OK, finally got the replacement decals from velocals, and ready to apply. But before I do that, I have to take a BIG gulp and burnish some of the fresh powder coat off the headtube. Why? To use some 5020 psi JB Weld to apply this:
Instead of applying the standard headtube decal, I discovered by accident that a jeweler on the East Coast had once upon a time approached Keith to ask if she could make silver and bronze headtube badges using his logo and emblems. He agreed, and a very limited run of these headbadges were made, not for Bontrager himself to apply to any of their stock frames, but for bike owners. So, I approached the jeweler to ask if she still had the mold and could she make me one? Luckily, she was willing.
The finished headtube diameter (with powder coat) is 33mm, while the jeweler's mold happened to be 32mm. So I had to carefully open up the curvature of the silver badge. And because mine is sterling silver, I knew some day it would tarnish and darken. To keep it bright, to match the silver ribbons on the panel decals, I hit the badge with a few coats of clear coat, which worked very nicely. Then I took out the Dremel and attached a sanding head, said 100 hail mary's, and etched the sparkly headtube. Squirted some JB Weld onto the back of the silver badge, and voila:
And, while I let that cure for 24 hours, I successfully applied the panel decals to top and down tubes:
I think I'll place the unused headtube decal on the seat tube. I seem to recall some of the older Races and Race Lites had circular badging on the seat tube, can't recall if it was top or bottom of the tube, but I'll contemplate what looks good. Once these are all cured, its time to return to the Mag 21SL fork legs, and to start assembling parts for install!
