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Hey Randy, On my tank bibs, side covers and the occassional seat I use: dye > neatsfoot > tankote > Pecard's Motorcycle Leather Lotion > Pecard's motorcycle Weatherproof Dressing (natural or black depending on project colors). Had my first gasoline test last weekend as reported by a client. He was fooling with his GPS while getting fuel and lifted the nozzle out of the tank tube shooting gas down the tank and tank bib. The above finish resisted the gas long enough for him to simply wipe off at the station, let it air out at home and re-apply/buff it with wax dressing with no ill effects. It's also a two-color fade on the bib and sun, rain and now gasoline haven't bothered it at all after 3 months on the road. Folks that bought my first bibs a little over a year ago report similar results. Side note - should motorcycle leathers get doused in gasoline, air it out and spray the back with a 50/50 solution of vinegar. Kills the gas smell within 24 hours and it doesn't leave it's own residue or smell. I was able to test and confirm this as well. Hope this helps, Chris P.S. - links to the Pecard stuff I use: Leather Lotion (they also have smaller sizes): http://www.pecard.co...y_Code=mlotions Black Weatherproof Dressing: http://www.pecard.co...ry_Code=mwproof Natural Weatherproof Dressing: http://www.pecard.co...ode=mleathdress

That is crazy awesome Kevin. Sterling Silver will only make your work worth more versus chrome plated hardware too. I like the design and the idea...just gives me another step to climb eventually.

Same here. I'm in California and do mail order with W&C and have had nothing but nice leather come from them. Gets here pretty quick too. Just tell them what grade/quality you're looking for and they'll pick it for you. They'll even cut and then split if needed. Someone just recently made mention of ordering a side that they had cut in half and had the halves split to two different thicknesses.

I'd guess lithography or laser. There are a few folks doing lithography on leather with great success on Etsy and then they use printing inks or thin dyes for the color. For the distressed look, that could simply be done with antique.

Looking good. Sometimes I wish the bikes I do straps/bibs for had such small areas to work with (my last bib took 18 yards of lace to do the triple loop on the edges)

I agree. Folks that do this in my circle are quickly removed. I don't mind friendly competition and I actually support my friends that enjoy the same hobbies/businesses if they act like friends and talk things over with me. Folks that purposely undercut, overrun, etc. like a big box store does are considered hostile competitors going forward and are treated as such. Some folks above said "it just sounds like business"...etc. Yes it is but at the same time a true friend doesn't work as hard as this gal is to pull money out of your pocket just because they can either. I'd go with the misinformation track as well for a product or two and then cut her off completely from information. If she truly wants to sell what you're selling, let her do it weeks after you've already sold said items. Her biggest tool for success right now is the one everyone seems to be giving her, information. Cut off the stream and let her find out what you'll be selling when you release it, then she'll be chasing your tail not vice versa.

Good info Bobby, thanks for that. Unfortunately for the symbol, most folks my age or younger would never know about the 'true' meaning unless it came up in conversation like this. I plan to share the message.

That's like the gas tank I was looking at Sunday...$150 for the tank, $85 for shipping. I just laughed it off since I had just bought one two days before that was the same size and came from farther away for $35. The old rule stands true...the $35 was private party, the $85 one was from a bike dealership.

LOL...thanks Dirtclod. I didn't even notice that for some reason my shipping was showing a default to Canada.

Wow...can't imagine seeing that in a US catalog given the possible interpretation. Interesting find. The shipping cost is laughable though.

Yep, before oil...the O.A. will dry out the leather some so a good oiling after will help rejuvenate it. Only way to buy the 'real' stuff that I know of is in crystal form. I prefer it that way as you don't know how concentrated the pre-mixed stuff is. With the crystals you can mix as thick or thin as you like to achieve different results.

Wicked Cactus Leather in El Paso, TX did that one. Bottom of the page linked below shows another one they did and one with a knife sheath instead of the holster. http://www.wickedcactusleather.com/VariousItems.html

You actually could if you kept applying it. It's normal use is a wood bleach and given enough applications and time to penetrate in heavier concentrations it will make walnut look like a stained maple. For our purposes we don't take it that far or use as heavy of a concentration though (usually) so it acts more like a stain remover. To give an idea of how far it can de-color here's a woodturning/carving I did a few years ago with birch (yellowish tan colored wood) and numerous applications over 3 days of Oxalic Acid. They piece has not been dyed or colored in any way, simply bleached with O.A. & sealed:

Sounds like you got a bad one Jason. I've had that happen before. It should spray pretty much exactly like spray paint (overspray included) but it shouldn't glob or spit. If it does either of those the likely causes are: clogged intake tube, old/thickened dye or the unit is old/dead. That reminds me of one day the local Tandy manager and one of his staff were dying a bunch of bracelets for a local kid's group project and the unfortunate staff member grabbed a bad Prevail unit. Loaded it up, started to spray and it got a heavy clog. The unit built up pressure enough to blow the white base off the can and send about 2 ounces of dye down the front of her shirt and arms...

Sponge it on here too. It doesn't take much as it's a bleach made for lightening wood products. Leather being more porous will take it easier. Here's a pic of a test panel I did with my latest batch (always test a batch of O.A. out to determine it's strength before use). Be sure to wear gloves when applying it. Hopefully you can see it in the picture, but the left side is after Oxalic and the right is untreated. In person, the left is nice and even colored whereas the right is a lighter color and slightly splotchy.

+1 to Randy's response. scuff the metal and most expoxies won't let go. Gorilla Glue also came out with a non-expanding white glue last year that I have been having good luck with. Very strong but less mess than the original.

Makes sense Ferg, as I posted above, Denatured is the one with the 'bad' stuff...

Isopropyl Alcohol as others have said is synthetic and usually a 70/30 mixture, the 30% being water. Denatured Alcohol (Ethanol) is considered a purer alcohol at 95%-99.5% content. The main difference is that Iso is considered safe for use externally in medicinal purposes (aka Rubbing Alcohol) whereas Denatured is ethanol which has had a poisonous component added to it during it's creation to make it unsuitable for further distillation. Some of the chemicals that ethanol is combined with to make Denatured Alcohol are: gasoline, isopropyl alcohol, tertiary butyl alcohol, etc. which can cause cancer, liver damage, blindness and/or death if consumed. Long story short, they both work but Isopropyl is generally less harsh on skin (and leather) and has a somewhat smaller concentration of bad stuff. In either case, wear gloves, eye protection and work in a ventilated area. Side note - I use Denatured as most commercially produced dyes are formulated with it versus Isopropyl. I find that I have better results by being consistent in the solvents to thin & clean, especially when I'm airbrushing.