Foam on handle bars
 

I bought a 1979 Raleigh Rampar R One yesterday and have started the arduous road to cleaning and tuning to get it road worthy again. But whoever had this bike back in the 1980's opted to not put bar tape on but put some adhesive foam on the bars. Now it's fused to the bars and rotted Does anyone know the best way to get this stuff off?

Brian

Those were called Grab on Grips and it was common. Just start cutting and scrapping is how I always took it off.

+1 to destructive removal. Spray 9 or similar will help with anything stuck.

Scrape it off with a knife then use Goof Off on the residue.

God, I used to HATE those things. They rarely lasted a full season.

They really did not have to be glued on, but some people did.

I had them on my Touring bike, upper section, (BITD)
I wrapped them with black cotton tape, to stop sun exposure based deterioration.. It worked.




...

My 1990 Schwinn Miranda still has its original foam handles. I used that bike to commute daily from last August until Last December. Handles are still in great shape...

FWIW, I have never dealt with residue removal on handlebars. I'm just going to be covering them back up anyhow.

Well, jefnvk, that sounds way too simple.

My bad, carry on with your polishing. I like Mother's auto detailing products if you really want to get a shine in those bars :P

Actually if I am honest, the last couple builds I have been even worse: I toss on a layer of hockey friction tape to the bars just as something to hold onto on shakedown runs while getting the controls setup to my liking, then just wrap the actual bar tape over that when I'm happy! Noticed it keeps the bar tape in place a lot better than it on bare metal, too (I use the stuff without adhesion)