Ever considered a vinyl wrap?

[Domo]

Now I've given up the thought of getting a Panigale V4 for financial reasons (for now!), I looked into changing the 959's appearance. I contacted a company which wraps commercial vehicles but they also cover personally owned bikes, cars, boats - pretty much anything. They quite me between £650-£900 for a full wrap.

Pros are you can design pretty much anything and they will create the prints and wrap it. It protects the bike and it comes off with little effort without damaging the original bodywork.

Cons, it's expensive and it only lasts around 3 years.

I nabbed this from another forum (yes it's an 899) but I really like it.

Has anyone else done or considered this sort of thing before?

 

[Philz0r]

not on a bike but my friend got his car done, after seeing the results I was very impressed, I wasn't aware it only lasted 3 years.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

I was under the impression that they say it doesn’t damage the paint but that’s a load of bull. Can’t say I know from experience but I’ve read that some wrappers use knives to trim pieces which obviously marks through to the paint.

 

[Domo]

I was under the impression that they say it doesn’t damage the paint but that’s a load of bull. Can’t say I know from experience but I’ve read that some wrappers use knives to trim pieces which obviously marks through to the paint.

These guys come highly recommended + only an absolute amateur would use a blade anywhere near bodywork. They use a technique called knife-less cutting.

From their web site:
DOES VEHICLE WRAPPING CAUSE DAMAGE?
No, in fact by wrapping a car you are actually offering an extra layer of protection to the vehicle’s surface. This means that wrapped vehicles retain a greater proportion of their value.

And

HOW LONG DOES A WRAP LAST FOR?
If looked after carefully, a good wrap can last for around five years. (I was wrong re 3 years. Better value for money!).
We can offer advice on how to look after a vehicle wrap during the consultation process.

 

[famas]

I made my own vinyl decals for my bike over 2 years ago and they looks as good today as when I first did them.

I also used the knife-less tape and it's great stuff, bit of a learning curve with it but It works really well.

If well looked after a good wrap should last years.

 

[Lopéz]

I wrapped my trails bike in 3M fluorescent vinyl. Fiddly and frustrating job, especially on curved shapes like mudguards.

Looks great though!

 

[signs]

A standard wrap will last longer than 3 years if its done correctly, the thing is you must "kill" the memory of the film by heating it to 90c if not it will find its own form again and pop out . , i've seen plenty of hatchet jobs

 

[signs]

I wrapped my trails bike in 3M fluorescent vinyl. Fiddly and frustrating job, especially on curved shapes like mudguards.

Looks great though!

what life span did they offer ? 2 years ?

 

[Lopéz]

I've no idea, I just bought some 3M vinyl from Ebay and did it myself, I didn't really pay attention. Fluorescent stuff is normally pretty short, so 2 years could well be about right. It's an off road bike so it could just as easily last 2 minutes as 2 years.