I've been out of the industry for a while, but commercial vans used to be fitted with what we called rubbing strakes. It was a triangular section rubber about 15mm per side that you glued to your van doors. The drivers could then go round London scratching other vehicles and suffering little damage themselves by opening the doors in spaces that were really too tight. A line or too of this on scooter bodywork might be neat and practical if you can still buy it?

Andy

That stuff last about five miles before it's toast,

I've used that stuff; it is sold in the UK in woodwork supply places because it has a high friction coefficient which means it is used on workbenches to stop work items from sliding about.
As ever, it is cheaper from those sources than if bought in a bike shop where it is sold for similar purposes, including versions that are formed to the shape of specific saddles to help you not lose your pillion passenger under "hard acceleration".
I have found it useful when put underneath soft luggage - it does as it says, preventing scratches and stopping the bags from sliding about; I've only used it for road bikes though; I take the point about sand, grit etc getting into the weave of the material.

Duive,

I just returned from a trip to the next Polo Super-Store. Bought a pair of Drive1 saddlebags (20 ltr each) for 60 Euros and a yellow Drive dufflebag (65 ltr) for 50 Euros.

Seems like I´ll be quite happy with the saddlebags. They come with a neoprene padding to prevent rubbing. Threaded two velcro straps underneath the seat and hooked the rear straps to the hand rail to prevent them from slipping. Easy as a pie!

I could have gone with larger soft luggage but the 20 ltr bags still give any space to handle the scooter and don´t bother a potential pillion.

If it tickles my fancy I´ll glue some protective plastic foil and glue it to the rig.

Hiya

3M paint protection film is good stuff, but hard to apply smoothly on compound curves. Doesn't wear through. Its got 2 protective layers you need to peel off first, or you'll struggle!

Mostly I've bought from Lamin-X both in the UK as a 5'x1' strip to chop up as needed, or once from the parent co in the USA as a 15'x1'. Blocks UV too.

VentureShield and DuraShield Paint Protection and Clear Bra Rolls

http://www.lamin-x.co.uk/shop/paintprotection.htm

:)

I have a nice shiny silver Yamaha Fazer 1000 (along with my DR650) and I run soft saddlebags on both.

For the Fazer, I use painter's tape on the side panels at point of contact with the bags.

Sometimes I double up, depending on duration of trip -- two layers of painter's tape, a layer of tougher duct tape, a top layer of painter's.

Simple and effective. Never the slightest mar. :thumbup1:

Indeed simple, effective I cannot yet confirm. But I'm looking for a simple solution and this one I sure will try. Thanks!

I'm dealing with the same issue. Always had hard luggage before, and this is the first time with soft panniers. I'm going to try Fablon, which is cheap and easily available in the UK. Perhaps two layers. Hopefully it will come off with heat and a bit of meths/white spirit/carb cleaner.

I'd regard gaffer/duct tape as a last resort. I was forced to use half a roll to secure the bonnet of my car when the latch failed on a long trip, and made the mistake of leaving it there for a week or two when I got home. I got the silver part off OK, but the cloth mesh and adhesive were very hard to remove. I couldn't find a solvent that would loosen it and ended up doing it mm by mm with an old credit card. Not something I want to repeat with my precious bike :)

Unless anyone knows the secret ...

Painter's tape. Painter's tape. Painter's tape. Use a couple layers. No residue to worry about. Peels off clean, maybe wipe with some Windex. Or, couple layers of painter's tape and a layer of duct for added protection.

Painter's tape ... :thumbup1:

Removing the adhesive from paintwork
 

Hi there one of the best solvents that I have found for removing the left over adhesive from paintwork and plastics is (wait for it) Ronsons lighter fuel I know it doesnt sound right but many years ago when I had a video shop pre DVD when the videos arrived many had stickers in the top corner offering them at special discount prices, So these stickers had to be removed lol and the best way to do that leaving no marks at all was with lighter fuel I use lighter fuel for all sorts of cleaning processes now with great results, also another great under-rated cleaning fluid is WD40.
Good luck Keep Upright Bill :scooter:

Heh - I hear you! Would that be what is called 'masking tape' in the UK? Papery-type stuff, easily torn, used to mask off areas not painted?

If so, sounds like a plan. I have tons of the stuff.

Cleaning baked-on residue of duct tape:

I tried WD-40 on it. No luck. Never thought of lighter fluid, mainly cos I didn't have any, but it sounds good.

Soft luggage will rub no matter what you try mate, things have a way of conspiring against you...it's a side effect of that type of luggage. I used soft luggage on a pristine bike I've had since new, and was (at the time) horrified to learn when enquiring about a trade-in, that after 5300klm's of touring with care to this very issue, the luggage and occy-straps had done over $1k of damage to the duck-tail and passenger grab rail. Bear in mind that's on a sportsbike.

Tbh, I didn't give a damn, as the fun and experience easily outweighed the damage...I bought new, negotiated over $2k on the purchase price, and happy to wear the depreciation. It's only fair to expect blemishes on anything fresh off the showroom floor. Only the most anal of owners would care...they'd be the type to tight to stump up for new price and annoy me at sale time, and tbh most people wouldn't notice it unless pointed out. As a mechanic, I take absolute care and condition of my bike in every way (more important), but if the next owner wants to haggle over trivial stuff like that, they can sod-off and try to find better. Tyre-kickers are the anit-christ...you either want or you don't! Best of luck to them...you want perfect, buy new. My advice is to ride and use what you want, how you want, and not worry about the next owner...you didn't buy for them anyway!!! ;)

On a bike with a tubular frame. try a hardware store for the round form insulating foam for water pipes. It simply clamps itself to teh pipe and all the wear will be on teh foam which is slightly compressible so flexes.

Stop soft bags scratching paint work
 

I bought some black plastic strips from the autoshop that are used to protect car doors, etc. They have sticky backs, are cheap and look OK like racing stripes when you don't have bags on.