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Virtually invisible paint protection film for your motorcycle.
Dragon Skin Ride Armor is rock chip and scratch protection for your motorcycle's delicate and prone paint job.
Applying only the highest quality films to your motorcycles finish, Dragon Skin Ride Armor gives you peace of mind while you ride... knowing that every little rock or piece of debris thrown up by the car, truck, or motorcycle ahead of you won't ruin your motorcycle's beautiful paint.
Have you ever bought a brand new bike with a shiny new paint job only to have your "new bike experience" ruined by a chip in the paint on the first day out?
Well, you don't have to deal with that kind of stress... just bring the bike over to Dragon Skin, and then you can ride on worry-free.
Not only that, but with Dragon Skin Ride Armor you don't have to worry about getting swirl marks in your paint when you wipe down your bike after a day out riding. Paint protection film protects your paint from fine swirl marks, and even self-heals much larger scratches!
NO MORE WORRYING ABOUT YOUR MOTORCYCLE PAINT JOB!
Dragon Skin is particularly about motorcycles... using pre-cut and custom cut patterns specifically designed for your motorcycle and applied by a motorcycle perfectionist... not a "car guy" taking on extra evening work.
407-782-3329
matt@theallriders.com
Paint Protection film can also be used to change the finish from matte to gloss or vice versa. Save versus an expensive paint job. Can you see the difference with the gloss top panel installed on the Ducati Diavel carbon fiber fuel tank cover?
Paint Protection panels for a Yamaha R1:
Do as much or as little of the bike as you like...
only pay for what you need.
The History of Paint Protection Film
Where did Paint Protection Film (PPF) come from?
Whenever you’re getting to know someone or something, it’s helpful to get some background information. So here is a little bio on the technology behind Paint Protection Film.
Automotive Paint Protection Film is a transparent, urethane material. Urethane technology was developed during the Vietnam War, when U.S. helicopters were crashing due to
damage on the leading edge of rotor blades.
The military worked with 3M to develop a technology that would be lightweight, but resilient and could be replaced at the fraction of the cost of replacing an entire rotor blade (or a crashed helicopter for that matter). In the 1970s, the military expanded its use of urethane films to the noses of fighter jets, and because the technology has been so successful and efficient, 3M still manufactures a variety of urethane films for military and aerospace purposes to this day.
In the 1980s, NASCAR saw how urethane technology could be beneficial in protecting the front half of race cars. Advertisers pay a lot of money to get their decals plastered on the front of fast cars, and I’m sure they weren’t too keen on those decals getting peppered by rock chips.
During the 1990s, urethane films became available to the general consumer for automotive protection. Since then the technology has been continually refined, improved, and has been enthusiastically welcomed across the automotive industry. Today Paint Protection Films are OEM approved by virtually all automotive manufacturers.
Paint Protection Films are widely used by automotive detail and protection specialists, but it is hard to find specialists that have the experience and meticulous attention to detail required to effectively apply the films to motorcycles. The tight and complex painted surfaces of motorcycles pose unique problems for PPF installers, and pre-cut designs are often unavailable for motorcycles (as they are for most car models). For motorcycles, the film typically has to be custom formed and cut-to-shape by hand (as opposed to pre-cut by machine). Thus, most PPF specialists won't work on motorcycles.
Enter: Dragon Skin Ride Armor: Paint Protection application specifically for motorcycles.
If you want your motorcycle's painted surfaces protected properly, it is best to bring it to a motorcycle perfectionist specialist... Dragon Skin Ride Armor.
"Helicopter Tape" protects against this kind of rotor damage
What is Dragon Skin Ride Armor's
Paint Protection Film Made of?
Dragon Skin uses only the highest quality Paint Protection Film available.
Not all films are created equal.
This is what a premium film is made of:
The key ingredient is urethane, a powerful and versatile polymer made from carbamate links. As a compound, it has unique attributes: It is lightweight and transparent, like plastic. But unlike plastic, it is not brittle or susceptible to tears and cracks. It has a high resistance to impact, abrasion, and corrosion. It is also incredibly flexible and can return to its natural shape after being stretched or disfigured.
