For those who have had aftermarket decals put on

[04LE]

I dropped my panels off to a "professional shop" to have new decals put on. I stopped over to check on the progress and the decals had bubbles. I was upset, they told me that the bubbles would go away over time. Is that true?

Im also pissed off because 2 of the decals have a crease in them, and the 2 on the tail are not lined up with each other.

Were you guys pleased with how the decals looked after you paid a shop to do them?

If you zoom in around the hayabusa word is where the bubbles are. Also bc the question will come up, the shop is a sign shop that does vinyl work and other custom signs for buildings.

[Busa1166]

i did mine myself and it had no bubbles in them. Can't let air get under them, creases form sometimes when they try to remove the air after they are on and the glue is a little dry.

I have only done mine and I am not saying it is the way to do them, I am not a pro. But I used water with a little soap in it to put mine on. cleaned the surface sprayed the surface with the soapy water so I could align them to the spot I had marked off before removing the backing. Once I was sure I had them dead on I started removing the water with my credit card( again my unprofessional-ism shining through) Once I had done that they were almost immovable, went at it a little softer with credit card but with a little heat from the heatgun. No crases or air bubbles after it was done.

I have heard of people poking holes in the decal with pins to get air out, that may leave a crease also, I didn't have any air bubbles when I was done.

[sixpack577]

i did mine myself and it had no bubbles in them. Can't let air get under them, creases form sometimes when they try to remove the air after they are on and the glue is a little dry.

I have only done mine and I am not saying it is the way to do them, I am not a pro. But I used water with a little soap in it to put mine on. cleaned the surface sprayed the surface with the soapy water so I could align them to the spot I had marked off before removing the backing. Once I was sure I had them dead on I started removing the water with my credit card( again my unprofessional-ism shining through) Once I had done that they were almost immovable, went at it a little softer with credit card but with a little heat from the heatgun. No crases or air bubbles after it was done.

I have heard of people poking holes in the decal with pins to get air out, that may leave a crease also, I didn't have any air bubbles when I was done.

^This
The non proffesional does a better job than the vinyl shop.
If you're not happy, don't pay.
I'm no pro either, but I've done several over the years, basically how Busa1166 did them(small rubber squeegee instead of drivers license, but whatever works).
Good luck.

[98crewcab]

if you dont mind me asking....what did the "pro shop" charge?

[lil charlie]

I wouldn't pay for that. Tell them to redo it or just buy the stickers from them and do it yourself. It sounds like the rushed too much, something like that needs to be done slowly.

[GNBRETT]

totally unacceptable. tell them to do it right or give u ur money back. I wud not be paying for chit! there shud be no bubbles but are fairly easy to get to remove but the creases are more difficult. sounds like they had ZERO clue what they were doing.

[Fastfrog007]

You've got $4 worth of vinyl on there, make them redo it. They're making money without a problem, the can afford the time to do it properly.

[m_ridgeway]

I wouldn't pay. Bubbles or not if things are crooked and creased that isn't a normal issue. Bubbles can be taken out depending on the quality of vinyl, but no reason for them on a decal that small IMHO

[cheferman65]

Yeah! What these guys said! ^^^^^^^^

[04LE]

if you dont mind me asking....what did the "pro shop" charge?

Well I haven’t picked the panels up yet. So I don’t know what the charge would be yet. But shouldnt be much as they told me it only takes like 15 minutes to apply them. (Figuring time for each graphic and shop rate was 50/hr. shouldn’t be much over $75)

I wouldn't pay for that. Tell them to redo it or just buy the stickers from them and do it yourself. It sounds like the rushed too much, something like that needs to be done slowly.

This is most likely what I will be doing on Saturday. I called to make sure the owner would be there so I could talk with him as the rest of the employees are clueless there.

Back-story:
I had dropped these off on Thursday Jan 17, heard nothing for a week, called and asked them about progress. They said needed to see a picture of the tail so they had not started yet. I was like well why didn’t you call me to send you something earlier? Made no sense to me why they wouldn’t be proactive about completing work for a customer. So I emailed them pictures never heard anything back that they received them. Two more weeks past (now at Feb 2) and I went up there, thinking they still hadn’t started them and would be picking them up to take elsewhere. They brought them up and that’s when I saw the creases, bubbles, and some other bubbles that were so tiny and hard that it looked as though something was under the vinyl. I complained about the quality of the work and they called the owner. He told me that the bubbles would come out over time and the creases he didn’t know about since he did not check over the work yet. So still really hadn’t heard from the shop until I called on Tuesday (Feb 19) to make sure the owner would be there on Saturday so he and I could have a chat about the quality of the work.
I don’t plan on paying for crappy work, nor do I feel its right to be left worse than when I brought them the graphics. I paid about $90 for the decals from an online source (Decal kit Suzuki Hayabusa 2011 white version - MOTO-STICKER.COM), only one I could find the 2011 factory graphics to have changed to a different color, and if I leave with the crap work done on my panels I am now out another $90 to buy a set again and have this redone somewhere else.

