I'm toying with the idea of wrapping some parts of my bike with a CF look wrap like this:

http://www.carbonfibergear.com/we-no...ferent-colors/

and I'm curious if anyone here has had any experiences with it, or even vinyl wrapping parts in general. From what I've read so far, it seems like it works fairly well for basic shapes, but more complex shapes with sharp corners/bends look difficult or even nearly impossible to do. Thanks in advance; I know it's been said before, but the experience and help available on this forum is awesome.

 

i've seen a guy do the cf on some pretty tough shapes. if you do the seams right, they are reasonably unnoticeable. skill and patience make all the difference; understanding the characteristics of your material helps - not all material stretches the same way. i've done a fair bit of vinyl work myself.

 

I think CF vinyl looks cheap an I am not a particular fan. If Im doing CF I just prefer the real thing. But depending on your plans you might be able to have some pretty decent results. Ive been working with vinyl for 5-6 yrs. Complex shapes are very difficuilt to do. They have new vinyl out that is specifically used for wrapping, you use a heat gun and gently work the vinyl in the direction you want it to go. This will sometimes get a little bit of stretching but nothing too bad. Regular CF vinyl i would imagine would stretch like H*ll if heated but i have never tried...Got a roll of CF here at home incase I ever have a CF urge ...may have to attempt something of this sort.

 

Ok so I should have checked the site you posted first..That stuff looks really good actually! 3M makes a good product however, the luster that the CF has that your looking at looks like it might be sort of thick and wouldnt stretch/ mold well to complicated surfaces. It looks as if it may be similar to reflective vinyl which in my experiences is rather fragile. The CF I have here doesnt look nearly that good! If you go ahead and get some I would be curious on how it works out for you! If you wouldnt mind PMing me with your results that would me awesome!

 

The only point in carbon fibre components is the weight saving they offer over conventional materials, carbon fibre wraps look awful and serve no purpose other than to humour your vanity.

Spend the money doing something constructive... or just get your legs waxed to match your CF clad bike.

 

if you're gonna wrap cf vinyl then dont heat and stretch it. that works great for wrapping vinyl but the cf pattern gets way off when you stretch it. you have to cut and seam it on most of the bends and it can be a huge pita. im not saying dont do it but get a couple random things from the house to practice on first.

 

i spent about 3 hours wrapping my muffler with this stuff. overlapped the seam on the inside towards the wheel and cut out around the rivets. i have the autobody guys fooled into thinikin its real carbon fiber. it looks damn good. i'll take a pic later.

forget about wrapping the upper fairings with this stuff though cause it has no stretch unless you heat it up. and even then its still a bith

 

lol just dont let em flick it

 

I did my cupholder cover and my ash tray in this stuff. INothing but compliments so far. Just remember heat is the key... not too much

 

Not to be offensive or try to start anything but as far as carbon fiber goes I feel like its starting to be over played... Which is why i decided to remove all my cf from my build...

but to each his own