How To: Grip Tape Your Foot Area

[sleestak]

I have been working on an older scoot that had long lost its rubber mat in the foot well area. Instead of buying another, I spent a few bucks on some grip tape and figured it would make a better surface.

Why:

• It's stickier and won't peel up.
• It's weather proof.
• It's cheaper (I spent $3.50 for grip tape)
• It comes in various colors (although I just went with black).
• Your feet actually grip to it (duh)

What you will need:

• 3-4 feet of grip tape (buy it at a skate shop)
• phillips screwdriver
• utility knife with new blade
• about 15 min.

Now do this:

1. First, roll out your grip take and size it up for the first half. It won't be wide enough to do the patch, so you will do one side then then next.
2. Cut the tape so you have enough to cover from front to back.
3. Peel off the backing and line up the outter edge so you get it on straight and start to lightly tack the outside edge, working your way to the center.
4. Now, there are contours and a battery compartment you need to cut for...don't even trip. Ol' Sleestak has a trick to make this easy for you that any skater should know...
5. Grab your screwdriver and run the point along the edges of the recess and also find the edge of the battery door and run it along the crease there as well...viola, you have a line to cut. The screw driver will leave a white line in the tape, showing you where the edges are. This line will disappear with a few scuffs of your feet, or just wipe it off with a damp rag.
   
   Here is my first half. You can see where I used the screw driver to mark the lines that need to be cut. It's stupid simple. I also poked with my finger to find the screw holes for the battery cover and they just traced the outsides of those too. Then you can just follow it with your utility knife for a perfect cut.
   
   
6. Grab your second half and line up the edges with the piece you just laid down. Once you get it lined up, start putting the tape down and marking/cutting the contours out.

FIN!



I know you can see the white marks from the screw driver and the seam, but with just a little bit of wear, these will disappear completely. The surface has SO much better traction than that rubber mat they put on the scoot. I see that rubber mat flapping around on so many scooter and figured I wanted something with much better tack. I guarantee you this stuff will stick MUCH better and will pretty much never need replacing.