indianbobber

Itch............ thanks for the tip and the picture, nice bike! Love those old flatheads. Here is a picture of my other ride and the seat on that bike. A guy by the name of Lance Oscarson made that seat as a tribute to my uncle who was in the Air Apaches during WWII. His seat is what gave me the idea to try and make my own seat.

Here is the latest picture of the seat project - I discovered leather work can be addictive! Got up at 3:00am and did some more braiding but was stopped by the prospect of how to end the braid and keep it secure. I think this is an applique braid........... can any help me with a way to end the braid? I started the braid by initially braiding over the tail to hold it secure. There are many mistakes I made along the way one of which was using water based dye for the black main portion of the seat and brown oil stain around the horse which out way too dark . Is there a coating I can use to seal the dye that will work with water based and oil based dyes? Thanks Dave

Having limped for several months last year I can honestly say you can not put a price tag on a first kick bike!! Got to love originals, awesome bike that needs an old crusty original seat or one that looks it. This project has an electric starter hiding in there,,,,,,,,,,,,, a "no kick" bike for my wife.

Thanks Josiah, I ended up using kangaroo as you suggested doing an applique braid from a diagram I found on this site. About half done with the lacing at the point. Is that the appropriate braid to join to pieces of leather? Seem to work so far. The seat is going on a mostly blacked out Indian bobber so we wanted the seat dark. The seat looked great for a day or so and is now a little streaky. Would you suggest another coat of dye?

I did mine by continually fitting and trimming the leather to fit the pan. I assume someone has made patterns for standard Indian and Harley seat pan............... it would have been a hug help if they are out there.

The bottom was only temporarily attached with sheet metal screws. I removed the screws and punched the bottom on a flat surface which was much easier. The two portions a attached with a shoe string for now until a figure out the braiding sequence. Any suggestions for lacing materials?

This is the start of my leather working hobby, which coincides with my motorcycle hobby. I'm building a 1947 Indian bobber for my wife. For this project I am trying to learn every aspect of the build which took me to the point of attempting to create a custom seat. She is a horse enthusiast who also rides motorcycles. With the seat I attempted to join both of her hobbies. After the seat I will be doing one small saddlebag with the Indian Head logo. I am still baffled on the braiding involved to lace the top to the bottom. Can anyone direct me to good reference material?