Tint Windscreen

[The Acumen]

Has anyone tinted their own windscreen?

Share your experiences with us.

I had a go at it and it came out real bad. So i'll share mine and maybe someone can give me some suggestions.

I bought this:

for about $16. It came out terrible with the air holes in it. But it would have looked great if it had worked because the tint fade in and out real nice.

I've tries Tint A Car but they said they don't want to waste their time on a bike screen.

On some other forums people suggest spray painting it.

I was thinking of using those spray tints but apparently they don't work on plastic.

Any one had success tinting their own screens?

[Aphex]

Why not just buy a tinted screen? ala Puig, Power Bronze, Eagle etc....

[vbroom]

what bike do you have?

you can get tinted ones for like $40 nowadays on ebay

[Gordan]

Ive sprayed the inside of my screen with flat black paint before. Came out completely black (not tinted), but thats the look i was going for anyway. Worked a treat because it wouldnt get scratched from the outside as it was painted from the inside!

[The Acumen]

what bike do you have?

you can get tinted ones for like $40 nowadays on ebay

I have a hyosung and i've looked on ebay. They are about $120 from what i found.

I'm a bit of a cheapo

And i like the feeling of doing it myself.

[The Acumen]

Ive sprayed the inside of my screen with flat black paint before. Came out completely black (not tinted), but thats the look i was going for anyway. Worked a treat because it wouldnt get scratched from the outside as it was painted from the inside!

Yeah i think i might end up doing the same thing

This is how it turned out for this fella
http://www.kawiforums.com/ninja-250r...indscreen.html

Theres no going back.
But thats okay, i just want to hide the annoying scratches on my screen. If it was clear i would have left it

[vbroom]

here's one for $66 landed

Hyosung GT650R GT650S GT250R All Dark Tinted Screen - eBay Kawasaki, Bike Parts, Motorcycle Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 19-Mar-10 12:55:25 AEDST)

but then again if you want to DIY, go for it.

[Aphex]

If you're that intent on doing it yourself, perhaps be a little more patient.

1) Make sure the surface is clean as bro, and not just a little wipe over with a damp cloth either.
2) Before you start applying your finish, make sure the surface is bone dry.
3) Apply mulitple light coats instead of trying to do it all at once. You wont get any horrid runny bubbles & shit then

[IPIT]

I've tries Tint A Car but they said they don't want to waste their time on a bike screen.

This really shits me. Businesses are so fucking spoilt these days that they don't want to waste 10mins of their time for a fee.

I've done tinting before at home not on a bike. I bought it from ebay (by the meter) and followed exact directions watching professionals on Youtube etc. Turned out really good. You will need some baby shampoo and a small squeegie.

[The Acumen]

If you're that intent on doing it yourself, perhaps be a little more patient.

1) Make sure the surface is clean as bro, and not just a little wipe over with a damp cloth either.
2) Before you start applying your finish, make sure the surface is bone dry.
3) Apply mulitple light coats instead of trying to do it all at once. You wont get any horrid runny bubbles & shit then

Sounds good!

I'll let you guys know how it went

[Aphex]

This really shits me. Businesses are so fucking spoilt these days that they don't want to waste 10mins of their time for a fee.

It's more about the customer perceiving the fee for such a small service is a little steep.

[WIGARUS]

This really shits me. Businesses are so fucking spoilt these days that they don't want to waste 10mins of their time for a fee.

The dude wants to pay less than $120.00.

For something that they don't normally do. I wouldn't be interested either and I can definitely understand why they wouldn't be interested.

[IPIT]

The dude wants to pay less than $120.00.

For something that they don't normally do. I wouldn't be interested either and I can definitely understand why they wouldn't be interested.

exactly my point, businesses can't see the big picture. I'm sure these guys aren't flat out all the time and won't really have to go that much out of their way. If it was my shop I'd see it as a possible opportunity for some additional business. If we keep one person happy he may tell others or come back to do his car etc etc. It's just called goodwill which sadly doesn't exist any more.
It's like the K-Tec boyz here. They do shit for people which isn't really the norm but have a great reputation in return. Win/Win

Anyway I don't want to derail.

[Aphex]

exactly my point, businesses can't see the big picture. I'm sure these guys aren't flat out all the time and won't really have to go that much out of their way. If it was my shop I'd see it as a possible opportunity for some additional business. If we keep one person happy he may tell others or come back to do his car etc etc. It's just called goodwill which sadly doesn't exist any more.
Anyway I don't want to derail.

Unfortunately, the problem with providing good will as a business these days is that if you do it once for one person, that individual not only expects it again but all of his/her friends do too. Then they get all bumhurt about it when it's not forthcoming.

[Frogger]

there was a guy on that gumtree website that was an ex tinter and had realy cheap prices for doing a car. someone like that would probably do the little jobs , im pretty sure for the screen u would have to heat shrink it or wat ever they call it , as they do on rear car windows , cause of the curve on them. my screen was realy faded and dirt i just sprayed it with paint looks much better but a proper tinted one would be best imo

[lonny350]

I used to own a tinting business and tint-a-car should know that the film and adhesive is not suitable for plastic of any kind. Also, heat shrinking onto plastic is not a good idea. I`ve applied film onto ski-boat screens, but only when an idemnity form has been signed.
Cheaper and less hassle painting or buying a tinted screen me thinks.

[The Acumen]

Alright,

I test tried spray painting on another see throgh plastic and i didn't like the result that much.

So i bought some more tint film and gave it another try.

This time it came out much better and im happy with it.

What i did different this time was puncher the air holes and put them down. Air holes was the only problem anyway.

I've left it in the sun aswell and it's gotten better by that aswell.

Now i'll have to see how well it lasts.
If it starts to break after a month i'll take it off.
By the way i just used petrol to get the glue off last time and it came off very easily.

[Jonchilds]

I've tries Tint A Car but they said they don't want to waste their time on a bike screen.

Tint-a-car won't waste their time because it will be wasting their time.

Tinting unevenly curved surfaces is a huge hassle and would take them many attempts.
Basically their profit from doing a bike screen for $70 (same price as a car window) would be very small if the tint didn't shrink uniformly and required 2-3 attempts.

[Mad Mel]

Avoid putting petrol anywhere near your screen..... it will leave all kinds on marks over your screen. I had a spray go over an old screen and it ended it.

I reckon the apply your own tint may be getting a bit more cost effective especially if your now looking at a min of $125 these days.

[The Acumen]

Avoid putting petrol anywhere near your screen..... it will leave all kinds on marks over your screen. I had a spray go over an old screen and it ended it.

I reckon the apply your own tint may be getting a bit more cost effective especially if your now looking at a min of $125 these days.

Well i ended up spending $32.

The curves are a bitch so it took me 2 attempts to get it good enough.

But i think it really depends on the situation. If i had a better bike i would probably be more inclined to spend the $150 and get a really good one.
But i just wanted something to fix my screen up because it wasn't very good before. And petrol didn't really make it any worst. But now it's good enough so it doesn't bring down the rest of my bike. So i'm happy.
But if i had spend like $15 on a bike i wouldn't have taken the cheap option. Cause you'd want to be really presentable.

Man, this is a fail of a "how to" thread. Sorry guys lol.

I'll make another how to thread later and actually teach something else thats cool