Real carbon fiber vs carbon fiber wrap?

[greenmonster]

I added a couple of carbon fiber pieces to my s1000RR lately, rear hugger and chain guard. I bought these from Bestem out of GA but of course they are made in China and didn't fit exactly as the OEM stuff did. Not a problem, 3 minutes with my dremel and the fit was fine.
Now I'm thinking about a carbon fiber belly pan and I'm concerned that it won't fit to the lower fairings as exactly as the OEM part that's on there now. Dremeling it to fit in that area is not preferred.
The idea popped into my head last night that I could have the OEM piece wrapped in carbon fiber at a local shop and have a much better chance that the fit will be spot on.
Of course, nothing beats real carbon fiber and a wrap is just a substitute. But a quick internet search shows the quality of wraps has advanced so maybe this is an alternative (and a cheaper one).
Thoughts?

 

[erok81]

I’ve wrapped a ton of stuff with carbon wrap. In some cases it looks better than real carbon (especially the cheap stuff). Carbon fiber is used everywhere so if you wrapped it no one is going to know it’s fake. Assuming you use a good brand of course.

Lastly it’s not that hard to do yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

 

[Kurosaki]

I have no problem with quality wraps. I mean, normally, I'm not a fan of many modifications that are specifically for show and not function but thinking back to when CF started becoming super popular most people weren't adding carbon parts for weight savings anyway, it looks cool and makes some parts really pop.

Unless you're building a race bike or something, who cares? If the wrap looks good and not like a 5 dollar ebay part, have at it.

 

[Butch]

Bling!

 

[Enchanter]

I bought my s1000rr and on the ride home was making plans on how to remove the CF from the bike.

I removed and sold the CF frame covers and the rear fender / license plate / turn signal assembly (replaced with OEM).

All that’s left is the swingarm covers and one piece lower fairing. I suspect the swingarm is scratched, so those stay. The lower fairing will remain because I’m lazy. It’s easier to remove than the original.

 

[stangmx13]

Vinyl everything seems to have come a long way in the past few years for motos. I'm probably going to stop painting so many colors and just use more vinyl.

 

[greenmonster]

The last time I had anything to do with a carbon fiber wrap was my son's first car about 10 years ago when he wanted to wrap the hood. it came out ok and was much cheaper that a real CF hood.
A quick internet search talks about 3d, 4d and 5d CF wraps, not sure what that means but what I'm saying is that there definitely have been some advances made. There's a car shop up the street from me so I'll go up there and hopefully get to eye ball some samples vs viewing on the internet.
Yep, it's useless bling to some but I've been modding my rides like this since I was a kid on a bicycle when I added playing cards to the spokes with clothes pins, streamers to the grips, mirrors, lights, horns, etc.

 

[Kurosaki]

The last time I had anything to do with a carbon fiber wrap was my son's first car about 10 years ago when he wanted to wrap the hood. it came out ok and was much cheaper that a real CF hood.
A quick internet search talks about 3d, 4d and 5d CF wraps, not sure what that means but what I'm saying is that there definitely have been some advances made. There's a car shop up the street from me so I'll go up there and hopefully get to eye ball some samples vs viewing on the internet.
Yep, it's useless bling to some but I've been modding my rides like this since I was a kid on a bicycle when I added playing cards to the spokes with clothes pins, streamers to the grips, mirrors, lights, horns, etc.

Yep. My mom had her SUV wrapped instead of re-painting it a couple years ago. It's an 07 model and spent most of its life parked outside. Looks good. I know nothing about the longevity of modern wraps and I suppose no one will until enough time has passed, especially for vehicles that spend all their time exposed to the elements.

 

[cg_ops]

If the shape isn't too crazy, hydro dipping looks great and is very durable, too!

That said, I agree that vinyl has come a long way. I recently saw a BMW 3 Series in a parking lot that was farkled to look like an M3 (badges, wheels, etc). The vinyl on the roof was so good I thought it was real CF.

 

[R3DS!X]

Carbon fiber looks cool because it's light and strong. carbon fiber wraps look lame to me because they add weight and add no strength.

 

[cg_ops]

Carbon fiber looks cool because it's light and strong. carbon fiber wraps look lame to me because they add weight and add no strength.

Shouldn't it be:

Carbon fiber is cool because it's light and strong. carbon fiber wraps looks cool but is lame to me because they add weight and add no strength.

If it's a good application/installation and is high-quality vinyl, you'd have to inspect it closely to see that it's not real. So, wouldn't it look cool to anyone not closely inspecting it? That's pretty much the point of it, IMO.

