Who makes the best Katana decals?

[Guest]

Well, after much deliberation I've decided to go full re-paint on my 82 Katana 1100.

Purists think I'm crazy since the paint is decent and original.I've opted for a full re-paint because there was just too much peeling on the tank and a few chips. The cowling appears to have been re-painted at one time and the color is off. Front fender had lots of chips on the leading edge. I'm putting so many new parts on it (including a new seat) that my fear is the paint will look shabby.

That said, feel free to chime in if you think I'm crazy but I would really appreciate hearing from someone who has done a re-paint and who they obtained their decal set from.

And if so, were the ones you used vinyl or waterslide? The small sword logos on my bike def. look like waterslide. Maybe the tank ones are too. Just cant say for sure.

What was the original? Mine looks like an adhesive decal but I may be wrong. The painter said it looked like there was some clear over the decals. The cowling is the only piece that has been re-painted and even from my crappy phone picture you can see who poor a match the cowl is.

My guy also painted my Z1R and it is so good everyone thinks it's original. I am confident in his work. I just want to do it right.

I've seen several sources for them from eBay to a couple Canadian decal makers. I just want the best and most original appearing.

To clear-coat or not is also on my mind. What would Jesus do? (If he rode a Katana)

Opinions welcome.

[pontiacstogo]

Suzuki still sell the decals - that's where I would go for them.

[harley10]

Yep Suzuki , my body work is getting painted as we speak yeah!!!

[harley10]

My paint guy is putting on decals then clear coating it!

[samboss260]

I just bought the same decals from Suzuki and will get the paint place to clear over them when I get the bike painted.

[300kph]

Are the OEM adhesive or waterslide?

[300kph]

Yes, I just checked and the tank decals and all the tiny bits for the choke as well as the side cover Katana logo decals are are still avail and cheap I might add.

Does anyone know if the stock decals were adhesive or waterslide? The side cover ones look W.S.

Gonna order them from Bike Bandit as I have other stuff to get. Hey! Got a spare rear fender that I am bobbing 1" below the license plate to give it a bit more of a modern look (those old British style rear fenders were one of the tackiest things about the bike) Would not do if I did not have spare.


Here's a few pics of the early days of the resto: Might look good from these crappy pics but there is just a tired and worn look to the paint and the worst thing is the lousy re-paint done on the cowl probably 20 years ago. Looks like it fell over as there is a bondo job inside where the signal popped a hole in it. It was fixed OK but the re-paint will allow me to address the imperfections in the repair and make it perfect. I really struggled with the idea of a full re-paint but I've often seen nice bikes at vintage shows and the paint is often the weak point. There is something to be said about originality but also something nice about a professional stock-appearing paint job that makes you think the box just came out of the crate.





















Wayne
PS: I had a thread where I was having seat issues. Bought a new one only to find they changed the color to a much darker grey (almost a battleship grey) And they never changed the seat strap. It is still the original color.

My local seat / vinyl repair guy is a genius. He dyed the new strap to perfectly match the new darker seat. He also looked at my ratty old seat and said "Let me see what I can do with it" He re-dyed it to the original color. It's perfect and from 3 feet away it looks brand new. He re-dyed the old strap that was grimy looking and while excellent it looks worn so I ordered a second new one to match this rejuvenated seat. If I'd known how nicely he would have restored the old one I would not have spent all that cake on the new one. Having 2 seats will be OK for days when I want to go full retro.

I'll put up some seat pics on that other thread soon.

W

[GER144]

All the stock decals are adhesive style. tank, fairing ('83) and the side panels including the choke decals and the 3 little black stripes.

[300kph]

Thanks Ger! Gonna order the lot!