May 6, 2021 Reanne Duffy

When the vehicle branding you need is no longer on the shelves, call Classic Transfers…

 

If you have a bit of snow on the roof and an affection for two wheeled motorised transport, it’s possible your memory will have bought with it from the late seventies and early eighties colourful recollections of the so-called ‘mopeds’ of the era. 

 

Many of these ‘bikes were not so much utilitarian transport, as thinly-veiled means of delivering big-bike feel and performance to those whose licence wouldn’t yet permit them to get astride a 250. The formula worked. The Yamaha FS1E or ‘fizzy’ arguably led the pack in terms of numbers. Fantic was there. So too was Gilera with its own take on the breed.

 

The fact that a prone youth on a bit of a mission could wring 50 MPH out of these bullet-proof little two-stokes added to their kudos in an age when a 250 in a skilled journalist’s hand would struggle to screech up to ‘the ton’. The fact that nerve-damaging vibration and a widely optimistic speedo made the case for 65 MPH only added to the long immortalised war-stories.

 

Today we contemplate a world where such machines are still out there, but can’t really ‘exist.’ Today’s experience mapped to the same youth-fuelled stimulus would see some hopeful wringing the guts out of a whiny electric scooter before its smarts turn off the fun. No wonder then that a very committed core of grown-ups dedicate their resources and time to finding 70s and 80s relics and restoring them. They’re keeping some great memories glowing, and some wonderful machines this world won’t see the likes of again get to buzz another day.

 

Classic Transfers is a Bristol based business serving the needs of countless customers. Among them are those who are on a journey amounting to a labour of love - otherwise known as a restoration project. Such dedicated individuals will buy a hopefully complete box-of-bits or drag a rusting hulk from its supposed resting place in the hopes of making it whole again. Many try. Many fail. Many boxes-of-bits get sold-on to the next hopeful and so the world turns.

 

Set against this backdrop though, some succeed - and Classic Transfers plays a part in the success.

 

There’s a certain Gilera Trial 50 that owes its very being today to a successful restoration. Stripped practically to its raw DNA, this engineering gem now looks better than it ever did when new. The chrome is thick and imperforate. Its raw alloy is absent any casting artefacts. The paint has a gloss so deep you could swim in it. And the branding it wears with pride is exquisite in its every minute detail. Despite its originality, it’s a better bike in many ways than ever made it from Italy to the UK in the early 80s. 

 

Classic Transfers helped turn the restoration into a Gilera again the moment the transfers it meticulously researched and expertly printed were applied to the bike’s pristine paint by the owner. The finisher then sealed the deal by encapsulating the decals when the clear coat was applied.

 

Near perfect optical continuity with the finish and Classic Transfers’ decals is the result. Any reflection off the bike’s surface is concentrated in hard, specular angles. So the colour looks deep and the decals ‘pop.’ It’s a stunning job all said, regardless of whether bikes are on the list of things you like. A lot of it’s down to Classic Transfer’s attention to detail.

 

For those who want to look a bit deeper than the gorgeous gloss, the exquisite work was printed by Adam Wilson and the Classic Transfers team on a Mimaki CJV-150 loaded with a roll of Metamark MD-XB. The MD-XB film features inclusions in its adhesive that prevents the polar-white face film picking up a colour-cast from the paint. It’s not laminated because there’s no need. A hard-coat of glass-like gloss finish protects the superb print.

 

Classic Transfers is a wonderful business. It helps its customers achieve wonderful things. They keep the past alive using contemporary materials and technologies is a deeply creative and very skilled process. In recalling an age when details mattered, Classic Transfers’ work stands close scrutiny. If it no longer exists, there’s a very good chance that Classic Transfers can make it.