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New color for my 2015 RT


Inigo

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I decided to try something new on my 2015 R1200RT.  The original color was Callisto Grey with the matte metallic finish (Kalistograu Metalic).  I liked the Callisto Grey but what really appealed to me was the matte finish.  Several months back, I wound up getting a little over-zealous in trying to clean off some marks on one of the panniers.  My beautiful matte finish became glossy - all my fault.  Last year, I remembered seeing Doug Baliko's post about vinyl wrap and I decided to do some research.

 

The matte finish on the BMW paint seemed to translate fairly closely to the satin finish on the vinyl. I really liked the White Pearl from Avery Dennison and it came with a satin finish.  I also found that the Satin Dark Basalt from Avery was an almost perfect match for the BMW paint on the center tank cover (BMW calls it "dark slate").  I watched hours of YouTube videos (even some that talked about vinyl wrap :) ) and after I was certain that I could remove the vinyl without affecting the original paint, I decided to dive in. Since I had never painted my top case and it was still the factory silver, it was a simple decision to also cover it in the white vinyl but I added a small amount of color to pay homage to BMW.

 

It has been a very fun project and I am very pleased with the results!  In regards to the center tank cover, the BMW Dark Slate seems to be the most common color for this part with the different factory paint combinations.  If you are concerned about marking up the original paint because of . . . hmm . . .perhaps a tank bag,  then a small piece of this Satin Dark Basalt will solve your problem.

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There are probably several dozens of sources for this vinyl product.  Though the web site for Fellers is not as "glitzy" or user friendly as some of the other web sites, I found the customer service to be outstanding.

 

https://www.fellers.com/fellers-shopping/cat/colored-patterned-wrap-vinyls/sub/satin-colorchange-wrap-vinyl/set/avery-dennison-sw900-satin-wrap-vinyl

 

Fellers' has 40-50 different warehouse outlets spread across the country that seem to have most of the products in stock.  If there is a warehouse near you, you can place your order and pick it up at the warehouse 2 hours later and there is no shipping charge.  Obviously, you can have anything shipped to you as well.

 

Here is another source that seems to have a few more photos of finished projects:

https://www.metrorestyling.com/Avery-SW900-Supreme-Wrapping-Film-Satin-White-p/sw900-117-o.htm

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4 hours ago, RTinNC said:

Very nice !! 

 

Mind sharing the ballpark cost of the material? 

 

I would like to know how much of it you needed (sq.ft./yards/etc.). I've built model airplanes all my life and that stuff goes on a lot like the covering material we use (minus the need for an iron for the model stuff) so I've got a lifetime of experience applying mylar coverings. 

 

Also, how did you deal with heavy recesses like the saddlebag mount area for example? Were there any other really tricky spots?

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19 hours ago, RTinNC said:

 Mind sharing the ballpark cost of the material? 

 

Most of the vinyl manufacturers seem to make their rolls 60" in width.  The retailers that are selling the vinyl will either sell by the foot, yard, or roll.  The company I choose to use will only sell either by the yard or roll.  I calculated that the panels on the RT that I was going to cover in white would need a roll about 13' in length.  Since I had never done this and since I needed to order by the yard, I ordered a roll 5 yards in length; this came to $174 (I picked it up locally so there was no shipping.  What really drove up the cost was the small pieces I needed for the BMW colors and the "dark slate" for the center tank.  Because of the minimal order (i.e. one yard lengths), each of the non-white colors cost $29 for a 5'x3' piece.

 

14 hours ago, Pappy35 said:

Also, how did you deal with heavy recesses like the saddlebag mount area for example? Were there any other really tricky spots?

The deep recesses were done with a technique called an "inlay".  Basically, you use a small piece to fill in the tricky area and when you do the remainder of the piece, you overlap the edge of the inlay by 1/8".

 

In regards to the tricky spots, it seems that almost every panel had either a corner or a compound curve that took some time to think through. However, the sides of the fuel tank were probably the most difficult and also the most rewarding.  It took several attempts before I found the right approach and I really like the way they turned out.

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