Removal of gas tank decal

[Harry the Hat]

My 03 1200 still has the original gas tank decal on it, which I would like to remove. Anyone have any experience or tips on how to get this rock hard thing off of here? Hopefully without damaging the paint!

[Barry]

denatured alcohol. It will only penetrate around the edges. So Use a Qtip and start on one edge. Once it softens you can raise a corner and continue working it under the sticker. Lots of patience needed.

[Harry the Hat]

I'll give it a try and let you know how I make out. Thanks for the advice!

[Harry the Hat]

First thing I will advise anyone looking to do this is to leave it alone! Denatured alcohol did the best at softening the decal, but it was a very painstaking and long process. WD-40, goo be gone, isopropanol, and anything else I tried did not even touch it. Thought about doing carburetor cleaner but I was pretty sure that would take the paint off also. In the areas where I did get the decal off there is a noticeable difference in the paint so, my best solution was to put another decal over the partially removed Factory decal. Not ideal and not the decal that I will eventually have there, but it looks okay for now. Best advice for all, leave it alone!!

[Barry]

You're right about it taking forever. I found that once an edge was lifted, it was possible to force the denatured alcohol under the decal which would speed up the process. When that hasn't worked, I will try stronger chemicals. Out of curiosity, did you try mineral spirits and a razor blade? After mineral spirits, the next strongest chemical would be paint thinner. I don't think I would use lacquer thinner or carb cleaner. My bike is covered in pin stripping from the previous owner. I would love to remove some of it, but don't want to deal with repainting or replacing parts. After all, my paint is 33 years old and I'm sure it has faded.

[cranky]

... I have some pinstripes that I put on, the vendor had a method for removal... if
you can find out who they belong to, maybe their website might be of help...

Maybe general look around pinstripe web sites?

[Harry the Hat]

I'm not sure how much more I'm going to do with it. Once I find the right overlay decal, I want to put the whole episode to bed. I could try some mineral spirits, and I have used plastic scrapers and bamboo skewers with very limited success. I don't see going near it with anything metal , my hands aren't that's steady anymore! Thanks to all for the good advice!

[vxiirider]

I wanted to remove the previous owners name from an '02 Goldwing, that had been applied by a pin striper. I googled fer a removal process and was told to use Easy Off Oven Cleaner. It took about 4 applications but the pin striping is gone and it did not affect the clear coat or paint at all. I would not have believed it if I had not tried it myself and found out that it works.

[Barry]

Thanks John for the oven cleaner tip. I watched several videos on how to do this on youtube and am encouraged. Oven cleaner is on our shopping list.

[SgtSlag]

I thought body shops used heat to remove labels and pin striping... Don't know for sure, but that is what I remember. Cheers!

[Barry]

Yes, you remember correctly. A heat gun will remove a vinyl pin stripe. But won't do anything to one that was painted on by hand. The youtube videos with oven cleaner are really impressive.

[GrandpaDenny]

I've seen oven cleaner used to remove letting from trucks, too.

[Barry]

I removed a 30 year old pin stripe painting with oven cleaner today. Took 4 sprays, soaking 10 minutes each time. I'm impressed. I ended up carefully using a plastic scraper. Wish I'd done this 15 years ago. John, Thanks again for the tip. Sure wish I'd kept your old vxii. That was a sweet running machine.

[vxiirider]

"Sure wish I'd kept your old vxii. That was a sweet running machine."--------- We sure wish that we had not wrecked it, we often talk about all the fabulous trips we had on that machine. It was my introduction to the Voyager nation and left us with many fond memories.