bluevolt

On my first 275 km ride on the Ninja, I was wearing a two piece leather suit with in-built armor.I parked the bike home in the evening, and then next morning I did a quick round of the bike to see if there were any damages from pebbles or scratches. I noticed that my leather pants had scuffed (not scratched) the surface of the tank in the side areas where you would normally hug the tank with your knees while riding. I also saw that the extra key in the key chain had left a scratch in the area just below the ignition key. Alarmed, I set out to apply a thing called a 'Paint Saver' on my Ninja 250R.

I had got a roll of Paint Guard from OZ, a adhesive transparent film(also available in optional textures) which is around 1mm thick. You can cut different shapes and stick them on the bike, so that certain scratch prone areas (like the front area, and tail) are protected by this additional layer. What I will do today is to document how I went about the whole process. It will take you around 4 hours in total from start to finish, but it is worth the effort. And I think this applies to all bikes and not only the Ninja since every bike is susceptible to scratches and minor surface degradation. I got my stuff from Melbourne, but should be available online. The brand I used was 'Oxford Paint Saver' in clear texture.

STEP #1 - Trace the patterns you want, using the actual body contours of your bike. For this, you would need around half a dozen sheets of tracing paper, a drawing pencil with a soft lead (like 4~5B), Scotch tape and a measuring tape. First, using the tracing paper and tape, cover the areas of the bike you want to make the paint guard patterns for. Once you have done that (see picture below), start marking the edges of the bike component using the pencil lead sideways. Do you remember, as kids, we used to trace a 1 rupee coin on a piece of paper? Same thing - this does not require a high level of artistic skill. If you were one of the kids in the class who drew random shapes during the teacher's lecture, that's all the skill you need. (ps: I still do that during meetings ) Tracing the contours of the bike is important as the patterns will end up blending with the bike and not hamper the aesthetic look of the bike, as would plain vanilla rectangular patterns!









Once you are done with the tracing, mark the up, front and back direction and also an indication of how much margin you need in the pattern. If the shape of your adhesive film ultimately ends up matching exactly with the curve peaks of the bike component, it will start peeling off since there will be not be enough grip on the sharp contours. So you have to to 'shave off' a few mm's around the entire periphery of the pattern you have traced on the paper. I took a 3mm allowance. And instead of the one large, big pattern, break it down into two or more, otherwise when you start sticking the large patch of adhesive film, you will encounter wrinkles and air bubbles, not to mention going out of line.

Once you get the paper traces back to your room, redraw them again using a pencil to mark clear lines and curves (see first picture below). The edges should not be pointy; they should be curved so that the film has more surface area for adhesion around the edges. Once you are satisfied with the result, use a black felt pen to draw the final pattern on the pencil markings. Then it will look something like this as in the picture below:




Step #2: Cut the tracing papers patterns along the pen lines and go back to your bike, placing them over the target areas to see whether they fit well. This second round is very important as this will help perfect the shape and reduces the scope of error when you actually start cutting the adhesive film. And if you have planned two or more patterns side by side, place them in the target positions to see whether or not they overlap. If they do, make pencil markings on the paper to shave off the extra margin. Then get a sheet of white chart paper, put the tracing paper with the marking on it, and start cutting 'guide patterns' using a sharp cutter knife. If you have a cutting sheet (which I used), that is perfect, otherwise use a kitchen board. Just following the pen markings to guide your knife. Then the result will be cut pieces of the original tracing paper and corresponding chart paper. The picture below illustrates that, and clearly mark which way is up, front etc etc.



Step #3: Using the cut chart paper patterns as a base, start cutting the final patterns from the paint saver sheet. Cut them in such a way that you do not waste much (see picture below) and also use a sharp knife and apply pressure since this is 1 mm thick. If you are having problems cutting a curved corner, just cut them straight and then give it a curve later using a sharp pair of scissors. Don't forget that there are two pieces to be cut for each pattern, one for left and the other for right. This can be done by just turning the pattern upside down (reverse side, not rotation) and then cutting again.





Step #4: Apply the adhesive film to different areas of the bike. Peel a little bit of the film, stick it on the starting point of the component and then gradually move towards the back(while peeling off the paper on the film), applying pressure on the center and then outwards radiating from the center to avoid any air pockets. Once the film is pasted on the panels/tank, apply more pressure on the edges and seal the adhesion. And Voila - you have done it! The pictures below will show how it looks - one needs to look really close to see the film. From a distance, the color of the bike will shine through, yet safe under a mm of polyurethane film!

Aryan

DIY Approved

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prajwalkashyap

This Paint Guard is not available in India; at least not that I know of. So my idea of substituting it is with cheap sunfilm and 2-3 layers of it. Llumar has paint protection film mentioned on their website, but not able to procure it anywhere. Would appreciate it if anyone has any info on either that, or 3M ScotchGuard.

One more thing is, by cutting out the edges along the contours, the exposed contoured edges of the paint is still susceptible to scratches. By using a combination of soap-water and rubbing alcohol, the film can be stretched to cover the entire area in just a single piece. Even highly curved areas such as rear view mirrors in the civic can be covered in a single piece of the film

Just my thoughts. I had a spill from my bike recently and I am getting my tank and other plastic/cowl areas painted. I plan to film-up the tank, mudguard and the side cowls. So I will try and post my observations and results into the same thread if its permissible.

Prajwal

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Pinaki

Yes ,bike manufacturers are using a patch this type of film inbetween the seat and the tank to prevent loss of paint from this tank area by friction with seat .My bike was missing this patch of adhesive film , but I could not source it anywhere in shops . So I had to make do with duct tape , thankfully the area sandwiched between the seat and tank and not visible .