I wan't to remove the reflectors from my forks and the red ones on the fender strutt. I know they are fixed in place by double sided tape but was keen to hear what others have done or used to remove the sticky residue. I am not too keen on using a heat gun incase I ruin the clear finish on the fork sliders.

 

Any ideas??

 

Dodgy photo, but you can see the reflectors I'm talking about pretty clearly.

Fantastic looking bike, thanks for posting the pic.

I've been thinking of doing this to my Sporty, gives the bike a much cleaner look.

I've hear of pleople using a plastic putty knife or event dental floss or fishing line to slowly seperate the reflector and the tape.

Try to get whatever you use between the reflector and the double sided tape and not the tape and the fender.

Once off you do a clean up with goo-off or something like it. In fact I've removed similar reflectors from cars before and found that Mr Sheen was great at getting the glue residue off.

On my previous bike I removed the tank stickers and someone recommended using a heat gun or hair dryer to heat them before removal. Like you I didn't like the idea of a heat gun but I used a hair dryer which made them heaps easier to get off. I actually soaked them with WD-40 as well which helped dissolve the glue.

Let us know how you go?

i used kero on my ute to remove all badges .i soaked arag woth kero held it on for a while then peeled badge off took a bit but it worked. i washed it with hooooot water n soap then put a bit of polish on .would have to be carefull with kero n rubber dont think they mix well.

Thanks for the tips fellas.

I really like the fishing line idea. I have just got to work up the courage now and get them off!!!!

I'll let you know how it goes and put another pic up to compare.

you will find a combination of a bit of heat and fishing line will get the reflectors off easily,then just some goo off or something similar will get the residue off

nobody

Well they are off. Took about 25 min and was hassle free.

The fishing line didn't work for me, I only had 25lb line and it kept snapping. I used a plastic putty knife and pushed it behind the reflector, once it started to lift I leavered it away. I used tar and bug remover to remove the residue. The yellow reflectors on the front were held on by a black double sided tape. Very easy to remove the residue, The red rear reflectors were held in place by a white double sided tape and took a lot more work to get rid of the residue.

Here are some pics and you can see what I'm talking about. I heaps prefer the look now, as Kingchops said "Much cleaner" .

Greg,

Great stuff!
You've motivated me to do mine.

I think this one's worthy of a sticky to assist others in doing it!

much better look Greg. I have a black denim bob and the rear reflectors were attached to the guard and not the strut. A little bit of heat, fishing line and then eucalyptus oil to clean any sticky stuff work fine for me.

I did mine a couple of days ago much better. I found the fork reflectors a bit difficult to get of but the rear fender was easier because I soaked the tape with goo remover before attempting to take them off. Anyway I'll take some pics and post later tonight.

Good stuff Kingchops, it certainly makes a big difference to the look eh. Lookin forward to the pics!!

Here it is reflectorless:

 

rkc_lover,

The stuff that I used is called: "Motsenbocker's Lift off 2" - Tape remover",  the wife got if from Coles, it comes in a three pack with two other types of remover.  As with most things these days they've got a web address:

http://www.liftoffinc.com/product_2.htm

Did the trick really well though, I just soaked it through the edges for a couple of minutes, then they came right off.

 

I've heard of others using fishing line or dental floss but I found it was easier with a plastic spatula Either way I think if you soak first in some sort of softening agent you should be fine.

You can usually use white spirits to dissolve the sticky stuff on adhesive tapes. Maybe soak a small rag in it and leave it on the fork a while so the fluid can soak down the gap. I wouldn't want to use anything more than fingernails to yank it off though!

Most bodykits on cars are held on mostly with double-sided tape and many buses have virtually all panels held on that way too! It may be worth asking someone at the local car mod-shop what they do for removal. Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

Just leavered mine off very carefully one hot summers day. Left very little to clean afterwards and no marks. Certainly looks better and you don't get the super reflection that spoils most photos!!!

we sell a heap of our citra force (www.lanotec.com.au) product to panel beaters for removing double sided tape and goo. wont effect any alloys and its mint on the chrome (takes most oil stains outta drive ways too) easy to find a local shop , type your postcode into the bottom of our webpage.

cheers Greeny 

I used fishing line leader it is fine like fishing line but heaps stronger no damage to anything

I just pulled them off with my fingers then used some of that citrus based "D-solv-it" to clean off the sticky muck.  Came up beutiful, total operation took 15 minutes for all 4 reflectors.

Took mine of some time ago.

1. Hair dryer for about 3 min

2. Fingers to take them off

3. Mr Sheen to clean the residue off

All four reflectors were off in about 15 min ( + 2 X Jim Beam cans)

ALL YOU GUYS HAVE TO DO KNOW IS TO REMOVE THOSE HUGE INDICATORS, REPLACE THEM WITH AN AFTERMARKET ITEM .SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BIKE, INDICATORS DON'T COME INTO YOUR FACE