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Offline scondon

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Gluing seat foam
« on: April 18, 2005, 10:55:25 PM »
Hey all. Glad to see the new SOHC/4 site is alive 'n' kickin'. Looks great Glenn :)

   I'm re-covering the seat on my '78 750F and need to glue the foam to the pan where it has come loose up front. Does anyone know of a good adhesive for this purpose(foam-to-metal)? I've tried Duplo cement that I had laying around but it didn't do the trick.

Sean Condon
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Offline heffay

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2005, 12:06:28 AM »
liquid nails... rough up the metal a bit first too
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2005, 04:47:21 AM »
G'Day Sean, go to a foam/rubber shop and buy a tin (or tube) of foam rubber cement. It's much like contact adhesive, but won't destroy the foam over time like some adhesives will. Have a look at this site: http://site.iwebcenters.com/afoammart_2/foam.html
Cheers, Terry. ;D
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eldar

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2005, 02:22:54 PM »
why even glue the foam? You should cover it with a thick plastic then maybe glue it just a little to hold it in place. When putting the cover on, unless the cover was already sewn to exact size, stretch the cover before hooking it. This is how my cover was done and it looks great. The reason for the plastic wrap is to protect the foam from the elements. No matter how careful you think you are, moisture can still get in there but if you seal it in plastic, that wont happen and you pan will not corrode either.
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Offline heffay

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2005, 05:40:37 PM »
Quote from: eldar on April 20, 2005, 02:22:54 PM
why even glue the foam? You should cover it with a thick plastic then maybe glue it just a little to hold it in place. When putting the cover on, unless the cover was already sewn to exact size, stretch the cover before hooking it. This is how my cover was done and it looks great. The reason for the plastic wrap is to protect the foam from the elements. No matter how careful you think you are, moisture can still get in there but if you seal it in plastic, that wont happen and you pan will not corrode either.
never occured to me... most obvious and thoughtful. 
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Today: '73 cb350f, '96 Ducati 900 Supersport
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2005, 10:57:02 PM »
Quote from: eldar on April 20, 2005, 02:22:54 PM
why even glue the foam? You should cover it with a thick plastic then maybe glue it just a little to hold it in place. When putting the cover on, unless the cover was already sewn to exact size, stretch the cover before hooking it. This is how my cover was done and it looks great. The reason for the plastic wrap is to protect the foam from the elements. No matter how careful you think you are, moisture can still get in there but if you seal it in plastic, that wont happen and you pan will not corrode either.

You need to glue the foam to secure it to the pan, a bit, a lot, no matter as long as it's secure. Be careful if covering it with anything before you fit the cover, if the "thick plastic" cracks or breaks under the cover (or even if it's just poorly attached) you'll have lumps coming through, and it'll look awful. The best way to preserve the foam is to keep the bike parked indoors, nothing kills a seat quicker than exposure to the elements. Cheers, Terry. 8)
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I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline kghost

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2005, 11:00:47 PM »
One thing does dear Terry...... Mice. but I drift off topic.....
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2005, 11:28:39 PM »
Quote from: kghost on April 20, 2005, 11:00:47 PM
One thing does dear Terry...... Mice. but I drift off topic.....

Ah, a thinking man. Well while we're still outside the box, Cockatoo's are responsible for more "buggared" seats in Oz than any other rodent! Cheers, Terry. ;D
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I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline heffay

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2005, 12:44:45 AM »
terry~
i might actually disagree that you HAVE to glue foam.  eldar's suggestion could be taken further to shrink wrap material... which i've dealt with a decent amount.  it seems to me this would be a good alternative too.  never tried it but knowing what its like... it would work well (in my humble opinion  :) )
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Today: '73 cb350f, '96 Ducati 900 Supersport
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2005, 12:54:12 AM »
Quote from: heffay on April 21, 2005, 12:44:45 AM
terry~
i might actually disagree that you HAVE to glue foam.  eldar's suggestion could be taken further to shrink wrap material... which i've dealt with a decent amount.  it seems to me this would be a good alternative too.  never tried it but knowing what its like... it would work well (in my humble opinion  :) )

