As always, click on images to see the full-size versions.
Jon Broome's Honda Rebel 500
Hi everyone! It's been a while since Tapeworks sent out a newsletter of any sort. I hope this email finds you in good health!
There is always cool stuff going on here at the shop. Back at the end of March, Tapeworks moved from our storefront on Technology Park Lane to a top secret location (Rob's basement) in the next town over. It's nice and quiet, down a gravel road, and 3 big windows allow peaceful viewing of the woods and wildlife all day. No complaints here!
Tapeworks has had a number of customers bring their bikes and cars to the shop for custom work. This is the story of Jon Broome's Honda Rebel 500:
July 6
Local customer Jon Broome contacted us. His 2019 Honda Rebel has the Candy Orange gas tank and he had found an image on the internet of a graphic that he wanted to emulate. He was also interested in possibly doing some multi-color stripes on the front and rear fenders, incorporating the same colors of the graphics to be used on the gas tank. And, of course, he was on a limited budget! We said we thought we could do something very close, within budget, and had him ride over so we could take a look at the bike and gas tank shape in person.
July 9
Jon came to the shop and we discussed the details of what would be involved, and estimated costs.
July 12
Jon decides to go ahead and drops the bike off at the shop.
July 14
The tank pattern is first laid out with pinstriping tape (we used some 1/8" rimstripes) to get the shapes right. Then we installed a big piece of laminated car wrap print film and traced out the shapes with a fine point Sharpie. Doing that installation let us know that the graphic would be tricky to install correctly, requiring careful heating and stretching, due to the compound curvature of the gas tank. That film was then removed from the gas tank, carefully installed onto a big piece of paper, then scanned and digitized.
Incorporated into the design was some custom REBEL lettering. For that, we sent Jon a proof showing REBEL in a variety of fonts, let him choose his favorite, and tweaked it slightly to make it just like he wanted. We also simulated the fender stripes in 3 different color combo possibilities and let him choose his favorite.
See proofs and modifications to the leading edge of the tank graphic as per Jon's request.
Installation of the front fender was fairly straightforward, requiring multiple strips of blue masking tape that we measured and spaced out so the stripe would install down the center of fender.
The rear fender stripe installed the same except that it required some disassembly to allow the tape to tuck behind the seat and taillight assembly.
The gas tank graphic installed best by splitting the backing paper into left and right, and installing from the center outward, heating as required. Skills and experience required!
The result is quite a transformation!
July 19
Jon loved the pics we sent him and came and picked it up Sunday evening. 2 days after picking up the bike, he called to say some of the decals were peeling up. I was horrified, couldn't believe it, and just about had a heart attack. Then Jon said it wasn't anything to do with our install. Whew! It turns out Jon had ridden the bike to work and a DOT truck backed into it. Oh, man! That's Horrible!!
That's it for this week!
As always, Tapeworks welcomes your photos and testimonials! Just a couple things - please tell us what your vehicle is and what you put on it, and send a few high-resolution photos of closeups as well as wide shots of the whole vehicle to info@tapeworks.com.
Tapeworks Graphics/Stripe-It-All
1-800-232-8273 |
