Popular Post greentung Posted September 17, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2019 I 'spruced' up my Nikola+ with wood and carbon fiber wrap. The padding is adhesive backed leather. Not only does it look more elegant but now handles like an Oldsmobile. A question I have for the forum is whether I should cut channels for the LED lights and voltage display. I currently use neither. I have the LED set to off and never really check on voltage. I also think cutting out slots for the LED strip will kind of ruin the wood shell effect. I would have to edge it with black tape to keep the wood vinyl in place. What do you guys think? Keep as is? Thanks. Material: 3M marine teak woodgrain flex wrap 3M 1080 black carbon fiber flex wrap Besego leather repair patch 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfoxdude Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 😍😍😍 I'm a sucker for wood grain - that looks awesome! Are the LEDs able to shine through at all? I agree that cutting slots for the LEDs would negatively impact the effect. I only really look at the voltage when it's charging, but it's not the end of the world if it's not visible. I would maybe move it to show through the plastic above the power button if I really wanted to be able to see it with the wood side panels. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 Unfortunately, the LEDs are completely blocked by the wrap. I'll have to think hard about keep it like this when it gets darker in the morning. It'll be nice to have the LED for safety. Good idea about moving the voltage display. Next time I open up the Nikola I'll try to move it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Excellent wrap job!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrd777 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 4 hours ago, greentung said: Keep as is? YES, fabulous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 3 minutes ago, greentung said: Unfortunately, the LEDs are completely blocked by the wrap. I'll have to think hard about keep it like this when it gets darker in the morning. It'll be nice to have the LED for safety. I just caught this after I posted. You could melt small holes through the wrap so the leds are visible by using a hot nail of approximate size. I would carefully poke a needle through the wrap first to determine the location of the holes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 15 minutes ago, Rehab1 said: Excellent wrap job!! Thanks. This the first wrap job I've done. One side has the grain aligned at a slight angle. By the time I noticed, it was already too late to undo. Here is the side with the grain going perfectly horizontal. It's not too hard to wrap the Nikola, just time consuming. I might wrap my other wheels in different wood grain. The MCM5 is a good candidate as the LED strip is on the top panel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjunlee Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) Wow, that turned out well! Is there any way to get custom vinyl prints? Edited September 17, 2019 by chrisjunlee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 There are a bunch of shops in Seattle that will do custom vinyl print or wrap for cars or businesses. The selection online is quite large. I will say that I tried out a cheaper vinyl wrap and it didn't work very well. The 3M wrap was much easier to work with and looked much better. Totally worth the extra price. I'd like to vinyl wrap a Magic Eye pattern if I can find one. It was a fad back in the 90s. It look like a random pattern but if you cross your eyes you can see a 3D image. It's like the original VR. Are you thinking something like these? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) Superb As someone who enjoys woodworking, I particularly like this. And nice touch with the black accent in the middle. It's all about the details. I think a channel for the LED's would look great, but it would have to be implemented with the same eye towards detail, and that might be difficult to pull off. And you must also be a woodworker because like all good woodworkers, we insist upon telling everyone of our mistakes - I never would have noticed the wood grain offset. Edited September 17, 2019 by Marty Backe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 Thanks @Marty Backe. I got my first actual wheel compliment today by a millennial no less. I left my work building on my Nikola Teak Wood edition and a college kid and his girlfriend walking pass commented, "Sick ride!" as I rode by. Most people ask, "what the hell is that thing?" or "how fast does that thing go"? No so for this classic ride. I'll try cutting some small channels for the LED strip on the misaligned grain side. I'll have to source some kind of translucent tape to go over the channels to hide the plastic shell. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 4 hours ago, chrisjunlee said: Wow, that turned out well! Is there any way to get custom vinyl prints? Hey @chrisjunlee. Here you go. Printable vinyl roll. Not sure if this is comparable to the vinyl wraps. You'll probably have to seal it with clear coat or something similar. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076146N4C/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B076146N4C&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMEJZQjhBODRBNU84JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjAwMzQxMjVGUlBUMDVJTlYxQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDA2MjQwMzdPWEkyWFRROVpDRCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rywokast Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 imo wood grain plus flashy LED lights = no bueno.. its a total clash of styles.. should keep it how it is looks awesome 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 minute ago, Rywokast said: imo wood grain plus flashy LED lights = no bueno.. its a total clash of styles.. should keep it how it is looks awesome You use the LED lights at night at which point you can't see the wood grain. During the day you just see black accent stripes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rywokast Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 2 minutes ago, Marty Backe said: You use the LED lights at night at which point you can't see the wood grain. During the day you just see black accent stripes. i dont xD true true if you were willing to switch back and forth then yes, with the LEDs off black stripes would look good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 4 minutes ago, Rywokast said: i dont xD true true if you were willing to switch back and forth then yes, with the LEDs off black stripes would look good It would look a bit off during the day as the wood won't wrap around the bezel. That's probably the best option to allow use of the LEDs. The only other option is to relocate the led strip to the top casing if that is even possible. It does look like the voltage display can be relocated. I found this picture of a 84V Nikola with the voltage display on the front panel above the power switch. Just as @redfoxdude mentioned as a good location. It might also be good to flip the display 180 so I read it while riding. Double win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rywokast Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 30 minutes ago, greentung said: It would look a bit off during the day as the wood won't wrap around the bezel. That's probably the best option to allow use of the LEDs. The only other option is to relocate the led strip to the top casing if that is even possible. It does look like the voltage display can be relocated. I found this picture of a 84V Nikola with the voltage display on the front panel above the power switch. Just as @redfoxdude mentioned as a good location. It might also be good to flip the display 180 so I read it while riding. Double win. thats how the nikola originally was made, though its location was promptly changed to the side for some weird reason as it makes so much more sense in front... moving it would be a pain and probably require some diy as with the board being moved to the side on recent models, the wires more than likely wouldnt even reach the front.. and thats if they still have available the same mounting point for it in the front, which you wouldnt know until you took it all apart.. of course, it could be done but it probably wouldnt be as simple as picking it up and moving it lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 So I cut a channel for the LEDs on one side. It not as clean is the fully wrapped side panel. The GotWay plastic casing is not pretty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 1 hour ago, greentung said: So I cut a channel for the LEDs on one side. It not as clean is the fully wrapped side panel. The GotWay plastic casing is not pretty. I don't know, that still looks very nice to me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rywokast Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 1 hour ago, greentung said: So I cut a channel for the LEDs on one side. It not as clean is the fully wrapped side panel. The GotWay plastic casing is not pretty. nice job,, did you just take a razor and score it? i was wondering how you were going to work with the handle but that looks great.. if it were me i would replace the very thin "wood" part between the lights and carbon fiber with more carbon fibre for continuity but it looks good either way 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 I placed a flexible ~1/3" plastic tubing over the channel I want to cut. Then scored the outline of it with a razor. I liked your idea of going carbon fiber from the edge up to the LEDs. I'll give it a try. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blicky Te⚡️la Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 This thing is sick AFFFF! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Just need a pizza slice on the brown placemat there along with a Coke, and you would have had me at "woodgrain!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greentung Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 That is one delicious looking wheel with 2000 calories of power. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukas83 Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 On 9/19/2019 at 4:32 AM, Marty Backe said: I don't know, that still looks very nice to me Great job! I like it more than your first version! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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