Hmmmnnn. If you were to shrink wrap it I suppose you would still need to secure it to the seat base, although I guess iin theory at least, the tight cover would hold the foam in place. If you were to shrink wrap the foam, how would the foam compress when you sit on it, and rebound into shape again, if it was sealed in plastic though? Cheers, Terry. ???
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I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline heffay

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2005, 01:30:59 AM »
 :-X  yea it was a stupid idea... was trying to think outside the box and ended up making more work than needed... (its the designer in me) 
no but really... liquid nails
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Today: '73 cb350f, '96 Ducati 900 Supersport
Past Rides: '72 tc125, '94 cbr600f2, '76 rd400, '89 ex500, '93 KTM-125exc, '92 zx7r, '93 Banshee, '83 ATC250R, 77/75 cb400f

eldar

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2005, 04:10:51 PM »
Well the seat I just had redone, is wrapped in plastic. It looks very good and is comfortable and does not feel weird. Unless you get corrosive material of some kind besides battery acid, you should not have to worry about the plastic cracking. Unless you ride when it is below zero! My foam was wrapped in plastic and never glued sown. Stays in place great. It is all in the seat cover.
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eldar

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #12 on: April 21, 2005, 04:11:22 PM »
Well the seat I just had redone, is wrapped in plastic. It looks very good and is comfortable and does not feel weird. Unless you get corrosive material of some kind besides battery acid, you should not have to worry about the plastic cracking. Unless you ride when it is below zero! My foam was wrapped in plastic and never glued sown. Stays in place great. It is all in the seat cover.
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gerstle

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2005, 08:03:46 AM »
for what it's worth, i just redid a seat for my girlfriend's 81 cb650c with the help of a good friend.  This good friend (who will remain anonymous) used to work for marathon seat covers here in bozeman, montana and has covered many many snowmobile and motorcycle seats.  I was able to buy a very nice piece of black vinyl (-40 degree F. crack free) from marathon for $20.  We then, did not glue the foam to the pan, but did use a spray on glue to glue thick cotton batting to the top of the foam, and then used an air staple gun to stretch the newly sewn vinyl cover over the whole thing.  The batting was key to fill out the imperfections in the fit of the vinyl cover.  The air staple gun made life a beautiful thing because you just can't get that stuff tight enough and secure enough with a regular staple gun.  Good luck.
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Offline scondon

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2005, 09:17:52 AM »
Thanks for the replies,
       The reason I needed to glue the foam up front is that the '78 750F seat slopes upward in the front. Since the foam was loose it kept "rolling under" causing the front to slope "down". Looked like a turd in a diaper. On my quest to find some "foam stick" or "liquid nails" I ran into a biker who looked at me as if I was stupid or something and said to use 3M adhesive spray. I had some of this at work so I used it('cause "free" aint bad in my book). Works great!

Sean Condon
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Offline heffay

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2005, 11:23:08 AM »
scondon~
let us know how it works over time... i know all too well the longevity of spray glues... i build architecture models with it and also mount drawings.  they work long enough to get them to school once and back home again.  But, if you sprayed enough on the foam it should work just like glue  ;).
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Today: '73 cb350f, '96 Ducati 900 Supersport
Past Rides: '72 tc125, '94 cbr600f2, '76 rd400, '89 ex500, '93 KTM-125exc, '92 zx7r, '93 Banshee, '83 ATC250R, 77/75 cb400f

Offline scondon

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Re: Gluing seat foam
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2005, 11:38:39 AM »
Yeah, I did consider that the spray adhesive might not stand up well to the test of time so I used "enough" times two. At the moment the bond is stronger than the old foam. BTW,Terry, I got the cover on eBay but I think the seller is OldBikeBarn(mentioned in previous posts). It's a knock-off of the original but fits well, easy to install and has same pattern as original seat(pleated top,smooth sides) for 77-78 750F.
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Give me..a frame to build a bike on, and my imagination will build upon that frame
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