dschulle
July 9th, 2009, 02:24 PM
As an FYI to everyone who hasn't removed the unsightly tank safety stickers (i.e. wear your helmet, use premium gas, etc.)... I wanted to let everyone know how I removed mine.
What you'll need:
Besides your thumbnail, you'll need some Goo Gone, a good pair of tweezers, 2 micro fiber cloths, wax, shop towels, warm water and most of all patience!
What I did was take some Goo Gone and drip it on the 3 stickers... rub it thoroughly on all 3 stickers and let it sit overnight. I got up during the night and reapplied some more Goo Gone as well.
Before you begin, remove any jewelry (i.e. watch, ring, bracelet, etc.) because your arms and hands will rest on the tank and you don't want to scratch it.
Now, working with the bottom sticker first (closest to the front of the bike) use your thumbnail and gently peel up a corner. GENTLY use your thumb to peel this corner; you want to be careful you don't scratch the tank with your thumbnail which is why I cannot stress peeling the corner off 'gently.' Take your time... here you want to peel just enough so you can get the tweezers on the sticker (this is where you need patience). Now tug back and forth on the sticker, being careful you don't hit the tank with the nose of the tweezers. Tug in different spots until you can get enough off to use your fingers to pull it off (take your time and the entire sticker will come off in one piece). A top layer of plastic coating on the sticker may come off (it did on the other 2 stickers for me, so peel that off first so the actual sticker part comes off easier. If the clear layer is off, I reapply some Goo Gone and let it sit overnight. I had time since I'm waiting for orange Spiegler brake lines. :)
Taking the very last part off for each sticker is where you need to go really slow because if you go too fast it rips off and leaves remaining sticker glue and probably some of the sticker. If this happens, drip some more Goo Gone and let it sit.
Once all the stickers are removed, I dripped some more Goo Gone and applied it to where the stickers used to be. Let it sit for a few hours- maybe overnight if you have the time (overnight is recommended). Then, use a microfiber cloth to wipe off old sticker residue (you don't have to press hard on the tank). Now take warm water and a microfiber towel and wipe extra Goo Gone off to prepare for waxing (use extra rags to make sure it's clean!). When you use the water, you may want to put shop towels surrounding the gas tank so you don't have to get the bike all wet if it's already clean. Once completely dry, apply the wax and your good to goo- I mean go.
Removing the tank stickers may seem pretty trivial, but at least you didn't have to use a heat gun (which is a totally bad idea on a plastic tank); plus doing it this way will hopefully not even put the smallest scratch in your tank.
The most important thing here is to be patient and take your time; let the Goo Gone sit and do its work because it definitely pays off in the long run.
Hope this helps.
What you'll need:
Besides your thumbnail, you'll need some Goo Gone, a good pair of tweezers, 2 micro fiber cloths, wax, shop towels, warm water and most of all patience!
What I did was take some Goo Gone and drip it on the 3 stickers... rub it thoroughly on all 3 stickers and let it sit overnight. I got up during the night and reapplied some more Goo Gone as well.
Before you begin, remove any jewelry (i.e. watch, ring, bracelet, etc.) because your arms and hands will rest on the tank and you don't want to scratch it.
Now, working with the bottom sticker first (closest to the front of the bike) use your thumbnail and gently peel up a corner. GENTLY use your thumb to peel this corner; you want to be careful you don't scratch the tank with your thumbnail which is why I cannot stress peeling the corner off 'gently.' Take your time... here you want to peel just enough so you can get the tweezers on the sticker (this is where you need patience). Now tug back and forth on the sticker, being careful you don't hit the tank with the nose of the tweezers. Tug in different spots until you can get enough off to use your fingers to pull it off (take your time and the entire sticker will come off in one piece). A top layer of plastic coating on the sticker may come off (it did on the other 2 stickers for me, so peel that off first so the actual sticker part comes off easier. If the clear layer is off, I reapply some Goo Gone and let it sit overnight. I had time since I'm waiting for orange Spiegler brake lines. :)
Taking the very last part off for each sticker is where you need to go really slow because if you go too fast it rips off and leaves remaining sticker glue and probably some of the sticker. If this happens, drip some more Goo Gone and let it sit.
Once all the stickers are removed, I dripped some more Goo Gone and applied it to where the stickers used to be. Let it sit for a few hours- maybe overnight if you have the time (overnight is recommended). Then, use a microfiber cloth to wipe off old sticker residue (you don't have to press hard on the tank). Now take warm water and a microfiber towel and wipe extra Goo Gone off to prepare for waxing (use extra rags to make sure it's clean!). When you use the water, you may want to put shop towels surrounding the gas tank so you don't have to get the bike all wet if it's already clean. Once completely dry, apply the wax and your good to goo- I mean go.
Removing the tank stickers may seem pretty trivial, but at least you didn't have to use a heat gun (which is a totally bad idea on a plastic tank); plus doing it this way will hopefully not even put the smallest scratch in your tank.
The most important thing here is to be patient and take your time; let the Goo Gone sit and do its work because it definitely pays off in the long run.
Hope this helps.