Given the polymer’s diverse and advantageous attributes, it has a wide variety of industrial and recreational applications. Urethane is used in the household caulk with which you line your bathroom tiles because it seals spaces from moisture and prevents the growth of mildew or fungus.
It can also be found coating boats and underwater cables to prevent damage. It is used in various sporting equipment parts, from football pads to surfboard fins. Its strength and resistance to wear and tear make it an ideal component for manufacturing and mining equipment.
As we mentioned earlier, urethane is still used to protect various parts of military and
aerospace equipment.
The applications of urethane as a polymer are broad, but today we are talking about your motorcycle, and for the benefit of your bike, urethane serves as a central ingredient in a clear film around 8 mils (0.008 inches) thick.
In addition to the central layer made up of urethane (or polyurethane), a quality Paint Protection Film has at least two other layers.
First, the top is lined with a clear coat made up of elastomeric polymers. As we mentioned above, this is the part that enables a good film to heal itself from small scratches. But it does much more. The clear coat on a good film will have a low surface energy, which prevents organic compounds, like bugs or bird droppings, from bonding with the film.
Second, the bottom is lined with an acrylic adhesive that is designed to be flexible, so that it can be stretched and wrapped around every contour or your vehicle; durable, so that the film will not detach over time; and invisible, so that it will not affect the look of the paint.
Are there any liabilities? What about yellowing, blistering, or peeling?
After being properly applied, Paint Protection Film (PPF) is virtually invisible to the naked eye and does not inhibit the depth and clarity of your factory paint. But what about over time? If you’ve done some reading around the Internet, you may have encountered individuals documenting defects that have appeared in their PPF after a certain amount of time. In particular, some people who have purchased off-brand PPF have noted yellowing, blistering, and peeling. For you to make an informed decision, it’s important to know what’s behind each of these degenerations and what you’ll need to do to avoid them.
Yellowing
An early complaint against Paint Protection Film was that after time it began turning yellow, which, of course, has a significant impact on the look of a vehicle’s paint, especially for white paint. This complaint was particularly prevalent when PPF first started being applied to consumer automobiles. After researching the matter, film manufacturing companies found that the yellowing effect came from the adhesive that was used to bind a film to the body of a vehicle. UV exposure was oxidizing the adhesive, which lead to discoloration. Upon this discovery, companies began researching alternative adhesives and began using the acrylic adhesives that are found in most PPF today. This newly developed adhesive is UV resistant, and will not oxidize or discolor. This effectively resolved the discoloration concern for Paint Protection Film. Today, if you put a sub-standard film on your bike, it may use an inferior adhesive and lead to discoloration. But all quality professional film manufacturers, like 3M, XPEL, and LLumar, use a more recently developed adhesive that does not discolor due to UV exposure.
Blistering
A Clear Bra is said to “blister” when small air bubbles are found underneath the film. The blistering effect has everything to do with the quality of the application. Typically, an air bubble occurs because a contaminant is trapped under the film, creating separation between the body of the vehicle and the PPF. Overtime this can lead to growing bubbles under the film. A proper application process includes hairsplitting attention to the vehicle’s surface before any film touches the paint. This includes washing, claying, and polishing. When a quality film is properly applied by an experienced technician, the risk is at most very minimal.
Peeling
Peeling is, of course, when the edges of a film begin to peel away from the paint. It can result from a sub-standard film or unprofessional application, but it is often the result of improper care. Specifically, if you are using a pressure wash to clean a motorcycle with Paint Protection Film, it is important to stay at least 12 inches away from the film and particularly from any exposed edges. If a pressure washer is directed at the edge of the film, it can begin lifting, which leads to peeling. It is never a good idea to pressure wash a motorcycle... even if there is no PPF to worry about.
In sum, the complaints against Paint Protection Film do arise from real-world situations. However, as we have outlined, these situations have specific causes that can be averted. If you use Dragon Skin Ride Armor, and properly care for your protected motorcycle, then the risk of defects like yellowing, blistering, or peeling are next to none.
If any of those things do occur, you will be covered by a ten year manufacturers warranty.
