decal removal

[holyfighter117]

 Hey all,
   I was wanting to repaint my gas tank. However before I can I need to romove the old suzuki decals on the side of the tank. How do I safely get those off?  Thanks!

[holyfighter117]

Will it come off when I sand the tank?

[Yuri.]

If you are going to repaint it just use brute force, obviously the paint will come out together.
But if you want to be more gentle, heat it with a hair dryer(or heat gun if you got one), that way it should be easier.

[numus]

More then likely the decals on the tank are under the clear coat... Yes when you sand you can sand the old decals off....

[holyfighter117]

Ok thanks guys!

[Exodia GS]

what i did on mine, i took out the whole tank,
sanded it with my Palm Sander (so much easier with this one)

then repainted it, then put brand new Suzuki Decals

if you are planning to put new Suzuki Decals,
i suggest get the Reflective one
for Safety Purposes especially driving at night

cuz that's what i did on mine





i change the tank decals, the sticker on my front shield, the decal on the rear cowling, and the sticker on the rims are all reflective

hope that helps

[Yuri.]

Oh, I was not getting how you were saying the decal would come off by sanding
I was imagining the new decal with the S logo

[Exodia GS]

basically, you will also sand down the decal to make it smooth and flat

then you could paint over it

decal is underneath the clear coating, well on my bike it is, its a 2002 GS500

but the Suzuki emblem or S Logo Decal will be sssswwweeetttt!!!

remember to post some pics man

[holyfighter117]

Ok thanks. Your bike looks awesome.i hope mine turns out that well. I will post pics soon.

[holyfighter117]

What type of sand paper should I use with the palm sander?

[Exodia GS]

i rememberm i used an 80-100 grit sand paper first so i could take out the clear coat and also the decal.
then once i have done that, i started working up on the sandpaper grits

i think i went up from 80 to 140, then to 200, then to 300, until it feels smooth.

then when everything is all smooth, prep'ed it up for primer.

after primer, let it dry, then afterwards shot the first color coating.

then i used, i think its 800 grit WETSAND PAPER (by hand) then sanded it, to make it really smooth.

then dry it out, then start putting your layers of color including your clear coat.

i'm pretty sure other people does it different way, but as far as i remember, that's how i did mine

[holyfighter117]

what fairing piece do you have on your bike? is that something you did? i dont think ive see it before. it looks like its only covering the sped/tach. looks cool.

[bill14224]

Best way to get those stickers off is with a heat gun as was posted earlier or a rubber wheel on your drill.  Both takes 'em right off.

[holyfighter117]

does that work on the plastics sides as well?

[Exodia GS]

the front cowling/windscreen came from a BUELL BLAST

here's what it looks like on the front:



i'm not really familiar with the other year of GS500's but with mine (2002)
the decals where underneath the clear coating so using the heatgun will
not work that's why i have to use the palm sander to sand down the clear coating
and the decal

hopefully its not the same case with your bike, if you could use the heatgun to
take out the decals, that'll be much better and way easier 

but either way... you need to post pics afterwards
pics here are the best