Re: decals

[Bob MacFarland <emoto1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve Makohin wrote:

> Hello,
>
>> You know that nifty label on you tank that says your bike has power
>> brakes but not when the motor is running.   It is obviously put there
>> by a lawyer... so I decicded to take mine off.  I knew  it had baked
>> in the sun while sitting as a demo in Daytona... so I wasn't too
>> suprised when it  was stuck pretty good.  I had tried to peel it off
>> once and only managed to chip the corner and make it look crappy
>> so it had to come off.
>>
>> I figured with a little heat I could loosen one corner and get it to
>> peel right off... Oh sooooo wrong.  Aparently the little German
>> Lawyer is too smart to let you make a decision like that of peeling
>> the crap lables off your own bike.  The label is an ultra- thin, Ultra
>> fragile plastic/foil type material.  It took about an hour and a half of
>> fingernail work, hair dryer and mineral sprits to take it off and I 
>> never
>> got a piece off bigger than a Comma ,  ( well a fat comma maybe)
>>
>> The good thing is I did get it off and the tank looks much better with
>> out it, plus I don't have to worry about wax build up around it...
>>
>> The point of this is that if you have a new bike and want the labels
>> off, do it quickly  or learm to love them.  Does anyone have a secret
>> and effective way of getting these damn things off?
>
>
> I suggested this to the list before, but some members disagreed: I 
> have used a product called Goo-Gone with success. Take a piece of 
> paper towel soaked in Goo-Gone and place it on the sticker, letting 
> gravity and capillary action do its work. I also place a sheet of 
> plastic wrap over the piece of towel to slow evaporation. Let it soak 
> for 15 minutes or so. This loosens the edges of the sticker so you can 
> use a finger nail to start removing it. It still peeled off in bits, 
> but it was coming off a lot easier than drying to do it dry. When you 
> get to the point that the peeling becomes stubborn again, repeat the 
> soaking process. When the sticker is removed, it will leave behind a 
> gooey substance. Once again, do the Goo-Gone soak for 15 minutes, and 
> then easily wipe the gummy gunk away. Reapply and soak Goo-Gone as 
> required.
>
> In the end: No sticker. No gunk. No marks. No scratches. Good luck. 


What kind of a bike was the original poster (plpklt@xxxxxxx) dealing 
with? I ask because I had the same problem with the ABS decal on the 
tank of my R1200GS. It was far worse than any other decal that I've 
removed on numerous bikes over the past 28 years. plpklt's description 
was about right. I haven't tried GooGone on this particular application, 
but one thing I can offer to anyone trying this is to use the edge of 
one of those fake credit cards that are in junk mail these days to do 
the scraping instead of your fingernail. It saves a little wear and tear 
on the old bod.

Bob

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