Repainting, Tank Emblem Question

So I’m looking into repainting my Maxim X; the 28 year old factory coat is past due. Nothing fancy, close to stock as possible. As a matter of preference I want to change the color from the current red (deep scarlet) to the blue (deep violet) offered on the 1985’s. Tough part is that the blue shade was combined with silver tank emblems – next to impossible to find. So for almost nothing I bought this badly dented blue tank just for the tank emblems, which are still in good shape (pretty sure the tank is a loss though).

Question: is it worth trying to salvage the emblems from the dented tank? Can they be removed and reapplied? Has anyone out there ever had any success doing this? Thanks for any advice.

 

Try "The Dental Floss Trick" first.
Slip a long strip of floss between the tank and badge.
Floss if off.

If that don't cut it, ... use a thin bladed tool to cut the adhesive while you GENTLY pry the Badge away from the Tank.

 

pm'd

dave

 

May help heating it up with a hot air gun or blow dryer first.

 

++++1 Then the floss.

 

You see a tank thats no good(unless its rusted too)but I see a good tank easy fix(body man by trade) piano wire works alot better than dental floss

 

I like the way your mind works. I too thought about having this tank repaired (I would have to take it to someone good - way beyond my skills). It's got a half dozen small dings, and the metal is creased around the large dent. It is full on rusty inside, but it's not rusted through and seems solid structurally. Even going the repair & repaint route would require removing and reinstalling the emblems, correct?

& for those of you who have already asked, no worries; either way I go here I'll be left with an extra tank needing a good home.

 

That tank should be easily repairable.

No matter which tank you use:
Apply heat to soften the adhesive, then use piano/guitar wire (or something similarly thin and strong) to saw the adhesive and they'll pop right off. Just remember to not pull on the emblem to "help" it, it will do more harm than good.

3M trim tape (automotive) to reapply the emblems.

After the color is sprayed make sure whoever does it uses a good 2-part clear or the first gas spill will have wasted all the time prepping and painting.
Spraymax 2K clear is highly recommended.

Chacal (xj4ever) probably has the exact color you are looking for.

 

I personally would not use heat unless the badges are metal.piano or guitar string you can wrap each end around a wrench or a small chunk of wood to "saw"it off pulling back and forth motion.Remove the used tape from the back and re apply new stuff from a auto parts store.USE 3M it will stick like s@"t to a wool blanket.If you not going to use the tank hang onto it or sell it to somone who is willing to fix it.I'm sure somone will need one.a good catalyzed clear coat over base coat is the only way to stop gas from removing the paint for you.same stuff they use in auto industry.as long as you have to mix 2 or 3 parts together to get the clear to harden it will hold up.

 

I use large-diameter fishing line (won't scratch or damage anything.)

 

As a kilt wearer with several wool tartans and having done some crazy stuff in my life, I'd like to point out that shit doesn't actually stick to wool very well, just stains it slightly.

Now if you sleep on it like sheep do, that's a different story...

:lol:

 

Fitz's idea reminds me of something: find a friend who might have "fireline" fishing line. This is small diameter fishing line that is actually tiny, braided line. It's very strong and thin, but more abrasive and thus more likely to cut better through the adhesive.

 

I got a whole roll of fireline. Great stuff, and especially useful for re-stitching seatcovers!

Dave F

 

lmao! bad mental pic

 

Man you just gotta love them SCOTS!

 

i would like to see the sheeps face if you went after it with a hot air gun or guitar wire max lol

 

A quick update: The guy who I let paint my bike used a super thin, flexible blade to gently work the best one of the two silver badges off the dented tank. It came off super easy. I happened to be lucky enough to find a NOS badge on ebay for the other side!!

I elected to not go for an exact stock color; rather I chose a light mist of blue pearl over a black coat - topped off with the silver tank badges. While the parts were getting painted I worked over the rest of the bike. Here's a pic (hard to get the blue pearl to show with my camera though).

I uploaded more pics to my gallery to share with my fellow XJ'rs. Thanks again for all the help/tips/motivation/etc/etc

 

Pickax,

Emblems are defintiely worth salvaging as well as tank....I was able to successfully peel mine off.....just held on with double sided adhesive......that tank is worth keeping for a spare.....a good shop should be able to repair that no problem.....how is the inside of tank ???

 

oh yeah, I completely appreciate how rare these emblems are becoming - I searched 10 months for the silver ones. I salvaged the two gold ones off my original tank and I have one extra NOS silver badge for the right side. I plan to auction these. The dented tank can be restored by someone with the right skills; there's some rust for sure but no significant wall thinning that I can see. A fellow XJ member has already spoken for the tank and I'm waiting to hear back from him.

 

Nice job with that bike, Pickax.

 

Thanks Kilted!

It's nice to have someone appreciate the work. I've loved the X ever since I test rode one back in '85. I couldn't afford it then. It's great to finally have one - and thanks to the help on this forum, I've got it looking and feeling almost brand new. This vintage advertisement has been my inspiration...

 

They are a mean lookin machine alright.Nice job keepin it looking pristine!I love seein the old still breathin!

 

well said; "mean lookin" is a good way to describe the entire '85 street linuep - a high point for yamaha.

 

for the record, looks better now with the stock teardrop mirrors. Funny I never noticed it before . Thanks Hogfiddles for pointing it out to me - and good luck sorting out that dented tank!

 

ooooooo..........now it looks nice

Dave F

 

That is one fine looking X. I gave up looking for the silver tank badges when repainting mine. Went with the "Tuning fork" logo instead.

 

Those tuning fork logos look awesome with your color scheme (checked out your gallery) -I like the choices you made on your RestoMod - e.g., the oil pump covers & grab rails (you found a 750 too; nice). I think the '85 Vmax had the tuning fork emblems. Took forever to run down the silvers for my stock look; and in the end I just got lucky. There are more golds than silvers out there, as the gold badges were used on the '85 scarlet X's and on all colors of the '85 airheads; I even have a spare set of gold emblems now. I've wondered if the '85 Viragos could be another source for round emblems - slightly different contour??

what is it about a new paint job that makes the bike feel faster? It's a screamer! And 45 mpg is not too bad for not trying.

 

Thanks, I still can't get over how nice your bike is.

BTW, I custom painted the side covers and grab handles, and even hand painted the X's in the Sunset Pearl color I used.

And yes, I've seen pictures of the Virago's with the silver badges, but had no luck finding them. Guess I could have bought a tank and salvaged them like you did? I too have one spare Gold badge, and also one "Yamaha" block lettered tank emblem. Just decided to use the tuning fork ones after giving up my search, 'cause the tank looked naked without any.

Make no mistake, the paint has nothing to do with how incredibly fast the X's are for being a "Cruiser".

 

yup - I wish it were that easy to improve performance...it's just that blazing away on a pristine machine 'feels' so much better...pride in workmanship...pride in ownership.

Please share some more pics of your RestoMod - that Sunset Pearl is fantastic

 

I should have done a thread way back when I first got the bike, but didn't. However, I do have a collection of pictures that shows the various stages of the build on Photobucket that you can view here:

http://s1278.photobucket.com/user/xHond ... 0Maxim%20X

Enjoy!

 

That is some fine work; definitely worth a thread of it's own. Hopefully folks take time to check it out from here.