Wheel Stripes

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I've got an '06 vmax so it has those red stripes on the wheels. I've been thinking I might like to do away with the stripe but wasn't sure enough to paint over it. I bought some reflective wheel stripes from this ebay seller.

http://myworld.ebay.com/glsigns

The stripes I got are black. They went on fairly easy. Seem to be sticking good but time will tell I guess. I'm liking the blacked out look. I bought the widest ones and they covered the OEM stripe perfectly. They reflect some light too so might be a good thing in the dark since I painted up the side reflectors on the rad. These stripes are not one piece, you have to apply 4 pieces/side of the wheel. You can see the overlap of the splices but only if you're searching for it. Probably not the best thing to use if you are extremely particular but so far I'm liking them.

 

[4gasem]

I know a lot of people on my SV site install them for safety reasons. They are black and therefore stealthy which is nice. I thought about doing it to mine but bought new wheels instead... lol

Chris

 

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Here are a couple pics of the rim tape. One with the camera flash on, one with it off. You really can't see the stripes at all under normal conditons. In the non-flash photo you can still kinda see it cause the bike is sitting under a light. They didn't fall off yet so thats a good thing. I'm digging the blacked out look instead of the red stripes

 

[ninjaneer]

so it's been like 9 months since you did this. how are they holding up?

 

[dannymax]

some it's been like 9 months since you did this. how are they holding up?

This is an '06 wheel with the red stripe blacked out, not the reflective type like Mike's but probably the same adhesive.

I put over 7K in two years on it and it looks exactly like it did right after applying the stripes.

IMO, they hold up real well.

 

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some it's been like 9 months since you did this. how are they holding up?

I just sold the wheels a couple weeks ago but they were holding up great.

I removed the rim tape since some guys like the red stripe. It was on there really good. Just in case anyone needs to remove these, here is what I did.

1. light heat from a heat gun. Just enough to soften it up enough to get an edge peeled up.
2. heat ahead of the work area and peel slowly. Again, very little heat. The stripe came off but all the adhesive was left behind.
3. wet a paper towel with some 3M adhesive remover and lightly rub. Not hard, wet the paper towel often and let to remover do its job.

It didn't take too long and it worked great. No residue left behind, no scratches, no damage to the paint.

 

[ninjaneer]

i really like this idea, but it's gonna have to wait. my monkey funds are all tapped out. i went to the ebay store, but it doesn't look like he's selling black ones anymore.

 

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They still sell black.
When I purchased, I just clicked on the cheapest auction I could find and then told them what sizes and color I wanted.

I scored mine for less than $20 TMD. Made a huge difference in the look of the bike for the amount paid. At least IMO.