3M vinyl wrap

I have had a quote made the other day for 2 complete vinyl wraps : one for the R1100S, one for the Speed Triple. I did so thinking it would make a good alternative to a full paint job and certainly a much cheaper one.  When the quote dropped, my jaw came with it. 

And so began a YouTube hunt on how to do some vinyl wrapping. In some tubes it looked easy, whereas in some others it looked rather challenging, but I decided to give it a try and ordered some 3M vinyl sheets. They arrived last week : one carbon looking sheet and one matte black sheet. 

Here are the photos of the first few parts I covered. The carbon looks really good on the R1100S seat cowl event though it's not that perfect and has some minor defects here and there.

Above : the central part of the Speed triple's tail unit. Being the smallest part I had at hand, I used it as a trial run.

Carbon arm

This is a pair of nicely shaped carbon arms for a BMW R1200S. How much weight is shaved in the swap process or who actually builds this arm is unknown.

Some people are gifted and know how to use their hands. Some others aren't, but are wealthy enough to buy carbon parts from gifted ones.

Collapsed BST

Pictures of what appears to be a collapsed BST carbon wheel showed up on the Pelican Parts forum the other day. Given the price for a pair, I would understand the owner, who's fortunately said to be alive and far from badly wounded, to be pissed as hell.

Ok then, what's to be learned from all this ? Well first, BST (standing for Black Stone Tek) wheels are light and hollow. Then, given the look of the inner threads, you could honestly ask yourself if you get the quality you expensively paid for. To me, BST wheels are so pricey that even with a 50% rebate I'd still think twice before buying (and I'm not trying to minimize their impact on the bike's flickabillity). Finally, don't get me wrong, carbon wheels, with Öhlins USD forks (or more recently Showa BPF forks) or TTX shocks, are still the climax when it comes to motorcycle upgrades.

Wealthy kid

How good it must feel to be a kid nowadays ... well provided you've got wealthy and generous parents. As I was trying to find a toy for my nephew's birthday, I came around these.

I don't remember motorcycle toys were that realistic (for the look, that is) when I was a kid. Look at that Ducati again : Öhlins upside down fork, Brembo brakes, hard as wood seat foam, everything's there.

Come on it says "Carbon serie" on that Megablock on the right ! I mean carbon !! Of course, there's not a single piece of carbon in the box, but can you seriously tease a 6 year old kid with carbon parts ? Well it works for me, so I guess the teaser only works for dads.

Fortunately, someone here keeps telling I'm still a kid. Would that mean I can buy one of these ? Pleeeeeeaaase.

But wait, it 's too late already. That one is out of my personal collection (and is actually a flat twin).

Will you guess what my job is ?