David

Thanks to everyone for taking a look. Lots of opinions of the birds and what they stand for. I loved all the ideas. Thanks for the tip Ian, I'll give it a try and give you the credit when I see how it looks. Dave

I hate to go against Johanna, however, I have two favorite teams. The Bengals and whoever is playing the Steelers. So I have to go with the Cards..... besides Kurt Warner is a class act. Dave

I had not heard that about the swallows before. The only history I've heard on them goes way back to the age of sailing ships. I hated to dye it black but then I do want to get paid....lol. I've not tried the vinagroon, I have a wife who hates it when I dye a seat in the garage and bring it in to dry....If I start brewing stuff in my workshop, I may be in need of an attorney. Thanks for taking a look at the seat. Take care David Theobald

IE on my Compaq laptop went right to it. It is a slow site, not too well construced, but very interesting I like the screens. But then I'm a sucker for Mucha. Dave

Sure looks like a good restoration. That's a nice looking bike. Very interesting seat mount. Dave

Hey Jordan, You weren't the only one to feel that way about the birds. And I did not take offense at any of it. I was just explaining where the symbols came from and what their significance was. I doubt that most wearers of tattoos are even aware of what they are wearing. To most they are probably just cool biker tats. SPS prides themselves in affordable bikes so you never know...there may be a Sucker Punch in your future too..... Thanks for looking friend. Dave

Thanks to all who have responded, Perhaps it is time to add a little history to the symbolism of the Nautical Star, birds, and also the flaming heart and flowers which also appear on many Sucker Punch seats. These are all symbols of Nautical tattoo art that go way back to the early age of sailing ships. They are all religious in nature and the actual appearence of them is taken right from the pages of history. Many sailors of the era wanted to express their religious feeling and preferences without reference to the traditional churches of England and Europe. Hence all of this symbolism. These symbols have been passed down to the current practitioners of tattoo art. They represent God, the Holy Spirit, the pierced heart of Christ and the Rose of Sharon. So while the birds, (they are actually swallows, as evidenced by the split tail) may appear Disneyish to some, it was probably Disney copying the the tattoo artists rather than the other way around. To those of you who don't like the birds; I'm afraid you'll have to tell those tattooists of the 14th-18th centuries (now that is Old School) when you meet them. Everyone is simply copying them. Thanks again for taking a look, David Theobald

Leatherjunkie, I agree with you about all the lettering. The word Sallys became harder to read....but that's true any time you dye the leather black. Especially when you must Neat-Lac the seat to prevent the crocking that always results from black dye. This seat became rather difficult to photograph due to the shiny nature of the Neat-Lac Thanks for looking. Dave Final poll 29-2 in favor of liking the design

Troy, The lace if from Jim Downey, Skull Valley AZ. His address is on our list of suppliers here on the site. He's a nice guy and ships quickly Dave

BLACK IT IS! Thanks for all your comments. This is one of the most helpful exercises we do here. Finding out what others think and why is always a helpful design exercise. The tally on the votes was 27-1 in favor of liking the seat. I wish the 1 would have left a comment for me. Thanks again, Dave

South Paw I agree with you, the Sallys is too thin and too small, it was that way on their trademark also. Originally all three words were inside the shield shape which makes everything hard to read.. I felt I'd taken enough liberties with their logo (some companies get real wierd if you change their mark) so I left it in scale with the other letters. Thanks for taking a look, Dave

I've had this happen a few times with nearly everyone's hides, The solution is vigorous glassing or slicking. This will compact the leather and improve tooling characteristics. It is done wet. I use a Barry King glassing tool. David Theobald

Well, I guess Sucker Punch accepted the design. I wrote them that I was going to do a brown to light tan fade on the seat. The response was "Can you dye it black?" I guess that means they like it? LOL Ya gotta love em. Dave Theobald

Wolf, I'm glad that worked out for you, be sure to thank ShirleyZ next time you see her post, she is the one who taught it to me. Dave

The birds do look bit different on this seat which is also my business card. Same birds, but they do come off differently Dave

Josh, I lay the holes out on a master pattern and use dividers to space the holes. The lace pattern is a modified basket weave. Whereever the basket weave says go under, go over instead. In other words it is a simple go 3 forward and 2 back repeating weave. Very simple and quick to do. I learned it from ShirleyZ. I use 1/4" kangaroo lace in 1/8" holes. Thanks, Dave Theobald

Hey Jordan, I can't take credit for the birds, the are tattoo flash and have been used before on SPS seats. Thanks for the comments and for taking a look. Dave

I decided to modify the new Sucker Punch trademark to make a more interesting piece of seat art. Wonder what their opinion will be? Please feel free to vote and/or leave a message. Dave

Putting all tin foil hat wearing, multiverse, interstellar aliens aside, the guy won the election, deserves the right to "give it a go" and see if he can get this economy rolling again. He will also deserve all the critical comments and partisan sniping when and if he fails. As far as my opinion or the "historic" events of yesterday? Yawn, wake me when something important happens. Dave

Well, how did I miss this? Very nice looking. A very classic look to it. I like it a lot, you should be proud of it. Dave Theobald

Tina, Beautiful combination of colors. I like the entire project. Wonderfully executed. Dave Theobald

Thanks Troy, I always love it when a customer sends pics of his bike to me. Not too many do it so it is a real pleasant surprise. I'm also not sure how he did at the show, but I like how the tan seat makes the whole bike pop! If that seat were black, I think the entire bike would be pretty ho hum. Dave Theobald

Thanks for the comments everyone. There is no stain on the seat. I gave the raw leather seat a coat of Lexol and then mixed a combination of Medium brown and Sheridan paste antiquing for the final color. Just thought I'd try something different. Yeah, I got a Barry King glass slicker and it is sure aptly named. That leather felt like glass. I like it a lot and won't be doing any carving without it. Dave Theobald

The lacing is a modified basketweave. Where ever you are supposed to go "under" on a standard basketweave, go "over" instead. It gives a nice herringbone pattern. The lines were of course cut with a swivel knive against a straight edge. Dave

I received this custom order last week. The artwork was supplied by the customer, obviously they haven't figured out that a custom seat is supposed to have cool art, not lots of words. Hopefully they will figure that out some day. Any way here is the build all in one entry. David Theobald