The Score
DeCal Works Graphic Application System
Every dirt bike winds up looking like crap. Crash damage, weathering and normal wear and tear can drive a bike's sex appeal to near-Janet Reno levels (full JR status is virtually unattainable). The quick and easy fix for many of the eyesores is to slap on a fresh set of plastic and graphics. We recently needed to perk up our
2007 Honda CRF450X Project Bike, but the idea of rubbing our fingerprints off trying to squish out air bubbles had us dragging our feet. Then we hooked up with
DeCal Works, and they sent out a sample of their $14.95 Graphic Application System to help ease our fears and a set of custom T-3 Series graphics to use for practice.
The Scoop
The three-step system is about as straightforward as it gets - a bottle of adhesive removal, cleaner and application fluid. Once the old graphics are peeled off, a spritz of the adhesive remover and let it sit for a minute and all the goo wipes away with a clean towel. Don't get overanxious here or you'll end up wasting your time and supply, it has to sit those 60 seconds in order to strip away any of the previous glue.
Putting new graphics on top of adhesive remover wouldn't be the smartest thing to do so step two removes any leftover residue. No waiting here, just spray and wipe. We never had any problems with our new graphics coming off throughout our testing, so the cleaner obviously did its job equally as well.
Now for the hard part. Applying graphics is a real bitch with all the eyeballing, half-peeled backing, stick-on-pull-off BS. That's where this system really starts to be worth the 15 bucks. The application fluid allows you to coat the entire backside of the decal and then place it on the bike without fear of it getting hopelessly stuck. Once the decal is in place, the layer of fluid between the adhesive and the plastic lets the decal float and allows for fine-tuning the placement. One thing we found was that it only takes a little. Spraying too heavily will generate a long wait period before the adhesive grips well enough to hold on its own. That makes problems when installing larger, heavier decals like radiator shrouds, which tend to slide. The best way for us to make it work was to barely spray the decals and shake off any excess fluid before laying them on the bike.
Hilde had no problems following the three-step process.
We also found that the squeegee that comes with the kit is worthless for the most part. It works well enough on flat surfaces like the front numberplate or the swingarm, but we never found it useful on any curved surfaces. We actually didn't mind though because it was always more efficient to just use our fingers. If you happen to be some kind of squeegee Jedi then it's cool that DeCal Works provides one, we're just better at using our digits.
The Sentence
The DeCal Works Graphic Application System is definitely worth a measly trio of Honest Abes. All three steps are simple and effective, exactly what we want in this kind of product, and the bottles are all small enough that you could toss them into your tool box. We installed another full set of graphics on another machine in our garage and there's still plenty of solution left. The application fluid is running out the fastest, but we'd estimate enough to easily assist six to eight full graphic kits. Ultimately, life as we know it won't cease to exist without the Graphic Application System. However, we don't plan on installing any graphics that we don't have to without it from here on out.
Product: Decal Works Graphics Application System
MSRP: $14.95
Find More Info at www.decalmx.com.
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