Dirtbike templates?

[damonCA21]

maybe not full wraps but are still a laminated vinyl decal correct? These are not painted. I know Substance makes a vinyl and thicker lam for motocross applications.

Yes as I said ( in the older days or for custom colours ) the base panels were painted, then decals used over the top, not wraps. I never said the logos were painted on.

Factory bikes generally use ready coloured plastics for the base colour, but the decals are not wraps.

A laminated vinyl decal is not a wrap, totally different thing.

 

[unclebun]

maybe not full wraps but are still a laminated vinyl decal correct? These are not painted. I know Substance makes a vinyl and thicker lam for motocross applications.

Yes, they are printed vinyl with laminate, as I said above. But the reason you need a template as the OP originally asked for is precisely because they are NOT wraps. A wrap is printed on a sheet that is oversize, and is wrapped (stretched and heated to fit contours) onto the part (usually a car or truck) and trimmed to fit afterwards. Wrap materials are thin and have slidable, removable adhesive. The dirt bike template provides precise cut lines so that you can make graphics which can be fitted to the plastics of the bike that will work with the thick, relatively inflexible vinyl of the graphics. They allow for precise placement of the necessary logos and numbers, and good templates will result in graphics which are easy to install without needing a lot of extra work and trimming. The adhesive is super sticky and considered a permanent adhesive.

My argument in this thread is against the trend to call every kind of sign a wrap. A wrap is a specific kind of technique and product. Dirt bike graphics are something different. Cut vinyl graphics to letter a truck are not a wrap. An oversize banner with pole pockets that are used to tighten the banner on the backside of the billboard is called a billboard wrap.

The lazy use of the term wrap by people who have entered the sign business because they heard that if you buy a printer you are a sign maker has bled into the general public, leading to great confusion about what kind of product people are talking about.

 

[damonCA21]

My argument in this thread is against the trend to call every kind of sign a wrap. A wrap is a specific kind of technique and product. Dirt bike graphics are something different. Cut vinyl graphics to letter a truck are not a wrap. An oversize banner with pole pockets that are used to tighten the banner on the backside of the billboard is called a billboard wrap.

The lazy use of the term wrap by people who have entered the sign business because they heard that if you buy a printer you are a sign maker has bled into the general public, leading to great confusion about what kind of product people are talking about.

Absolutely this! WE know what a wrap is, but people do use it as a blanket term for any decal job that gives a lot of coverage :/ or anything put on vehicles these days. D

 

[ForgeInc]

You don't wrap dirt bikes. They are made of polyethylene. Wrap material won't stick to them. And they have too many sharp angles and so on. You can't wrap them.

That's why you make graphics for them using carefully made templates so that you can get the graphics onto the plastics so that they fit and stay stuck. The material is vinyl with high strength adhesive for low surface energy materials, and after you print it you laminate it with thick laminate for durability.

I've been manufacturing dirt bike graphics for 23 years and started out making my own templates straight from the bikes with tracing paper and drawing them in the computer myself. You can now buy them online from any number of vendors you can find in a Google search. There's one good one in the US I use and I've used another in UK and another that is in Ukraine I think. Just be careful because some of the places that will come up on your search are obvious scam sites.

But if you think that every form of signage is a wrap, and you are trying to DIY your own graphics, you are probably better off having one of the thousands of internet graphics companies make your graphics.

Oh, sorry that I mixed up the word "wrap" and "apply stickers." Sheesh - the attitudes around here sometimes. Now I know why I havent visited this site in years.

 

[unclebun]

Oh, sorry that I mixed up the word "wrap" and "apply stickers." Sheesh - the attitudes around here sometimes. Now I know why I havent visited this site in years.

It's not an attitude. And if you want me to be pedantic, it should have been "put graphics on" or "make graphics for".

Since your profile says you're a new member and you're asking for something a knowledgeable person would already know about, we cannot assume that when you say "wrap" that you're not really talking about wrapping with wrap vinyl, which is what it means when you say. "I'm going to wrap." There's a reason we have different words for different things, so that things remain clear and unconfused. If we allow wrong words to be used for things, eventually none of them mean anything and we'll never know what someone is saying.

I looked up Forge Graphic Works, and if you're the company in Portland, OR, you should know that everything that comes out of your printer is not a wrap. I certainly hope you aren't one of the ones contributing to the customer calling everything you make a wrap. "Yeah, Forge Graphic Works did a great job putting a lit wrap up on my building." Or, "Forge Graphics Works did a great job wrapping my adidas shoes." Now you could have wrapped a shoe display. But the cabinet sign you mounted projecting from a brick wall isn't a wrap, now is it?

 

[ForgeInc]

It's not an attitude. And if you want me to be pedantic, it should have been "put graphics on" or "make graphics for".

Since your profile says you're a new member and you're asking for something a knowledgeable person would already know about, we cannot assume that when you say "wrap" that you're not really talking about wrapping with wrap vinyl, which is what it means when you say. "I'm going to wrap." There's a reason we have different words for different things, so that things remain clear and unconfused. If we allow wrong words to be used for things, eventually none of them mean anything and we'll never know what someone is saying.

I looked up Forge Graphic Works, and if you're the company in Portland, OR, you should know that everything that comes out of your printer is not a wrap. I certainly hope you aren't one of the ones contributing to the customer calling everything you make a wrap. "Yeah, Forge Graphic Works did a great job putting a lit wrap up on my building." Or, "Forge Graphics Works did a great job wrapping my adidas shoes." Now you could have wrapped a shoe display. But the cabinet sign you mounted projecting from a brick wall isn't a wrap, now is it?

Not a new member, I actually joined this forum before you. Started with 3 employees, went to 65 in 4 years. If you saw our website, maybe you got an idea that I might know WTF I'm talking about. All I asked for was whether anyone had a good resource for dirtbike templates, Not a lecture that "wrapping a dirt bike" isn't the same as "Putting graphics on dirtbikes". So tell me, if you are advertising a service that "Puts graphics on dirtbikes"? what would you call it? Personally...if I am applying any kind of vinyl to a surface that requires a template and has multiple complex curves, requires vinyl that stretches, etc...I kinda think that is a "wrap" but CLEARLY you are more knowledgeable than me. Kudos!

 

[johnnysigns]

Was just about to say the same thing... Forge is a pretty damned good example on how to thrive in the printing and display business.

 

[GSM903]

MKS graphics
Mx Race Cuts
These sites are pretty good for accurate templates currently

 

[ForgeInc]

Substance markets a vinyl for LSE surfaces along with laminates that are specifically marketed as being useful for dirtbikes, motocross and whatnot FWIW. They're also awesome folks to deal with, give them a call. You'll likely wind up with some samples to play with

MKS graphics
Mx Race Cuts
These sites are pretty good for accurate templates currently

Yep - I downloaded from MKS - a bit more expensive, but seems like they have solid templates and good support. It's amazing though how much they still need to be tweaked based on design intent, whether you "wrap" the entire piece or not, etc. Sheesh!

 

[highrolling24]

Yep - I downloaded from MKS - a bit more expensive, but seems like they have solid templates and good support. It's amazing though how much they still need to be tweaked based on design intent, whether you "wrap" the entire piece or not, etc. Sheesh!

I found that out the way many years ago, by the time you look for template, ask on here and then pay money for a template that KINDA works and still need to spend time to get it to your liking you could have just recreated it in an hour! Thats why I recommended the other day just to make your own.