A decal that goes on badly looks worse than no decal at all. The good news is that almost every bad application comes down to the same three mistakes, and all three are easy to avoid.

Here is how we do it.

Before you start

Work indoors, or at least in shade. This matters more than anything else in this guide. In direct sun the surface gets hot, the adhesive grabs instantly, and you lose any chance of correcting a crooked placement. A warm garage is ideal. Aim for somewhere between 15 and 25 degrees.

Clean properly, then clean again. Wash the area with soapy water, dry it fully, then wipe it down with isopropyl alcohol. Not household cleaner, which leaves residue that stops the adhesive keying. Any trace of wax, polish or chain lube and the decal will lift at the edge within a week.

Let it dry completely. A surface that looks dry can still hold moisture in seams and around bolts. Give it ten minutes.

You will need: isopropyl alcohol, a lint-free cloth, a squeegee or an old bank card wrapped in cloth, and masking tape.

The hinge method

This is the technique that separates a clean job from a crooked one. Do not skip it because the decal is small.

  1. Position the decal with the backing still on. Hold it where you want it and step back. Check it against a fixed reference on the bike, like the bottom of a fork leg or the edge of a panel, rather than eyeballing it.
  2. Tape it down along one edge. Run a strip of masking tape across the middle of the decal, or along the top edge, fixing it to the bike. This is your hinge. The decal can now swing away and come back to exactly the same spot.
  3. Fold the decal back on the hinge and peel the backing. Peel from the free end back toward the tape. If the decal is long, only peel half and cut the backing away.
  4. Lay it down from the hinge outward. Do not drop the whole thing flat. Start at the hinge and work outward in one slow pass, using the squeegee at roughly a 45 degree angle, pushing from the centre toward the edges.
  5. Remove the tape, then the transfer layer. Peel the transfer film back slowly at a sharp angle, almost flat against the surface rather than straight up. If any of the design lifts with it, lay it back down, press that area again, and try once more.

Centre out, every time. Air has to have somewhere to go. If you squeegee from both edges toward the middle, you trap it. Every pass should push air toward an edge it can escape from.

Curved surfaces like fork legs

Forks are round, and a flat decal on a round surface wants to wrinkle at the edges. Two things help.

Heat it gently. A hairdryer on low, held back about 20 centimetres, makes the vinyl more pliable so it conforms instead of creasing. Warm, not hot. If the decal goes floppy you have overdone it.

Stretch from the centre. Anchor the middle first, then work outward, applying light tension as you go so the vinyl lays into the curve rather than bridging across it.

Take your time. A fork decal is a five minute job done properly and a thirty minute job done twice.

Fixing bubbles

Small bubbles often disappear on their own within a day or two as the adhesive settles, especially if the bike sits in the sun. Give it 48 hours before you intervene.

For anything still there after that:

  • Push it to an edge. Work the bubble toward the nearest edge with your thumb. Most will go.
  • Pierce at the edge, not the middle. If it will not move, use a pin at the very edge of the bubble and press the air out through the hole. A hole in the middle of a decal is visible forever. A hole at the boundary of a bubble is not.
  • Warm it slightly. A little heat while you press helps the vinyl relax back down flat.

Living with it

You can ride immediately. The adhesive reaches full strength over about 48 hours, so hold off on pressure washing until then.

After that, a pressure washer is fine, with one rule: keep the lance back and never aim straight at an edge. High pressure directly into the edge of any decal will get underneath it eventually, which is true of every vinyl decal on every vehicle, not just ours.

Our laminates are UV resistant, and the gloss glitter option carries UV extenders rated up to three years outdoors. If you are not sure which laminate you are running, or you are ordering and have not chosen yet, the laminate guide covers the differences.

If it goes wrong

It happens. A decal that has gone down badly is not usually recoverable in one piece, because these are designed to stay put rather than come off.

Get in touch before you start peeling. Tell us what happened and we will work out the best way forward. We would rather help you get it right than have you riding around with a crooked decal you are embarrassed by.