Easter weekend is venture shield fitting weekend, any advise, other than get it done professionally do I need to fit it all, I'm not planning on using the tank and seat section just the front leading edge.
Just the usual, keep it clean, indoors (or garage) where there's no wind or dust flying around. Use a hairdryer to warm the panels & film to keep it sticky, and use the backing stuck to the corners to position if necessary.
Just take your time, as said keep the panels and shield warm and use the liquid to slide it into position.
I fitted mine as already said above really, mine went on reasonably well but the i've noticed a bit of dirty has gradually found it's way under some of the lead edges!
Spose it depends on the miles you do and the type of riding, but after 12 months I plan to replace mine. Dirt gets round the edges, doesn't stop all damage but helps, especially "road rash"
You need to use a house hold plant sprayer, fill this with water and and a touch of fairy liquid, mix this solution and spray LOTs on the surface to be done, spay this on the shield, spray it on your hands, you must soak every thing, then once in place you can start to squeegee out and use the hair dryer to funny shapes. hope this help
Thanks for all the advise guys, I opened the pack last night and whilst the film backing has venture shield printed on it there is no mention of it being 3M do I need to worry?
The guy who fitted mine used a wallpaper steamer to keep the film warm without it sticking with a garden sprayer full of suds. He didn't use the heat gun / hair drier until everything was more or less finished. He heated the edges to make sure they were firmly stuck. One other useful tip - he had a small spray with isopropyl alcohol to anchor down points which he wanted to stick immeadiately. It drives off the water so the film can be stuck without it slipping. I hope you have loads of patience you will need it mate. I had a go at putting Venture Shield on my rear seat cowl - took me about an hour and wasn't that bad but it's not a very complicated shape compaired the the headlight fairing. BTW the seat cowl came off and was lost on my first ride after fitting the bloody stuff - I was well impressed NOT - LOL. Good luck - Steve I
Nose cone is the hardest bit ... I gave in and got a pro to do that. Rest I did myself ... It takes a good few hours to do full kit. Don't rush it and don't use heat till your 100% happy.
I had mine done professionally 10 years ago and still looks good as new apart from the leading edge of the fairing and nose cone. The only guys with no nose cone damage are the ones who don't ride with mates. No edges lifting and I would definitely fit to the tank as the sides take some abuse from yer knees. Well they do if you ride like me lol. Just use a carnauba wax and they come up like new.
I just had mine done today....... I posted this on my "The Eagle Has Landed" thread........... Well, this morning I had the 3M Ventureshield applied to the Fireblade........... and in my opinion you should NEVER attempt to apply the "Full Kit" yourself....... LOL, maybe a tank protection kit, but that's it. I got Steve from Paintguard in Horndean, Hampshire to do mine, he's been doing it for seven years and it still took him over two hours and his experience showed. Having read all the info on how to do it yourself, they make it look so easy, but from watching Steve apply the full kit to my bike, I can assure you it isn't. He used three different fluids to ensure it fitted and remained in place and all the edges and curves were perfect, these liquids he mixes himself....... I have no idea what they were apart from one is ionised water, one is ionised water with a very small amount of soap, and one was Isopropyl alcohol (Whatever that is). My bike is brand new and I spent hours cleaning it to make sure there was no particles on the paintwork to ensure I got the best job, but Steve spent a lot of time ensuring every panel was clean before he applied each section of the ventureshield. I took a few pictures as he was applying it and you'll see that he used three brilliant white lights which highlights any imperfections. The pictures aren't good (IPhone) but will give you an idea of what was involved. I have three strip lights in my garage and always thought it was well lit, but the lights he used made it look like I had no lights in my garage.....LOL, I think I needs some of these. The cost £160 cash You have to look VERY closely and have 20/20 vision to see where the ventureshield is applied, it's almost invisible and certainly less visible than the stone chips you would probably get. Thought I'd take a quick pick with my old helmet, which is the only Repsol theme'd helmet you seem to be able to buy nowadays and matches the new Repsol theme better than it did the old one. Also spent thirty minutes fitting my new levers as I've never worked out why Honda fit silver levers to an otherwise all black fittings, so I really lashed out and bought a set of all black adjustable levers with black adjusters, just looks like it was meant to be.
Done mine and it come out perfect, Just make sure it's perfectly clean. Use johnsons baby shampoo, that's what what the ventureshield guys told me at the bike show, just a few drops in the spray bottle The front nose faring is obvisously curved so the sheet has to be slightly stretched too, then the outer edges aren't puckered up, wet the sheet both sides, the panel and your hands too. Surprising how strong and forgive it is as the guys showed me the practise tank on the stand. Be brave and do it.
Ye it is doable by yourself if you like the hands on approach. But more importantly, your bike is stunning!
Maybe I'm just not talented enough.............. LOL. I just checked out your website........ Now I can see why you say it's doable, some stunning work there, I may have to pay you a visit. Jim
