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It's from Autogoody off eBay, 3x5' chunk for $17 delivered. It's a mat 4d silver carbon fiber. it does have a texture so it covers some imperfections (like the crack in my pass panel). As it's the Chinese knock off it doesn't conform as well as the Vivid and other higher end makers. It's considered a 'calendar' product which is pretty thick versus a thinner 'cast' one that flexes more. Plus I'm just learning how to use it and probably not using enough heat to set it. It has a slight tack of adhesive on the back so you use heat to help it conform to the panel. Tons of stuff on Youtube about how to apply it.
It's vinyl but acts like aluminum. You need to know when to stretch it and when to shrink it. Using hot air to do both. It'll also relax with heat so you heat it, form it while hot and let it cool into form. It can be a little frustrating having some of it relax and come loose around the edges while you are working on a section next to it.
I did the side covers on my Sportster in 5d gloss blue to learn about the product before taking the car apart. I think it turned out OK. There's supposed to be a high gloss cover but I crinkled it and peeled it off before realizing I needed to use heat. I'm going to do the fairing once I get it finished.
I can't believe a dude your size rides a Sportster.
I can't believe a dude your size rides a Sportster.
Funny. I thought the same thing. I'm 6'1" and I had a sportster 30 years ago. Sold it after 1 year because it was too small. Got to say it's a fun bike to ride tho.
I can't believe a dude your size rides a Sportster.
The '05 is the same size / weight as a '70's FX and is closest Harley to a KZ1100 / CB750 style I wanted so... I actually went to the local dealer on a weekday and told the salesman I had no intention of buying but needed to find out what felt 'right'. None of the big girls fit well, seat too low, feet and arms way out front had me doing the C thing which killed my back just sitting still. He had one Sporty, a customers bike in the back with mid pegs and it was an aha moment. Found this one for $3k on Craigslist with 34k miles and a ton of engine work. It was a Chromed 1200 'Custom' with the skinny front wheel and butt dragging hard as rocks rear shocks. A mini me girls bike caricature of Harley's long and low couch riding mentality.
Three years later it corners well, we're almost to 50k miles, it rides nice and is a ton of FUN to ride. Pretty much everything has been done via swap meets, Craigslist or I built.
Looks like the forum has sorted itself out. Can't go back and edit the post from 2 days ago so here's the rest of the images.
Overall I like the look, but the color is wrong. I've also noticed the wrap lifting already. Install issues or bad material? Probably a little of both. Once I get caught up I think I'm going to do the brushed stuff with a lot more heat to help activate the adhesive. Sometimes learning something new is a pain in the behind.
The vent color matches a lot of other part in the interior and most have back lit writing which makes it impractical to change them all. I wish they hadn't chosen a mat metal color on a plastic part though, screws up the theme. Maybe hitting them up with a gloss clear would change the effect, maybe...
You CAN always wrap the vent trim and replace the markings with those scratch-on ChartPack high quality things, then spray clear over all of it to keep the markings alive.
The vent color matches a lot of other part in the interior and most have back lit writing which makes it impractical to change them all. I wish they hadn't chosen a mat metal color on a plastic part though, screws up the theme. Maybe hitting them up with a gloss clear would change the effect, maybe...
The 2012+ are gloss silver like polished aluminum. I think the color of yours is referred to as tungsten or titanium, same as mine.
I’ve always wanted the newer finish but I retained the older style steering wheel when I had the carbon fiber one fabricated because I didn’t want to deal with the melting black coating on the new ones. I originally had the spoke and switch packs in carbon too but sold them because I missed the screened graphics of the steering controls. I do have the latest all black console control panel, but as you said, I think it would look off if the vents didn’t match the steering.
Ah, the challenge of gloss clearing oily old plastic without primering it first...
I should have mentioned I tried this with an old spare trim. It stuck okay and was shiny but it darkened the tone of the champagne paint and in my opinion looked worse, cheaper.
"All I've got in here is five acres of........ tinfoil"
-Jeremy Clarkson
And there's more than one reason why folks say he has a big head...
So, today was the annual run up to the Spring Carlisle swap meet. Car did well, driver is whooped though. One thing I did notice is the car surged and had trouble figuring out which gear to use when it hit a bump at slow speeds. I've been putting off chasing the wheel sensor code I keep getting for the right rear. Thinking this is causing the issues.
No real updates, finally broke down and bought the pair of downstream o2's to clear those codes. Priced the rear wheel sensor and it costs most than the wheel bearing hub assy (that comes with the sensor)... It's been out front, off the charger the past two weeks and gave me a bunch of reminders to plug it in every couple days. AC is also not performing nearly as good as it should. Silly things, really.
04-15-2018, 09:56 PM
