04-09-2026, 08:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-09-2026, 09:00 AM by Gone in 60.)
(04-09-2026, 12:15 AM)Cormanus Wrote: Without wishing to defend "NS" and "OS", left and right are problematic as they're essentially relative terms. Do they apply when you're facing front or back? Port and starboard make much more sense as they are always left and right facing the bow of the vessel. One could make a case for "NS" and "OS" provided one could be sure they'd been correctly applied for the country in which they were being used. If I were you, I'd be very nervous that a British supplier had sent decals marked for vehicles that drive on the left hand side of the road (facing forwards).
You can defend NS and OS. As I mentioned, the printing on the single-sheet instructions is tiny. There are two diagrams on the one side of the paper, each showing the exploded-view of each side of the bike with the decal placement, and at the top of each diagram, there's micro-sized text, one saying Near Side, and I thought the other read Out Side, but you're right, under magnification it does say Off Side.
Last night I met up with my two best friends for dinner. As previously mentioned, Mrs. G is out of town, so, thinking ahead that I'd probably have more than a few beers, I wisely walked to meet up with them rather than riding or driving, so I didn't present the Blood Bike for their inspection. But, Giles, one of my friends is British, and I explained the "Near Side/Off Side" instructions to him and showed pictures of my progress on the decals. He confirmed the nomenclature, but said that he had never heard the terms applied to a motorcycle rather than a car.
Good thing I walked.
They say you need to learn math to do well in your career. Ok, I did math for the past 30 years.
For this job, I'm just glad I built model cars and airplanes as a kid, and got pretty good with the decals.
All done with the base-level decals on Bike 4. This is the neon yellow layer. Once these cure after the water-slide application, I'll put the layer of reflective decals on top of these.
Boss was right. "Put on some nice music. You'll find it sort of therapeutic. You'll stand back and admire your work."
The layered decals on the side panniers is particularly detailed.
The neighbors enjoyed checking out the progress as they passed by yesterday evening during dog-walking hour.
You know what? I actually would like a pickle.