Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Back to the Bike

I haven't been able to work on my 125 project bike too much recently because of being occupied with other things.  However, I came home this afternoon and wasn't feeling well so I decided to work on something that I could do while sitting down.  Since my options were limited I decided to put my backgrounds on my side panels.  Let me explain the concepts of backgrounds first.  Backgrounds go on the front and side number plates on the motorcycles.  Smaller motorcycles, such as 125's, are designated by having black backgrounds and white numbers while bigger bikes, such as 250's, have white backgrounds and black numbers.  Not everyone sticks to this rule of thumb, but I am old school when it comes to motorcycles and racing so I try to stick to it.  To install the backgrounds I first had to make sure that the side panels (side number plates) are clean.  To do this I used warm water and dish soap to wash the surfaces of the side panels.  After the side panels were cleaned and completely dry I started putting on the backgrounds.  I always start by laying the background on top of the side panel to make sure that everything lines up correctly.  After I am sure that things will line up I begin by removing the adhesive backing at one corner of the background.  I then place that part onto the side panel and slowly peel the backing off while working the background onto the plastic.  It's important to work slowly and make sure that you are working across the entire surface in order to make sure that there are no air bubbles.  If you go too quickly there gets to be bubbles and it just doesn't look very nice.  It took a little while, but I finally got the backgrounds on.  However, I will not install the numbers until I have the side panels on the actual motorcycle.  It's easier for me to make the numbers look good when I can actually see them on the bike and make sure that things line up correctly.  Hopefully I will be installing the numbers very soon.  :)

2 comments:

  1. You are so methodical in this business of the bike, & in your writing-good & clear. I am admiring the patience! You didn't say anything else about feeling sick, so I imagine the calm, deliberate work helped. Whenever I have to concentrate on one thing, it's like meditating, very calming.

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  2. Wow...this is a lot of work! I had no idea the colors meant anything, but am not surprised to hear you go old-school with it.
    Hope you're feeling a little better.

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