Thunderwear said:
So, I'm soon to be an owner of the charcoal color 2014 ES. I can bet I am going to hear a lot of grief for this, but I really don't like the gold on the forks...to me it just seems out of place with the rest of the bike. Anyone covered theirs up? I don't have a lot of off road riding experience so I have no idea about neoprene fork covers or anything else like that. Should I have them painted? Should I simply put some black vinyl lables around them? Change them out with something else (is this cost prohibitive)? Please let me know your thoughts. I like the congruent dark colors. For those of you who LOVE the gold forks, please go easy on me! Ha ha ha! Thanks for any comments or suggestions.
Hmm, I can't see that much of the forks while riding...
Shock Sox will cover about 6" and the fork seals, keeping them in good shape.
www.shocksox.com It's a good idea to take them off now and then and clean them.
Painting would be a bad idea. They are anodized aluminum. You could have them disassembled, stripped and re-anodized in a dark color, but yes, it would be cost prohibitive. I don't think there are other forks that you could swap them out for. Not w/o sleeves and probably not w/o ending up spending a lot to improve/modify the other forks for length and performance.
The vinyl wrap treatment is probably the cheapest, easiest and most cost effective method. You could try one of the window tint places in your area and see if they can use some left over car wrap, (if they do that service), to cover up what you want to cover. It would be easier to take off than adhesive backed material, should you or the next owner desire to. And it would protect the forks nicely from bugs and rock chips, etc.
http://simcarbon.com/black-satin-vinyl-car-wrap/?gclid=CLDqyNWtkL4CFYlafgodemEAMA
Have fun personalizing your bike. ::008::