Mackeroni
Well-known member
Last weekend, I decided to install a few farkles including a set of Honda heated grips. "This should be fun," I says to myself.
I removed the stock grips, and carefully fabricated and mounted a plastic skirt to keep the throttle side wiring from fouling up in my Madco throttle lock. I was feeling pretty proud of myself and preparing for the next step when I suddenly realized the Honda kit did not include any grip glue and my favorite shop was closed, it being Sunday and all. Hmmm...what can I use for grip adhesive? After a careful search through these hallowed pages, I ruled out hairspray and epoxy. One was too temporary and the other too permanent. There did not seem to be any other suggestions here beyond Yama-glue and Honda-glue, neither of which were available to me.
Looking around my shop, my eyes landed an tube of clear 100% silicone bathroom caulk. "Oh no," you're thinking. "He couldn't be so stoopid as to use silicone caulk to mount his brand new heated grips!" Well, apparently I am that stoopid. It seems that silicone bathroom caulk requires exposure to the atmosphere to cure...and guess what. There is no atmosphere under a rubber hand grip. I waited several hours. I heated the grips several times. I waited several more hours...all to no avail. I think the left grip was actually easier to turn than the throttle grip, since it was sitting on a bed of silicone and had no throttle return spring to keep it from spinning freely.
I finally threw in the towel and ventured to Lowes for some fresh mineral spirits to clean off the caulk, and something a little more tacky and cureable than silicone. After several wash cycles including mineral spirits, dishwashing liquid and water, the silicone was finally gone and I re-installed the grips using good old Duro General Purpose Household Adhesive in the blue aerosol can. It works great, in case you are interested. Oh...the throttle tube on the FJR must be just a skosh smaller than a Honda. I had to add three strips of vinyl electrical tape longitudinally to get a nice tight fit.
Lesson learned: Do NOT use silicone caulk to install your grips!
I removed the stock grips, and carefully fabricated and mounted a plastic skirt to keep the throttle side wiring from fouling up in my Madco throttle lock. I was feeling pretty proud of myself and preparing for the next step when I suddenly realized the Honda kit did not include any grip glue and my favorite shop was closed, it being Sunday and all. Hmmm...what can I use for grip adhesive? After a careful search through these hallowed pages, I ruled out hairspray and epoxy. One was too temporary and the other too permanent. There did not seem to be any other suggestions here beyond Yama-glue and Honda-glue, neither of which were available to me.
Looking around my shop, my eyes landed an tube of clear 100% silicone bathroom caulk. "Oh no," you're thinking. "He couldn't be so stoopid as to use silicone caulk to mount his brand new heated grips!" Well, apparently I am that stoopid. It seems that silicone bathroom caulk requires exposure to the atmosphere to cure...and guess what. There is no atmosphere under a rubber hand grip. I waited several hours. I heated the grips several times. I waited several more hours...all to no avail. I think the left grip was actually easier to turn than the throttle grip, since it was sitting on a bed of silicone and had no throttle return spring to keep it from spinning freely.
I finally threw in the towel and ventured to Lowes for some fresh mineral spirits to clean off the caulk, and something a little more tacky and cureable than silicone. After several wash cycles including mineral spirits, dishwashing liquid and water, the silicone was finally gone and I re-installed the grips using good old Duro General Purpose Household Adhesive in the blue aerosol can. It works great, in case you are interested. Oh...the throttle tube on the FJR must be just a skosh smaller than a Honda. I had to add three strips of vinyl electrical tape longitudinally to get a nice tight fit.
Lesson learned: Do NOT use silicone caulk to install your grips!
