The decals on my bike have been scratched and peeled over the last 24 yrs and I'm planning on replacing them with reproduction decals from velocal. At one point, I put painters tape on the carbon tubing while polishing the aluminum lugs. When removing the tape, a little clear coat peeled off with it. I'm nervous that taking the original decals off will peel off even more of the carbon's clear coat. Is there a good way to go about removing the original decals without hurting the finish? They are on top of the clear coat like stickers, not under it.

This is how I remove stickers with no damage to the paint...

That's an awesome resource Randy, thanks. It covers removing stickers really well. But , I need to remove some water transfer decals. Are there any resources for removing water transfer decals? (assuming they are not under clear coat)

Pip

Goof off in the clear bottle, not the paint remover type.

a steaming hot towel, via microwave.

Awesome, thanks!! You rock dude!

Pip

If your thumbnail doesn't cut it, I've had great luck with a guitar pick.

I once got so frustrated trying to remove some old Peugeot decals I just burned them off with a light weight butane torch and stripped the frame - I did not expect the process to be such a true time saver - If your going to strip the frame its not such a bad method...

I have a 1971 Schwinn Sports Tourer that needed the down tube decals replaced. Paint was nice, so I was nervous as to what to use. I found out after doing a little research online that WD-40 works. So, I applied it to a paper towel and gently rubbed it back and forth, and then rubbed it with my finger nail on top of a clean paper towel. Presto! It started to come off in small pieces, and just after a few minutes it was all off. I just cleaned it with some Windex and it was ready for the new decals.