoothly in one piece.

You should be able to do it with one piece sections. The stuff is made to hit it with a hairdryer or heat gun to stretch it over corners and bends. I am looking forward to the nose piece being the easiest part. I have tried both methods of application. Applied to a dry surface and using a medium (50/50 glass cleaner water mix). Both methods have advantages. For large flatter surfaces that may attract more bubbles the wet method works well. For curvy surfaces that you need to heat and stretch a lot the dry method allows for more pulling leverage.

For bubbles, use the smallest, pointiest exacto blade you can find hitting the bubble at a low angle at the base of the bubble holding the flat side of the blade parallel to the surface while hitting the bubble with a heat gun. Get the surface hot first to build up some pressure in the bubble and push the blade lightly till you feel it pop then keep the blade inserted to allow the air to escape while the heat gun does the work shrinking the vinyl. It wont leave a hole in the vinyl and the blade wont mark the underlying paint that way.

Just some things I have found that might help in application if it is something you want to do.

more pics please :D

Here's plan #2 when I eventually dump mine in a gravel parking lot. :laughing6-hehe:

You ain't kidding. I cant help but notice that extra scratched middle fairing sitting in my garage that I could have saved the 250 dollars on replacing just for the scratch in the paint.

Not gonna get the whole job completed for a couple more days. Had to order some more carbon fiber wrap. I finally got the tank covers figured out but ran through a couple extra pieces doing it. I could do the tank covers in 2 pieces but it just wouldnt look as good as a single piece. Kind of learning as I go on this stuff.

It's definitely a learn as you go.  Let me know how it goes with the nose piece.

Will do. I don't think I have enough material to do the nose this weekend but maybe I'll do the nose instead of the other tank cover since it is more straight forward.

Pretty!

NICE       ..................

got the stuff to finish. got a little backed up by other things. taking tomorrow off to see if i can finish up. Btw the cbr1000rr front fender does work on the vfr12.

[image: View Post]TiN, on 15 May 2012 - 06:19 PM, said:

got the stuff to finish. got a little backed up by other things. taking tomorrow off to see if i can finish up. Btw the cbr1000rr front fender does work on the vfr12.
I am very curious to see the photos of your project as I love the look of c/f

Wonder what fuel vapor does to this stuff.  Matte orange wrap on my 6th gen would, I believe, look the business.

The auto grade stuff is supposed to be resistant to all automotive type hazards that can occur. I wouldnt think fuel vapor would be a problem

finally got some more work done today. it takes some practice. getting better though. that tank faring is a &*%$@ to get in one piece of wrap.
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thanks for posting- looks great!

This carbon fiber look is absolutely amazing...

can wait to see some finished pics in the sun with some good light.

o.0  looks great  !!!

Looking wicked sharp!

-Mike

Tips I have learned in case anyone else ever decides to do this:

Keep in mind that at least on the vfr12 this takes some practice. I found the best thing to do is get some extra and cut 1ft squares and just practice before cutting 30" x 30" squares and messing up. That can get expensive. Practice on the buldge on the tank faring getting it crease free.

You have to start at the center of the panel and work your way out with a heat gun with no liquid medium.

Don't worry about the bubbles. The bubbles are easy to take care of using the exacto-knife method I mentioned earlier.

Do worry about the creases. Those are hard to fix. When you get a crease lift up from the outside with your hand (fingers spread) while using the heat gun then re-lay. Don't worry if you have to keep relifting and reapplying. Its a slow process. Just keep working your way out from the middle making sure there are no creases and the grain looks right.

Do it with the panel on the bike otherwise it will be hard to keep a hold of. Then remove it when you get to the edges and finish them up loose.

I used a fibreglass resin to seal the edges on the back of the panel.

Do get double the amount of CF wrap you measured that the bike needed. Its not that pricey and if you have never done it before you will need it.

Every YouTube video on how to apply this stuff is B.S. It makes it look way easier than it is.

As long as the wrap doesnt have a hole in it then it is still good. Don't think that since it is folded and stuck to itself that it is done. Use a heat gun to separate it from itself. The heat gun is your friend.

TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE PATIENT. You can do every panel on this bike with one seamless piece per panel. It is possible.

Hope this helps anybody who is as thick headed as me to try this.

I should have the bike done in the next couple of days. Its been a long day and I need a beer. :unsure:

You ll be surprised how many thick headed people (including yours truly) there gonna try this staf to some scale. I am ordering some 3M DI NOC right now to start practicing !

I am surprised that you did not use the "liquid" method along with the heat gun. Did you try it and have problems or...? Just curious, most vinyl work that I have done has always been much easier (and forgiving) using a soapy liquid sprayed on both vinyl and application surfaces to start, so want to learn why it was not (or may not be) successful in this case...

Nice Work BTW!

Cheers;
Eric.

Looks great!

That is cool.

[image: View Post]Racer944, on 18 May 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

I am surprised that you did not use the "liquid" method along with the heat gun. Did you try it and have problems or...? Just curious, most vinyl work that I have done has always been much easier (and forgiving) using a soapy liquid sprayed on both vinyl and application surfaces to start, so want to learn why it was not (or may not be) successful in this case...

Nice Work BTW!

Cheers;
Eric.

The wet method worked good on the flat surfaces of the middle faring but the tank fairing required a lot of stretching and heat gun application and the dry method allowed for more leverage. The wet method just kept taking the whole piece off when I just wanted to raise a small section due to how hard you had to pull on it.

Flatter surfaces it is good to use the wet method but the surface area is way too irregular on the tank panels due to the high and low spots.

i was expecting to laugh at whatever was in the this thread.....but that looks wicked cool, cant wait to see it finished

Ok. she is still missing the front fender, is dirty as hell and needs a little more work on the small bubbles that are left but here she is.
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suddenly she looks as good in 2d as she does in person.

Looks awesome! Excellent final product!

-Mike

Amazing, really good

Not my cup of tea, but very well done.

Looks like something from a movie, nice job.

Love it.
What's next? Crankcase - Alternator cover - powdercoated?