If you’ve been considering a new look for your bike, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of paint (either DIY or professional), then you may be thinking about a vinyl wrap job instead. While you could find professionals to do it for you, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to try doing it yourself. From wanting to satisfy your own curiosity and creativity to trying to save a little money, there’s no one right answer—except to say that you won’t know how it’ll go until you try it. 

That’s where this handy beginner’s vinyl wrapping video guide from YouTuber Chaos Causes can be helpful. Since every bike will have slightly different shapes to consider, instead of giving specifics that only apply to the MT-09 he’s using for his demonstration, the guy lays out some basic principles to help you plan your own vinyl wrapping projects more effectively. 

For a start, as with many things to do with motorcycles (and probably life in general), take a little time to choose a good-quality vinyl that you want to use for your project. He’s partial to a 3M one, but Avery Dennison and others also make quality products that are relatively easy to apply and will last well on your bike. What you don’t want to do is cheap out and get some terrible vinyl product that will only frustrate you (and also possibly look bad).  

From there, having the right tools and prep are key. You’ll want a squeegee, so you can coax the air bubbles and creases out of your work as you go along. A razor blade is also essential for trimming, as well as creating relief cuts to smooth the vinyl around tricky shapes.  

You’ll need a heat gun, too—although it’s possible that a hairdryer could work in a pinch, depending on what you have around. Using heat can help bend the vinyl to your will—both to revive it if it gets bent or crumpled, and also to smooth over certain shapes, such as depressions in body panels where there are bolt holes.  

The final essential tool recommendation is knifeless, fine-line masking tape. One thing to understand with vinyl wrapping is that you, as an amateur, aren’t going to be able to wrap a piece of bodywork using a single, unbroken piece of vinyl. It’s possible that professionals have some way to do it, but as long as you think about the best way to do layers, that’s probably your best bet to achieve good results. Hiding seams at the edges of body panels and thinking carefully about the order in which you want to do your layers will make a big difference in the finished product. 

What’s probably even more important than having good vinyl and the proper tools for this project? Your prep work, of course. Just like painting, your finished product will only be as good as the preparation you put into it. Removing the body panels you want to wrap will make the job a whole lot easier.  

Also, you need to clean any body panels that you want to wrap as thoroughly as you possibly can—both front and back. The front part should be obvious, since that’s where the vinyl will primarily sit—but the back is important, too, because you’ll be wrapping the vinyl around the edges and you don’t want any leftover dirt to transfer somewhere via your hands. 

Soap and water are an excellent place to start, but you’ll also need to use isopropyl alcohol to thoroughly wipe down the surface of any place you want to wrap. This will remove any remaining oils or residue, so you have the cleanest possible surface over which to apply your vinyl. Remember, dirt and dust are your enemy—what looks tiny to your eye will look like a big bump under the vinyl if you don’t get rid of it, so pay close attention if you want your bike to look awesome when you’re done. 

The good news is, vinyl is easily removed—so if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. Sure, you may be annoyed that you wasted time (and some of your vinyl), but it’s a lot easier to fix an oops here than it is with a lot of things, including paint.