I'm considering grabbing some quality vinyl to finish the last piece of non CF (or darkly colored) bodywork on my 890, the front, white, fender

Lets be honest, the weight changes between OEM bodywork and CF/vinyl-wraps are so minimal that they're basically inconsequential outside of high level racing. No one's dropping 0.5 second off lap times by shaving 1-3lbs of bodywork on their trackable street bike

 

[greenmonster]

The other thing to consider is that some folks want the real thing vs a fake substitute. Sorta like a gold plated ring vs solid gold. Looks the same but the wearer knows the truth.
I haven't heard of hydro dipping - can anyone give me a quick definition on what it is and how it's applied?

 

[Butch]

Bling!

BLING!
What a great thread. My 914 needs paint, but hey, maybe I'll just wrap it in carbon unobtanium.

You guys rock.

 

[budman]

I would wrap it. Save the $$ unless you want the full bling.
Want overrides $$ if you got the $$.

 

[R3DS!X]

Shouldn't it be: BLah BLah BLah

No, it should be as I say for I have spoken.

for example, your bike:
The most bling and cool factor on your bike is the trackday sticker and your front tire wear. The rest of your bike is Eurotrash

 

[cg_ops]

The other thing to consider is that some folks want the real thing vs a fake substitute. Sorta like a gold plated ring vs solid gold. Looks the same but the wearer knows the truth.
I haven't heard of hydro dipping - can anyone give me a quick definition on what it is and how it's applied?

Here you go, even found one applicable to the thread (Skip to the end to see the final product, the rest of the vid is answering your Q of how it's done)

[YOUTUBE]c4XHmm22rGA[/YOUTUBE]

No, it should be as I say for I have spoken.

for example, your bike:
The most bling and cool factor on your bike is the trackday sticker and your front tire wear. The rest of your bike is Eurotrash

Honestly, I had pulled it off after a TD and just pressed a pea-size portion of the center of it on my fender while I was doing something else. Forgot about it and realized it was still on after my next ride... now I'm just seeing how stubborn the damn thing is. 11 months later, (including an 800 mile ride up the coast), and still holding on for dear life

 

[Butch]

I was on a sailboat once, I think it was named USA49. Everything was carbon fiber. It was amazing.

Maybe it was a wrap? I think the bulb broke off the end of the keel. The bulb weighed 40000 pounds, the whole boat 50000 pounds. Wham! Edit… while under full sail.

Yeah, prolly a wrap.

 

[greenmonster]

Here you go, even found one applicable to the thread (Skip to the end to see the final product, the rest of the vid is answering your Q of how it's done)

[YOUTUBE]c4XHmm22rGA[/YOUTUBE]



Honestly, I had pulled it off after a TD and just pressed a pea-size portion of the center of it on my fender while I was doing something else. Forgot about it and realized it was still on after my next ride... now I'm just seeing how stubborn the damn thing is. 11 months later, (including an 800 mile ride up the coast), and still holding on for dear life

Wow. I had no idea about hydro dipping. Great video, I’m a fan for sure. Now for the next question, any good hydro dipping shops in the area? Preferably in the East bay?

 

[littlebeast]

I added a couple of carbon fiber pieces to my s1000RR lately, rear hugger and chain guard. I bought these from Bestem out of GA but of course they are made in China and didn't fit exactly as the OEM stuff did. Not a problem, 3 minutes with my dremel and the fit was fine.
Now I'm thinking about a carbon fiber belly pan and I'm concerned that it won't fit to the lower fairings as exactly as the OEM part that's on there now. Dremeling it to fit in that area is not preferred.
The idea popped into my head last night that I could have the OEM piece wrapped in carbon fiber at a local shop and have a much better chance that the fit will be spot on.
Of course, nothing beats real carbon fiber and a wrap is just a substitute. But a quick internet search shows the quality of wraps has advanced so maybe this is an alternative (and a cheaper one).
Thoughts?

will preface my response by saying i specialized in CF early in my career - and have a patent in carbon composite materials.

wrapping the material is similar to the process of wrapping fiberglass, the challenge being that carbon fibers are much more rigid than fiberglass - so the more curves and smaller the application, the greater the challenge (true CF structures are built using a completely different process). i don’t have any direct experience with the current CF wrapping process, but would assume that significant pressure would need to be applied and therefore, tighter applications may have a distorted or ‘mashed’ appearance - or perhaps a looser weave would accomplish the same result - dunno. in any event, a significant amount of epoxy would need to be applied - which may be fine for appearance, but seriously defeats the underlying strength v. weight purpose that is the primary reason for using CF in the first place.

all that said - have never been a fan of ‘appearance’ for ‘appearance sake’. IMO - either use the material in it’s most functional form for it’s intended purpose, or fuggetaboutit.

 

[bcj]

It's only a pattern on thin plastic.
Might as well go with a full on Louis Vuitton or Sailor Moon if you want the attention.