Devon TRF Group Forum

Need some input here so get your thinking caps on and tell us what you think.

Nothing new about this idea and must have crossed your mind occasionally about the availability and cost of graphics and whether or not it would be worth going into or not.

There is a lot of competition out there with a wide variety of available graphics for MX and road bikes, but whenever you want something original looking or machine specific particularly on older machines, there often seems to be a lack of choice.

By this I mean when you want something for a bike thats not mainstream the choice narrows and costs seem to elevate.

I have for sometime thought about getting into this market, with the current rapid nosedive my business in the motor trade has suffered during my absence because of illness and the ongoing problems I face getting back fit, I need something to earn with long term and keep me occupied. Its not a get rich quick scheme, just more of a project.

The type of graphics are your standard cut vinyl offerings and these will most likely be coated with a liquid laminate to protect against abrasion and UV.

I have no experience of this type of media, although I have worked with custom paints and dabbled in airbrushing etc, this is a different ball game. I am quick to learn though and have access to quite a few resources.

The plan is to utilise a entry level inkjet printer/cutter that can do this type of work and then liquid laminate as cold laminating is fine but involves cutting the laminate again and alignment can be tricky, the newer liquid laminates seem more cost effective and probably a better choice.

I have spoken to a few manufacturers and my neighbour who sells specialist printers and copyers, his opinion seems to be that there are a lot out there doing this type of printing, but not much in the bike game. I could of course get the items produced for me, just do the design and format and get the actual product out sourced.

So begs the question, is there a market out there for graphics particularly custom graphics rather than the factory look alikes and for more obscure machines. Producing ones for one offs would entail templates being made to suit individual bikes but once this is done the possibilities of producing custom decals for all shapes and sizes is endless.

I know many don't bother with graphics but some like to dress to impress, is it the costs or unavailabilty of suitable graphics, or just don't like them?

Would members be willing to lend me bike plastics or make templates to get the relevant shapes and sizes?

I have access to website designers (two in my family) so setting up the web marketing tool is covered and packing and distribution is covered but he doesn't know about it yet

Whaddayathink?