[SKECHE]

yea, i wouldnt pay......i work with vinyl everyday and if they are a pro shop they should know to use water or heat to get all the bubbles and creases out...i dont call myself a professional but i do better work than that...
i make sure that the customer is happy and what he/she wants...
it looks like the word Hayabusa is to high, it bends in with the graphics and you really cant see it well....???
good luck with everything....if you decide to take those off and put just the Kanji decal on the sides hit me up and i'll make'em for ya.....NO CHARGE!

[KvHotDog4]

The problem here is they are trying to complete it in 15 mins. It took me a week just to get my old emblems off, and many hours to get them back on.

Let me tell you from first hand experience, the bubbles do not work themselves out. The air is trapped and sealed in by glue how can it eventually come out? The crease is from an air bubble that was found they poked a hole in it pressed it down and created a crease because the glue was too dry to let the emblem move.

The only way to fix it is to redo it with new emblems because if they peal those off and restick them them will not last.

Good luck to you. Be nice and offer to pay for new emblems if they ask, chances are they looked and thought it would be a quick easy job because they do big projects, however when they got into this job they realized just how much was involved. Do not pay for this kind of chit but don't be a d*ck when you approach them about it. Usually get more accomplished if they think you will come back and also recommend them to your friends, tell them it could even start a whole new production line for them, afterall this website is worldwide if they could make the emblems and ship them out no telling what could happen

[KvHotDog4]

This is what I went through, Just read your post about taking them the labels. I would say eat the cost of new labels and do it yourself. Its a pain but the hardest part is taking off the old emblems and since these are still freash it may not be too bad.

https://www.hayabusa.org/forum/general-bike-related-topics/127087-new-labels-finally.html

[GNBRETT]

The problem here is they are trying to complete it in 15 mins. It took me a week just to get my old emblems off, and many hours to get them back on.

Let me tell you from first hand experience, the bubbles do not work themselves out. The air is trapped and sealed in by glue how can it eventually come out? The crease is from an air bubble that was found they poked a hole in it pressed it down and created a crease because the glue was too dry to let the emblem move.

The only way to fix it is to redo it with new emblems because if they peal those off and restick them them will not last.

Good luck to you. Be nice and offer to pay for new emblems if they ask, chances are they looked and thought it would be a quick easy job because they do big projects, however when they got into this job they realized just how much was involved. Do not pay for this kind of chit but don't be a d*ck when you approach them about it. Usually get more accomplished if they think you will come back and also recommend them to your friends, tell them it could even start a whole new production line for them, afterall this website is worldwide if they could make the emblems and ship them out no telling what could happen

well said. excellent advice.

[04LE]

OK so heres the update. Talked with the owner of the shop, walked in at did as KvHotDog4 said and was just nice and open about the situation. He explained about the vinyl that was used (Calendar what was used vs Cast what was not used) and how it makes the applying process difficult for this type of application. Basically he said that if the cast vinyl was used it would be easier to work with plus would hold up better. For those that work with vinyl the type that was used was Oracal 641 economy cal.

With that said he told me he was not happy with the work and wouldn't want his name on it. So he told me he would not charge me for the work that was one. But did ask if would email the company I bought the decals from and ask if they would send the digital file they used to cut the vinyl so he could redo the entire work with the correct vinyl so that both he and I are pleased with the work performed.

So here are some 2 pictures attached for you all. *I didn't have them try the decals above near the headlight as I didn't feel like taking that apart and would just take the bike up when the weather was nicer. So those are still the original decals still.

[GNBRETT]

sounds like they are doing the right thing then. kool stickers to.

[Jrod86]

I would have just had SKECHE make all the emblems for you got some of his work on my bike and its fantastic! TOP QUALITY but hey this is just one guys opinion

[MLSDUKE1]

I'm glad he is taking his name in high regard. Also, I'm glad its working out for you. I wouldn't have paid for the original with the bubbles and creases. I've applied vinyl to windows and paint and I haven't had problems (I ain't no pro).

A squeegee and some alcohol along with a spray bottle of distilled water and I was good to go.

[04LE]

I would have just had SKECHE make all the emblems for you got some of his work on my bike and its fantastic! TOP QUALITY but hey this is just one guys opinion

I would have used Skeche. I even asked him about this. But what I really wanted was the 2011 OEM decals just with a different color. To me the way i like to make my bike is with little upgrades to how I believe the bike should have rolled off the line.

So the only bad news is that the vendor that I got the decals from will not help out at all. I figured he wouldn't send a vector file as that could be his property and how he sells his products. But I would have hoped that he would have done some thing as the Oracal website for the vinyl used states 3 years for life of product and the guy is claiming 5-10 years. He also states high quality premium vinyl and from what I have learned today (if correct) calendar vinyl is not a premium vinyl. I also did not like seeing that the vinyl that was sold is also stated not recommended for vehicle use.

[MLSDUKE1]

I have a machine with a computer program at work that I can do an auto-vector file. PM me anything you need me to make for you. Also let me know what the vector file type he needs is, I can do several. Its the machine we use to make the 105mm shells into awards and stuff.