FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Does anyone know a good trick for removing stock decals from the bodywork? Figured I'd see what other people have run into before I get going on it.

A heat gun, some VERY fine sandpaper (3000 grit), a plastic scraper to pull the decals off and a lot of patience.

There's going to be some old glue residue left over.. now if you're painting the bike anyways, then don't worry bout the old paint, but if you're just pulling them off and not re-painting, then be very careful when you sand not to ruin the existing paint..

Dennis Kirk sells some stuff called " Sticker Off " in a small black bottle. It smells like crap, it's a very concentrated petroleum distallate, similar to Goo-Gone. So it could easily take off the clear-coat finish of your fairings. I'd only use it if you're desperate. It makes a really nasty mess. I only use it for the most impossible to get off old stickers, on surfaces I really don't care much about. If you use this crap make sure you use the blue nitrile gloves, soap doesn't get it off your hands too well... and I GUARANTEE you'll get it on your hands, carpet, clothes, wife's kitchen table, whatever is around, haha. Lay down some newspaper or do it out in the yard away from where any pets would smell / lick it.

Your best bet is to remove the fairing, bring it inside air-conditioned house to cool, and blow the crap out of it with a hair dryer. I guess it also depends on whether the stickers have the clear-coat applied over them from the factory.

Actually, bweight's idea about the plastic scraper sounds really good to me. I got one from De-Cal works when I got my motocross decals. It's a pretty hard, sharp, but somewhat flexible plastic scraper, in this case actually designed for smoothing out wrinkles on the decals, but would probably work great for removing them also. Heh, I knew I kept it for a reason. (although I probably can't remember where the hell i put it)

Here is an "application kit" in case you're considering putting other decals on in the future, but you see the yellow thing I'm talking about.

http://www.decalmx.com/prod.ihtml?pid=25

This is a reaalt Sh*Ty job, Some suggestions that will make it go better

Option 1
Try Use a heat gun or hairdryer......
Heat them up...wait a 10 seconds....(will peel better without ripping as much..glue underneath will stay soft)
Don't overheat or you will bake them on or ruin the paint/plastic.

Once the Sticker is off you'll need to remove the glue with Goo-be-gone or some type of chemical.


Option 2

3m makes a Heavy duty sticker remover product available at a hardware store.. Smells bad and really burns your skin and is super flammable so be careful..

You really need alot of patience, so get lots of beer..

I just used a small butane torch. Heated the decal and it pulled right off glue and all... in most places.

I know it's a nasty job having done it on cars a few times. I knew there would be some good info out there on such a pain in the a-- job!! ^_^ By the way how hard was the R6 canister swap?? Thats the first one I've seen, how did it come out??

kawibunga90 wrote:Does anyone know a good trick for removing stock decals from the bodywork? Figured I'd see what other people have run into before I get going on it.

I used to work for a sign company and we used a product called Rapid Remover. It smells like almonds and works like a charm. You could, if using this stuff heat the decals a bit then peel it off. You could also peel them cold and spray this on the remaining glue residue and let stand for a minute or two, then wipe off.

I know we bought ours from 3M. Try a local sign shop in your area to see if they could give you any.

Hope this heps.

I just used an old embossing gun (I used to work at a party store that sold stamps ), sat down for under 10 mins and no more decals on the tank.
Now I just need to use a rag on the residue with some goo gone, or mayo, and get it ready for paint

i use 3m eraser wheels heres a vid of it in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKN5_UfDik