Cheap acoustic foam for fairing
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2010
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From: earth
Cheap acoustic foam for fairing
I read alot about the benifits of acoustic foam in the fairing and I wanted to try it, until I priced some dynamat. My wife brought home these new kitchen floor mats from Sams and right away the lightbulb went on. It was a very dense closed cell foam that seemed like it would be a good substitute for the high dollar acoustic matting. The mat was $8.00 and the headliner glue was another $12.00. I made paper templates of all the fairing segments as they are seperated by the thin moulded ribs. Traced the sections on the foam mat, cut em out, glue em in, let the glue set up 24hours, and trim. I actually finished mine by putting mastic rubber tape over the seams, I don't think its necessary, but I had the stuff and never used it on anything else. It worked fantastic, the sound quality is greatly improoved, deeper base, richer mid, and crisper high. Another benefit I noticed was a significant reduction of noise from the air moving across the fairing at highway speeds. It also seemed to gain some stability at highway speed, particularly noticable in the turbulent tractor trailer wash. I think the added weight helps make it more stable. I helped my buddy do his also, much easier with two people. You don't get a second chance to reposition the foam pieces with the tacky glue.
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,599
Likes: 7
From: Hoffman Estates, IL
Nice idea...
I'm an audio mastering engineer by trade (http://www.massivemastering.com if anyone doesn't understand WTF I'm talking about) so I'm rather picky about sound.
I installed the J&M 7.25's in my old FLHX and used the rather lightweight (probably 2#/cu.ft.) "acoustic foam" that the kit came with - Knowing that it's really far too light and not nearly massive enough to really do much.
Couldn't pull it from the old fairing when I got the new bike so at the moment I'm without. Was planning on the Dynamat treatment, but this really seems like it'd do the trick nicely... Always thought that 1/2" dense Neoprene would do a much better job anyway as far as 'mass per area' (which is really what you're shooting for anyway) is concerned. Going to pick some up and give it the same treatment. I would imagine this would attenuate that hollow ~400-600Hz boxiness resonating the fairing cavity.
I'm an audio mastering engineer by trade (http://www.massivemastering.com if anyone doesn't understand WTF I'm talking about) so I'm rather picky about sound.
I installed the J&M 7.25's in my old FLHX and used the rather lightweight (probably 2#/cu.ft.) "acoustic foam" that the kit came with - Knowing that it's really far too light and not nearly massive enough to really do much.
Couldn't pull it from the old fairing when I got the new bike so at the moment I'm without. Was planning on the Dynamat treatment, but this really seems like it'd do the trick nicely... Always thought that 1/2" dense Neoprene would do a much better job anyway as far as 'mass per area' (which is really what you're shooting for anyway) is concerned. Going to pick some up and give it the same treatment. I would imagine this would attenuate that hollow ~400-600Hz boxiness resonating the fairing cavity.
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 72
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From: S.E GA
Cool I did not know you could that. Question the fairing is made out of ABS plastics right do you need worry about the the glue eating at the fairing. I know somes glues will do that.
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Road Warrior
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Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: earth
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Cool, I finally brought something of value to the community. Ill try to answer everyones questions. It did only require one mat, but you have to lay it out carefully to get all the pieces from one. The glue is like a stringy spray of rubber cement, it does not eat the fairing plastic; I used permatex 27828 heavy duty headliner and carpet adhesive, most likely overkill. With mat, glue, and tape it probably added no more than 2 lbs ( I weighed it using the highly accurate bathroom scale method), the foam is just over 3/8 thick, not sure of the weight per square foot. The mats are floor mats, they have a printed side and a raw side that is kinda cream colored (my print was a coffee mug). The hardest part was making the templates cause you have to mould the paper to make contact with the entire fairing surface, you can see the relief and wedge cuts in some of the piece. Besides the main center piece you only need templates for one side, just turn them over for a mirror image of the opposite side, be careful not to cut out two facing the same way or you will end up with the print facing out to make it work. Like I said, it was a lot better working with two people to steady the fairing and get the pieces in place accurately. We rolled up towels to put ender the fairing and help support it firmly. The paper templates fit perfect but the foam, being thicker, actually ends up hanging over the outside edges and you have to trim it with an exacto or some type of razor. A little trick we figured out late in the game was to put the piece in position without glue, hold it in place on one side and pull it back on the other side and apply glue, let it tack up for a couple minutes then press in place, and then do the other half of the piece. This method helps ensure you get accurate positioning. Align and glue the pieces first on the interior edges of the partition ribs in the plastic, it will make a nice seamless and gapless foam lining on the entire inside fairing surface. Im adding the templates that I made. I cant confirm that theses scans are perfectly scaled. The main section wouldn't fit my scanner bed even folded in half, so #2 and #3 will have to be put together to make up ˝ of the main section folded in half, youll see what I mean. Theses arent perfect so you will want to cut out the paper ones an put them in place to see if you need to make any adjustments. These will require 14 paper to print full size. I used a simple pocket type folder, and carefully unsealed the pockets and opened it all up to get a piece big enough to do the center section. I think 2 of the relief cuts on #6 didnt show on the scan, just look at the original pictures of the templates. Let me know if you need any other assistance. Your gonna enjoy this mod.