Reflective tape on swin arm and front fork - need ideas

[Popeye70]

Hello all!

I'm considering putting some reflective tape on my swing arm and front fork, and need ideas for a way to do this without making it "too much", "too little" or "too square" (in a geometric, not a behavioural way). I'm aesthetically challenged...

Here are two alternatives for the swing arm:

The first picture gives me a massive, bulky, "too much" feeling. The second picture is a little better, but still not "dynamic" enough.

And here's an alternative for the front fork:

The example on the front fork looks more like an integral part of the bike's design, while the examples on the swing arm definitely looks like something put on by a 10 year old blind boy...

I have 1, 2 and 4 inch wide stripes of black reflective tape. Any ideas of how to put them to good use without messing too much with the bike's original look and feel, but still make it look cool? All suggestions are welcome!

 

[sxty8goats]

you can always trim the ends round or pointed. Make them less 'square' And you could put the tape on the rear along the edge of the fender. Then it would be invisible-ish durring the day, black on black...

Where did you pick it up? I've been thinking about looking for some myself.

 

[Stevenator]

I like how it looks on the front forks :thumbup: Maybe on the back cut some 45s in the tape and do a / / / / slanted stripe pattern on the swingarm? That might be kindof cool. Like sxty8goats said... where did you pickup the black reflective tape??? I'd like to put some on my wheels!

 

[texcollect]

Why not put one of these in reflective black on the swingarm.
Yamaha with Symbol

 

[Norbert]

you can always trim the ends round or pointed. Make them less 'square' And you could put the tape on the rear along the edge of the fender. Then it would be invisible-ish durring the day, black on black...

Where did you pick it up? I've been thinking about looking for some myself.

making the edges rounded or less square will also make the tape harder to peel off due to weather, rubbing, etc. i did this to the reflective tape on my helmet. (i got this info from some advrider folks).

 

[sxty8goats]

Why not put one of these in reflective black on the swingarm.
Yamaha with Symbol

Nice find.

 

[McLovin]

leave it as it is in the first pic and cut the tips diagonal..to go with the lines of the bike and all, decide on the angle of the cut after taking a look at your bike from the side

 

[Popeye70]

you can always trim the ends round or pointed. Make them less 'square' And you could put the tape on the rear along the edge of the fender. Then it would be invisible-ish durring the day, black on black...

Thank you for the suggestion with the rounded ends - that would make it a lot easier on the eyes. Taping along the edges of the fender was also a good idea. :thumbup:

Where did you pick it up? I've been thinking about looking for some myself.

I got the tape off eBay -> this kit. The ad doesn't mention it, but it is real 3M industrial reflective tape. At least that is what I got.

You can get it cheaper per square inch if you buy a roll or bigger pieces. The plan was to get a bigger roll, but I couldn't find the use for more than what I ended up getting.

 

[Rhadamygg]

I get rim stripes from Tapeworks - one of the first things I get for every bike. If you are going with the black - they have black retroreflective rim stripes that would IMO - really make that look mesh together.

Of course appling rim stripes is a PITA and my wife is much better at it than I am - but at least we have a center stand which makes the job a billion times easier than without it.

RhadamYgg