Anyone ever see a seat look like this?

[Eck]

This is the seat off my Auranthetic Charger electric mini bike. I decided to tackle the rebuild of it since I can not paint due to rain...

 

I have never seen seat foam do this before. It was hard, crystalized, and gooey in several places. I used a hammer and flat blade screwdriver to remove the stuff from the seat pan, then used a pocket knife and scraped the stuff off rubber edge guard (that was a long process / job but worth it in the end).

 

The pics are not in correct order, but you can tell the before and after pics.

 

After I got it stripped down, I spray painted the top of the seat with a bumper undercoating which should protect it from ever rusting up again if the bike is ever left out in the rain.

 

I do plan on painting the entire seat pan black before I reassemble it with new foam and original leather seat cover.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Eck

[cowpuc]

Have sure seen some weird looking self destructed worn out bike seats but that one sure is different Eck,,, was thinking maybe from battery acid fumes saturating the foam and making it liquify but it sure seems like the seat pan would be long gone if that were the case,,,, weird.. Sure looks like ya got a good start on getting her takin care of!!

[Eck]

Have sure seen some weird looking self destructed worn out bike seats but that one sure is different Eck,,, was thinking maybe from battery acid fumes saturating the foam and making it liquify but it sure seems like the seat pan would be long gone if that were the case,,,, weird.. Sure looks like ya got a good start on getting her takin care of!!

 

Yea, I'm trying cowpuc... It takes time and effort I must say..Little by little its getting cleaner and each part is looking better. Just wish it wasn't going to rain this week. That is holding me off on painting the frame, forks, swing arm and rear shocks..

 

Here are a few more pics on some of the electrical cleanup..

[ragtop69gs]

Like Puc said, some type of chemical damage is what it looks like.

[Eck]

Like Puc said, some type of chemical damage is what it looks like.

 

The bottom of the seat pan is still painted original black and it was not effected by the suspected chemical damage. Whatever it was that caused this melting change in the foam, it did NOT effect the underneath side (or top side) of the leather seat cover at all. In fact, it still looks like new for being as old as it is.

 

So with no chemical damage to bottom side of seat pan, or seat cover leaves me wondering if someone at some point in time, didn't take the seat apart for some reason and then used a spray glue of some type to help hold the foam in place?

It appears to be the original seat foam cushion. I have no idea what caused the damage. Heck, Im only guessing.

[ragtop69gs]

Paint thinner could possibly do that but not effect the leather or steel. Look what it will do to a styrofoam cup.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[Flyinfool]

Did you by chance have chili before the last ride??????

[djh3]

I have had seat foam in an old car look sort of like that when they have sit in the hot Oklahoma sun. Some of the old cars I tore apart for race cars. But it does look aa bit different.

[Eck]

Well, I finished the seat rebuild. It may not be perfect, but being the very first time I ever tore a seat apart, it didn't turn out to bad I don't think.

 

I also started applying the first coat of paint on some of the parts..

[cowpuc]

WOW!!!! Coming right along nicely Eck!! Really enjoying following this,, thanks for including us!!

[BATMAN]

This is the seat off my Auranthetic Charger electric mini bike. I decided to tackle the rebuild of it since I can not paint due to rain...

 

I have never seen seat foam do this before. It was hard, crystalized, and gooey in several places. I used a hammer and flat blade screwdriver to remove the stuff from the seat pan, then used a pocket knife and scraped the stuff off rubber edge guard (that was a long process / job but worth it in the end).

 

The pics are not in correct order, but you can tell the before and after pics.

 

After I got it stripped down, I spray painted the top of the seat with a bumper undercoating which should protect it from ever rusting up again if the bike is ever left out in the rain.

 

I do plan on painting the entire seat pan black before I reassemble it with new foam and original leather seat cover.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Eck

 

Nice clean up. Would like to see it when it's done

[Yammer Dan]

Cain't wait to see the end results. When this thing meets "Eck" standards its gonna be something!!

[Eck]

Cain't wait to see the end results. When this thing meets "Eck" standards its gonna be something!!

 

Cain't wait to see the end results. When this thing meets "Eck" standards its gonna be something!!

@Yammer Dan and @BATMAN,

I thought I posted the end results on the site here but it has been a while so I will just give a quick update on it.

I completed the 100% disassembly and total rebuild on this bike around Feb of this year. A two year project. In March, I delivered and donated it to Cycle Moss Motorcycle museum which is north east of Nashville TN. You can visit their link here: (http://www.cyclemos.com/)

 

I attached a couple of AFTER / FINSHED pictures showing what it looked like when I donated it to the museum, and I attached a BEFORE picture to show what it looked like when I first got it.

 

Many thanks to all who were interested and following me on this two year journey....

 

Eck

[Yammer Dan]

Yeah Eck I remember now. My brain has been wandering off on me again. It WAS a nice job. Maybe I'll get my head back together this winter!!