[Michael_Gannon]

Just wanted to show pics and see what you guys thought.

This is the bike before.

This is the plate holder before. The red lines show where I made my cuts.

This is how it looked after I trimmed it.

And finally this is how it looked back on the bike.

After I did the rough cut out, I used a file and sandpaper to get the lines just rite. Then I use a candle flame to lightly melt the plastic where I sanded. That brought the shine back to the rough areas giving it a more finished look. I did get a little carried away with the heat on one side and it got warped slightly, but the other side looked great. I think there is a technique there that I've yet to master.

If anyone has an extra plate holder lying around I'd love to try it again and see if I can't to a better job. PM me to work out the details.

The best part about it was it didn't cost me a dime.

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

most people spend a 100 bucks to get that look. your a wise man Mike good job to.

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Thanks i was looking for a way to clean up the license plate
without spending a fortune.

 

[Michael_Gannon]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

If anyone is going to try this at home

 

[humungus]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Great job...impressive!

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

nice. I did a similar thing to mine before the final chop. It won't be long now and you will give in to the peer pressure.

chop it chop it chop it chop it
come on man, everybody is doing it
you won't be cool if you dont
nobody loves you

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

This is very cool!
I was going to do the exact same thing

What did you use to cut the plastic?

 

[threatrockone]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

This is very cool!
I was going to do the exact same thing

What did you use to cut the plastic?

dremel's work really well. you just have to be a little "surgical" about it...i've done chops on other bikes. thankfully, when i picked up my monster, the previous owner did that for me; he made a piece of sheet metal with a little bend in it and mounted it perfectly...

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Not having tried this on a tail section, I can speak with some experience WRT the dremel...

Contrary to popular opinion, use the dremel at the SLOWEST speed possible. Even that will need cleaning up, but plastic has a nasty habit of "melting" rather than cutting at the speeds the dremel runs at. The hotter it gets, the more "turds" you're gonna have to clean up when you're done.

One thing that might actually work better is one of the larger (red-handled) X-Acto knives, or maybe even a carpet/matte knife. Go over the line to be cut once to score it, then just go over it again and again with increasing pressure until you've broken through. And be sure to have a sacrificial scrap of something behind the area where you're cutting!

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Really nice. I'm one of those dopes who paid money for the same thing.

 

[Guest]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

nice. I did a similar thing to mine before the final chop.

 

[Paul D]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Beautiful job! I now feel like a moron for purchasing the $20 Motowheels license plate bracket :-[

 

[sputnik]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Hah! I did exactly the same thing this past weekend. Looks good, don't it?
Now I'll have to steal the candle idea to smooth it out a bit.

Jim

 

[Michael_Gannon]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

I actually used tin snips to cut away some of the excess, then a dremmel to cut a little closer to the line. I left about 1/8 of an inch and then took the rest down with a file and sandpaper. I did run into the melting plastic thing too with the dremmel. Thats what gave me the idea for the candle. The cuts that melted a bit were smoother and shinier, although full of "turds", than the parts that were sanded. I thought if I could get it smooth and "turd-free" and then use a little bit of heat I could get the best of both worlds. That's just how I did it though. I'm not saying there isn't a better method out there. If I do it again I may try an exacto since the plastic is so soft.

 

[monster_drill_sgt]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

I have my tail if you want it make an offer its sitting in the bottom of my shed right now.

 

[Skier]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

Ciao Michael,

great job. Sad we have those pizza plates as licence plates...

Anyway, I kind of like that original piece there just as You made it,

looking at from many different angles, the shape and curves of this beautiful creature just flow so nicely ....

And after few classed of wine in the sunset , well , bella !

Skier

 

[clarkkent_41101]

Re: pics of my tail "Trim" I did over th

who needs a tail? cut her up!