Installing Protective Film

Installing Protective Film

(Please read all of the instructions before beginning.)

First Step: Put your bike in the shade, prepare 8oz of the water and rubbing alcohol solution; add contents to a spray bottle with a mist sprayer attached. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap, fingerprints on the adhesive side of the film can show when placed over a lighter color paint.

We recommend you start with simple items first, something small that covers a flatter area, this will help you familiarize with the characteristics of the film before you begin the more challenging task of the center tank protector. It is generally a very forgiving material if you work, patiently and methodically. Now clean the area with the alcohol solution, feeling for hard to see or stubborn particles that could show up more dramatically after the installation is complete.

Now spray the area to be covered with the alcohol solution, take a knife and lift the film off of the release paper and spray it thoroughly too, with the finest mist your sprayer can produce. You can’t use too much water at this point, the more the better. Just before you lay it in place, spray both sides of the film again along with your fingertips. (Wet hands will lessen the chance of fingerprints) Position the “Lens Protector” buy checking the edges and corners to see that you have an equal amount of boarder all the way around, don’t begin to squeegee before you do this step. Once you are sure it’s in the proper position start to squeegee from the center moving toward the edges slowly, radiating outward a little at a time. You are striving to reach the edges on all sides simultaneously, moving the water and alcohol along like a wave in front of your squeegee. Move methodically or you risk trapping water behind your strokes in the form of bubbles that will look like blisters.

While working areas with contours that are moving away from you and not concave, ripples at the edges of film may start to appear, the excess film is bulking up trying to resists your efforts to flatten it out. This is not an insurmountable problem, unless you become impatient and get aggressive, which could lead to a crease. Simply keep moving the water out with the squeegee, it will slowly begin to dry and stay down. If you find that some water is trapped and is causing a blister to form, do not attempt to remove it, it will dry out eventually, pulling the film down as the water evaporates, this could take a few days depending on the weather. The problems that won’t go away are wrinkles; crease and dry bubbles (from too little solution) so flood it real well and work patiently.

In closing if you feel like you must reposition part way through the job or would rather start from the beginning, pull it off completely, re-flood and begin again.

Special instructions for positioning and installing the center “Tank Protector”

Position the “Tank Protector” left to right. It is designed to begin within a half inch of the saddle. It’s important to begin your squeegee passes in the center area (narrow portion) working toward the edges slowly. Once the center portion is set begin to squeegee toward the edges in short strokes so that you finish the whole edge area (the last 1/4” by four inches or so at a time) in one complete stroke, and at the same time. You can bow the blade of the squeegee to match the contour of the tank when needed.