Carbon Fiber over gas tank - good, bad, or ugly?

Hi everybody
I'm considering covering my gas tank and/or sidecovers with carbon fiber as an alternative to painting. Any thoughts or tech advice?
Here's a picture of the bike. A new seat and a few other mods are also in the works. If you think it would look cheesey, don't hesitate to say so - you won't hurt my feelings. Looking for honest feedback.

 

3M makes a very nice looking vinyl wrap in a carbon-fiber texture. It's pretty easy to put on, can be removed just as easily, and (the best part) is inexpensive. Unless you set it next to an actual carbon-fiber part you can't tell that it's a vinyl wrap.

link from my favorite scooter forum: Fender Wrap

 

Personally i think wrapping a tank in vinyl sounds difficult. But would like to see it done

 

yeah, go with the vinyl if you want the look of carbon fiber.

real carbon fiber is not something you wrap stuff in, it's expensive and more time consuming than the vinyl.

I've only made one thing in carbon fiber, and that was a flat piece, and i had access to prepreged carbon fiber, an a hugh industrial autoclave with vacum. with experienced help it still took me some time to make it look good.

 

At first I thought the vinyl wouldn't be able to handle the curvature on the tank but after reading up on it a bit it looks like it should. I like the idea of it being removable, too, if I decide I don't like the look - real carbon fiber would take a lot of work to remove if I didn't like the result. I think I'll order up a few samples of the 3M stuff and try it out on some small parts.

 

Don't know if this is helpful at all but I just saw this on the CL yesterday.. can't say I like the skeleton sticker but the carbon fiber/paint combo on this bike looks pretty sweet.

http://omaha.craigslist.org/mcy/3385143551.html

EDIT: snagged a couple pics for later. I hate looking at old threads and finding broken CL links Also, after re-reading his description he said the carbon fiber was painted on. I thought he just laid some of that vinyl on but must've painted it black and sprayed grey through some mesh or something?

 

Why would you make a steel part EVEN HEAVIER by wrapping it in a high cost material used specifically for light weight construction?

Putting a fat chick in fancy underwear doesn't make her a Victoria's Secret model. Steel tanks (and fat chicks) are just fine the way they are.

 

So to sum up:

1. The OP is going for a specific look.

2. He asked for, and got, several opinions.

3. Fat bottomed girls make the rockin' world go 'round. Now get on your bike and ride!

 

X2 for a vinyl wrap and a heat gun. Gonna be wayyyyyy easier.

 

+1 for the Queen reference.

/she was such a naughty nanny

 

To paraphrase Freddy Mercury, "Heap big Seca, you made a bad boy out of me!"

Thanks for the input and info on vinyl wraps. I didn't know that vinyl wraps were an option - now that I do I agree that they would be preferable to actual carbon fiber for this application. There are also a lot of other colour/texture options out there in vinyl wraps.
The reason for thinking of carbon fibre in the first place wasn't to reduce weight (obviously) or to fool anyone into thinking it was a real carbon fiber tank. It was just about a look and an alternative to the $1200- $1500 cost of a paint job.
I might still buck up for the paint job but it's good to know the options.

 

My son just showed me a really cool solution for this. Check out Hydrographing. Their are a number of you tube videos showing how to do this your self and some web sites with all the supplies. It is a dipping process that uses a sheet of ink and a spray activator. You dip the part through the sheet. the results are amazing and they have all sorts of patterns. Camo, Marble and yes carbon fiber. He said he has used it and it is acceptable to a clear coat.

 

For just the tank? Really? For that much, I'd pay postage for yah to ship it to me and lay 10 coats of 1200 grit wet sanded luster on it myself. Or have it sandblasted and powder coated.

Or are you talking a patterned paint job? Dipyoucar.com has a 40 dollar carbon fiber-look kit. The "paint" they sell is actually aerosol plastidip, just like on the handles of tools, and can be pealed off very cleanly when damaged / you want to change. May not be perfect, but $40 is a lot less than $1200, and its 100% reverseable.
https://www.dipyourcar.com/product.php?productid=63
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5N-AYaENI

 

The dip your car kit is really nice. Do you know if the result is a texture you can feel and is it compatible with clear coat? I think you could get pretty close to this with automotive paint in an airbrush using the shelf mat for a pattern.

 

I was going to suggest the hydro forming as Greg mentioned as well. Looks like a really cool alternative. For those that like the graphics designs, it looks like a good alternative to vinyl.

 

The "spray-on-dip" is thicker than normal paint, but I doubt its thick enough to feel little shaded bumps like that. It is not compatible with normal clear coats, which is why they use the special "glossifier."

And yes, you could do the exact same effect with an airbrush. Or with normal automotive spray paint.

 

That plastidip stuff is great though, they sell it at lowes/home depot/etc for around 6-7$ a can.

I've used it on my cars window trim, as well as helped my buddy spray some rims for his car, both with great results.

I'll probably use dip on the Seca once I get it up and running while I save up for a decent paint job.

 

The $1200-$1500 quote I got for the paint job was for a high-end candy or metallic paint for the whole bike - tank, front fender, fairing, sidecovers, and trim around the seat. They said a standard automotive paint would be $200 or so less - but why pay $1000+ for a boring paint job if you can get something interesting for $200 more?
The hydrographing looks really interesting. Probably more appropriate for things like fenders and sidecovers though, rather than the gas tank. They make it look easy on the youtube videos but I think it would be pretty hard to get good coverage on something as odd-shaped as a gas tank.

The plasti-dip kit is another interesting option. I had already discounted the idea of doing anything out of a spray can, but since it is reversible it could be fun to try.

Before starting this thread, I had no idea there were so many options out there - further proof that this forum is invaluable!