I was told that I should probably ask this question on a forum, so here we go

I have a yellow mid-90s BMW Active Line folding bicycle, made by Montague.

It needs to be repainted badly, but I am afraid of doing this until I can source replacement decals - as they're what make the bike "special" (if one could consider such a bike special)

I have already contacted Montague, and was told that they do not sell replacement parts or decals for their bikes.

If anyone can help me find replacement decals - or direct me to somewhere or somebody who can, that would be amazing!

Once I can post photos in this thread, I will - I'd imagine it will probably make this a lot easier.

Post some links to pictures of the decals you want...

I cannot do that sadly. Forum does not let me.
"You will require 10 posts before being able to post photos or URLs"

If you are handy with a computer graphics program or know someone who is, you can make your own decals by recreating the originals and printing them onto stick-on vinyl or slide-on decal printer sheets. Your options are even better if you or someone you know also has a Cricut. And you would also need access to an inkjet printer that uses pigment-based ink rather than dye-based ink. Dye-based inks fade very quickly. I install the graphics onto the base coat of paint or onto the first coat of clear. Then I clear-coat over them to protect them from sun and wear, and to make them blend in with the overall finish.

Or sometimes you can find someone on eBay who has new original stock decals to sell for vintage bikes. I did that for one of my bikes.

I believe Gus Salmon can make custom decals. He just made some for me that look exactly identical to the originals.

Started this thread in 2011. Lots of different ideas and methods here. Let me know if ya want to make your own and I will help...

Decal Logo Knockoffs

I've had custom/ non catalogue decals made for me by H Lloyd Cycles before. The price will depend on the number and size of decals but to give an idea they've made a headbadge for £19 and a set of seat and downtube graphics for £30.

They can take payments by PayPal and I think they ship to the EU and USA.

https://hlloydcycles.com/

I ordered stock design decals from H Lloyd last year and received them in the US in ten days. I don't know if the decals were already printed, or if they got printed when the order was received, especially since mine was a less common model. A custom order might take a little bit longer.

not sure if this is something they would stock but the deepest catalog of obscure (as well as commonplace) decals seems to be held by
Screen Specialty Shop (known as sssink)
https://sssink.com/sssink_2010_016.htm

however they USED to only sell decals to verified professional refinishers, however I've heard tales that suggest they have relaxed that practice (maybe) and some regular citizens have purchased decals from them.
YMMV
That above link is for custom work, but this is to their online catalog (which may not be the full range) and a quick scan does not show eiither "BMW" or "Montague"...but worth asking them
https://sssink.com/bicycle-restoration

Gus made this set of water slide decals for me years ago. Not sure if he still does this sort of thing now, though...


I can comment on the quality of his work though - excellent..!

which one do you have?



Both designs are not really home-brewn friendly.
Printing white is where most of the print shops fail. You can ask around if anyone can print white on transparent adhesive medium AND cut it with the plotter... if someone says "sure"
then you can think about tinkering some decals. Umtil them id restrict to Gus Salmon & the likes.

It is not super hard to make your own water slide decals. Some early attempt at home made art...

I've had success at asking eBay decal sellers if they can custom make decals for me. Some do, some don't want to be bothered. You can try that by IM-ing them. Local vinyl sign companies, the smaller ones more likely, may want to help you.

My latest eBay helper had a machine that could cut SHIMANO decals super small. All other sellers said their machines could not do it. I made/modified this 1:87 scale Skoda Octavia Shimano Neutral Support vehicle. The seller made the decals, then had me purchase one of his other products of similar value but sent these instead.

I've used hlloydcycles for vintage Geoffrey Butler and was impress with speed and accuracy.

Go to a local sign shop - the kind that makes decals and logos for commercial vehicles and custom stuff for cars. They can produce what you want in durable OEM-like decals. Especially if you have the bike so they can look at the original decals for font, color, layout etc. I had excellent results having a local company reproduce decals for a bike. I later found some NOS OEM decals on ebay and they were an excellent match (couldn't tell the difference, even up close).