Decal location

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:07 am

I'm on my 5th Honda since around 1974, and my 3rd 750. I'm getting ready to shoot color on my '80 750fnext week and decals will follow about 2 weeks after. I'm going with the Pleiades Silver and the Blue decals, kind of a50% Freddie. I can match the paint but not all of that cool stuff. I would like to get my decals on where they belong within about 1/64" tolerance. I'm a little picky and also worked exterior paint/decals for a small aircraft company in the Seattle area.
Are there any Honda finish documents that show location ? Generally speaking, feature locating would be used along with soft tooling to be within the tolerance I mentioned. And there are tons of pictures that I could use but its the picky thing...

Any help is appreciated.

Axiom58

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:54 am

Welcome to the site Axiom58...hopefully someone will know.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 2:40 pm

I trim them very close with scissors. Have a picture of a couple OEM 1980 750 F on hand or google images on a laptop next to you. I use small pieces of tape to hold in place and make the correct adjustments. When it is good, mark the edges with small pieces of tape as markers for your application.
You may know all this already? I only mention it because this can only go on a certain way and the naked eye can tell if they are wrong. The stripe between the side cover and tail piece is never quite in line even from Honda. If you look at pictures carefully and line things up the best you can then you've got it and it will be as good as factory. All these were applied by hand in 1980 and no two were exactly and perfectly the same but they all look pretty exact.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 7:42 pm

Thanks for the answers. Its basically a very small airplane compared to what I used to work on. Locate, tape it and mark it. I'm hoping that the decal material can be applied wet so I can move them around.

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:14 pm

Are you using CBDecals? If so then 2 cups of water and 3 drops of dawn in a spray bottle does the job. I definitely saturate the area before applying. It is important for me to have guide marks with small pieces of masking tape to lay it down. I have found it is not so much sliding around as it is re lifting as necessary and re laying it down according to the tape markers you have in place. Once that is done just smoothing it out with a credit card on an angle lightly working any air bubbles out. Once the bubbles are gone, it is finished and can dry out. You may know all this but I say it in case anyone else wants to give it a try

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:23 pm

Here is my latest..trimmed down the decal with scissors, lightly taped where I want it (looking at numerous OEM photos) and then marked the edges for a guide to lay it down.

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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:05 am

You need to get some Japanese bike magazines, nobody does better than they do.

For example, Racers Vol 33 dedicates a whole issue to the AHM CB750F, even if the Japanese is tough to slog through there are tons of pictures. The back cover picture says:

"A "special project" that started in earnest at AHM (American Honda) in 1980. It is possible to expand sales of mass-produced vehicles through participation in the AMA Superbike series, which is rapidly increasing in popularity. However, in 1980, Yoshimura Suzuki's Wes Cooley won the series, and in 1981, Kawasaki's Eddie Lawson won the series, and even with the highest priority Daytona, Honda's ace, Freddie Spencer could not win. However, in the meantime, AHM's CB750F will leave the hands of Japan's RSC (later HRC) and achieve its own evolution. And the opening round of 1982, Daytona. Freddie Spencer, Mike Baldwin, Robert Pietri achieved 1-2-3. Three AHM CB750F superbikes, #19, #43 and #88, dominated Victory Lane. It was the moment when AHM's special project came to fruition in the best possible way."

Also the Honda Collection Hall has one, check it out here:

https://www.honda.com/collection-hall-gallery

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:05 am

Decals and pictures on this site.

https://cbdecals.afegraphics.com/index.php?adm&fbclid=IwAR3fVDujDOoXS2UTpkQF-29NIz6zr1-XvmsUezaV6MY3juhNzbnNkGJJCus

They may be able to help with location as well. I don't know.

Jes