How about a smiley face on the back of your helmet, or your own hand-made arrows on the sides? One can really get creative with this product and have fun at the same time. I had a notion of where I wanted to apply it on the FJR, but I wanted the flexibility to use it elsewhere if necessary. 3M must want to closely guard the secret of how the product works.Īpplications for this material include commercial vehicle graphics, railroad graphics, commercial signs and road striping, although it’s best applied to flat surfaces or those having only moderate compound curves.Īlthough CycleGadgets had precut pieces for specific models and applications available, I opted to purchase two 8” x 11” (200mm X 280mm) sheets and cut them to size and shape myself. My search for what causes the product to react to light like it does resulted in minimal information other than that it is an “enclosed lens, reflective film”.
(Editor’s Note: Some riders prefer to use white reflective tape, which has the potential to improve visibility during the day also). The black tape is nearly invisible when affixed to a black surface, like a saddlebag, so you needn’t worry about ruining the looks of the bike.īut when a light source hits the reflective tape, as from a vehicle’s headlights, it becomes a brilliant white that really stands out.
It’s the heavy-duty “engineer-grade”, 7 mil (0.007″ thick), seven year, black reflective tape. These range from the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) grade, used in the marine environment, to various levels and colors of retro-reflective tapes, fabrics, stickers and even reflective paint, used in or on clothing and other gear.Īfter searching for the product, I found a CycleGadgets ad for a vinyl reflective tape kit in black.Īlthough I’ve never purchased any of their products, CycleGadgets is well known in the motorcycling community as a purveyor of interesting products, including including auxiliary lighting, GPS units, mounting brackets, rider comfort, communications and much more.ģM Scotchlite reflective tape is available in white and black, but CycleGadgets sells only the black version. I read about 3M Scotchlite reflective tape in advertisements in several motorcycle magazines.Īlthough I never had the occasion to use it until now, I always kept it in the back of my mind as something I might want to use some day.ģM’s “Scotchlite” brand characterizes a family of reflective materials. My reasons for performing the improvements are detailed in Part 1: Installing Hyper-Lites.
The installation of the 3M Scotchlite reflective tape kit is the second part of an overall plan to increase the visibility of my new 2006 Yamaha FJR1300 from the rear.
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