Xpel PPF / thetankslapper review

Thought I'd post something useful for a first post

I called around locally (Sydney) for PPF and quotes were around the $1500-2000aud mark, give or take. That seemed a little too much and I came across a website 'thetankslapper' who was selling full PPF kits for $350aud shipped. Good thing I like to do things myself LOL. Noone locally would sell me just the film (they all wanted to do the install too) so I was forced to order from USA. Turned out that Lucas the owner was really nice and helpful and gave me phone support so in the end I'm glad I went this way.

I've never done this before and the hands were busy juggling the film and being wet and slippery, so I only managed to snap one pic of an easy piece on the tail:




My tips:
- follow the instructions
- use lots of lube *ahem* - you might want to buy 2 satchels of lube cos I ran out
- go slow / do it over a few days
- the material is tough so don't be scared to stretch and pull on it

One big thing I screwed up on was ink. The kit is shipped on a long ... roll so to handle it you should cut out the individual pieces. Because the backing paper was white and the film is clear it wasn't easy to see the edges of the film so I took a red non-perm whiteboard marker to draw around each piece - that way I can easily see where to cut. DON'T do this!

After cutting it out I took the piece to the garage - in this case the nose piece - and proceeded to pull the film off the backing paper. Trying to juggle the water bottle, wetting it, not letting it stick to itself, pulling it off, bla bla bla the film somehow wiped itself across the red ink... with the sticky side... so now I have red ink permanently stuck behind the film in a few spots



I tried to get the ink off but didn't have much luck. Lucas suggested a few things which I'm yet to try, but I'm prepared to re-order just the nose piece and do it again. Also I'm not sure if the edges of the film is meant to go right to the edge of each panel because some pieces do and some don't, it wasn't consistent.

I haven't ridden much yet - the bike is still being broken in - but so far so good. No peeling. The edges are visible but step back a few steps and they disappear. All in all it took me ~20 hours over a few days and I'm happy with the results.

Would I recommend Xpel? Yes but it hasn't been "tested" yet
Would I recommend thetankslapper? Yes

Here'a a few finished pics showing the edges:

bradp51 said:

I went and got tankslapper back in 2012 when I got my 1199S. The only thing I found was that after a few years dirt gets under the edges and it starts to look bad. But it has saved a lot of my paint from stone chips and a lazy boot over the tailpiece. For the price I think it is pretty good. Just a pain to apply.

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I guess I'll see in a few years. I have some mates that have PPF on their new cars and they're already complaining about the edge dirt problem :/

Looks like most people are relatively happy despite the dirt making it's way under the edges.


BenS5 if you're the official dealer for Xpel then I would've definitely called you/your team. It doesn't change much since I've already done my bike but for future reference perhaps you can quote a Panigale for full coverage in matte film, and secondly selling me the film to DIY the (re)install on the nose

BenS5 - is the computer cut film suppose to reach the very edge of the panel, or does it come up short by a few millimeters?

And is it possible to remove the whiteboard ink off the sticky side of the film?

Which 3M film are you refering to? I wouldn't mind adding some to the sides of the fuel tank

bigdzx6r said:

this is what i used

3M 12"x60" - Sheet of 3M Scotchgard Pro Series

Click to expand...

Is that glossy or a matte finish? All the descriptions on amazon say the same thing below, but don't mention the finish... I assume it's glossy... :

3M Scotchgard paint protection film is virtually invisible once installed
Clear polyurethane film is 8mil thick with adhesive backing
Product applied to reduce paint chips and bug damage
Keeps your car's paint looking newer, longer
Step by step installation instructions available online

Righteo it won't hurt too much to give it a go, cheers!