New seats

[Johanna]

Bruce- Shirley Zanelli of Las Vegas has also shared some pics of her motorcycle seats with us. PM me if you want access to the adult area of the board.

Johanna

[Guest]

Bruce,

Thanks for the nice words. That bike with the seat on it is currently in the V-Twin show sponsered by Easyriders Magazine in Cincinnati Ohio. It is being shown in the House of Colors booth. The bike is by Jeff Cochran of Sucker Punch Sallys. Be sure to check out Shirley's seats too. She does some beautiful stuff.

Johanna, Is the gallery on the "other side" of the site open? I would love to show my work there. Let me know what I need to do.

Thanks,

Dave Theobald

[BruceGibson]

So, Dave...when does class start? Are you willing to share tips, tricks, secrets, etc.? If not, I certainly understand! If "yes," then bring it on!

I wanna learn how to do that!!!!

[Guest]

Hey Bruce,

I fully intend to write and photograph the procedure of making a seat....I just must finish this run of seats that are due at my clients' shop; then I will make time to write my article.

Dave Theobald

[Johanna]

Ooooohhhh...Johanna is ready to assist in any way possible.... Get a move on those seats!

Johanna

[BruceGibson]

Thank you, Dave! I'll look forward to that.

Are you making your own seat pans, using existing, or ordering from someplace?

Or, all of the above?

[Guest]

Bruce,

Approximately 90% of my seats are made for Sucker Punch Sallys located in Miamitown, Ohio and Scottsdale, Arizona. They have a special "oldschool" look that they are after, so they provide me with their favorite seat pan; which is a West Eagle. It is a very heavy gauge steel pan and provides a solid base for the seat. Without a doubt the best mounting hardware in the business is made for this pan by Fabricator Kevin in Clinton Township, Michigan. It is 3/16" stainless steel with bronze bearings for a solid, "no wobble" mount.

Dave Theobald

[BruceGibson]

Thanks, Dave!

I've got a few bazillion more questions but I'll try and parcel them out a few here, and a few there!

I appreciate your willingness to share!

[Guest]

Bruce,

I'm willing to share anything I know. If you are reluctant to put a bunch of questions on the site you can always email me at (deleted email because of the spam bots) Johanna~ I'll try to help any way I can.

Dave

Edited February 10, 2007 by Johanna

[Johanna]

Oh please oh please post on the board...that way we all learn!

Johanna

[BruceGibson]

More, Dave, more! :fire:

[Guest]

Hey Bruce,

I'm still working on that order, I shipped 6 seats last week. Hope to ship a few more this month. But in the mean time, feel free to ask any questions you may have.

The enclosed project has a suede split insert. The idea came from western saddle photographs that I found the "the journal".

Dave Theobald

Edited February 19, 2007 by David

[BruceGibson]

Beautiful!

Heck, David, the bottoms look at good as the tops! Are those pop rivets under there?

What weight leather are you using? And do you use the same weight for the bottom and the top? Do you cut your own lace, and what type lace do you use? I would think that Indian Tan/Alum (yellow center) would work real well, but if I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't have all these questions!

The inserts look great. If you haven't seen his work already, Jeremiah Watt does some beautiful seat inserts on his saddles. He also uses exotics on the inserts in some cases, and it looks good. If it's still posted, he had a stingray insert on one that came out beautiful. His website is www.jeremiahwatt.com.

Does Sucker Punch Sally's sell the seat pans?

See...told ya I had a bazillion questions. And I'm not even warmed up yet!

As always, thank you for sharing the awesome pictures, and your knowledge.

[Guest]

Hey Bruce,

Yes, those are pop rivets on the bottom. That is the standard way that seat are constructed.....If you buy a pre made West Eagle seat, it will have that same rivet pattern holding it together. Sucker Punch sells the West Eagle seat pans as do other places such as Fabricator Kevin. They run about $50-$60 for the pan with no mounting hardware. The price depends on the source and quantity....I usually get them by the dozen.

The leather is 6 oz Live Oak which I have been getting from Tandy; but I am now experimenting with Hermann Oak leather which seems to be much softer and more pliable. This can be good and bad....good in that it tools nicely and bad it that it may tend to wrinkle more when lacing it down. The verdict is still out on that; but I sure like the way the Hermann leather tools.

The lace is Tandy's 3/16" 55006-03 natural calfskin lace. It is very inconsistant in quality so if you know of a good source for 2-3 oz 3/16" lace please let me know. The Tandy lace may be nice and thick or so thin it is unusable; I've also been sent entire rolls that are dry rotted. They are always nice and willing to replace it but it can be a pain and worse a delay in finishing a project. The Tandy lace is not very prone to stretching which is good. The more the lace stretches the thinner/weaker it gets.

I checked out www.jeremiahwatt.com what a beautiful saddle on his home page. I couldn't get the other links to work; but I'll try later to see if the problem was in my computer.

As for my decorated seat bottoms; Most seat manufacturers cover the bottom of their seats with a heavy felt that is just glued on. This is true of manufactured and custom seats. The problem with the felt is that it shreds or rots in a year or less....(my experience) So, I like to do some work on the back of the seat. At first I just put the initials SPS on the backs.....the shop owner loved it so the backs became more and more elaborate....I guess it is now a bit of a trademark of mine. My wife says it has gotten out of hand....

As far as exotic inserts instead of the suede splits, I have been afraid that the exotics are too fragile for a bike seat....Bikers are not know as the most sensative guys when it comes to the treatment of their "ride". Watch 'em do burnouts sometime..... Laying rubber until the tire catches fire and blows out.....Not sure that guy is going to be happy with the durability of a beautiful alligator hide insert in his seat.

Keep the questions coming, I'll be happy to answer to the best of my ability.

Here is the seat back on the Praying hands seat.

Dave

Edited February 20, 2007 by David

[dsenette]

like i've said once or twice here...i don't know squat about leather...but i know one or two things about bike seats...and decorations of any kind on the underside...is well...almost unheard of...it shows a true dedication to your craft...and utmost respect for the product you are creating...spending extra time on a portion of the product that is "rarely" seen deffinitely adds to the value....really nice stuff!

[K-Man]

"I have been afraid that the exotics are too fragile for a bike seat....Bikers are not know as the most sensative guys when it comes to the treatment of their "ride". Watch 'em do burnouts sometime..... Laying rubber until the tire catches fire and blows out.....Not sure that guy is going to be happy with the durability of a beautiful alligator hide insert in his seat."

Try shark, elephant (main body), or stingray - all very durable skins. Elephant ear and trunk are available also, but are thinner and thus less durable. Ostrich would work, too, if thinned down and then adhered to a 3/4 oz (minimum) piece of veg tan. Stingray can be a pain to sew at times, depending on the means you do it by. A needle and awl machine has fits with it, hand sewing would be absolutely no fun either. I have a couple Artisan Toro 3000s and have had no problems. The shark, ostrich, and elephant are soft - just like leather - so they're easy to sew.

Edited February 21, 2007 by K-Man

[Johanna]

A properly done inlay is durable enough for a seat, but I don't recall seeing too many bikes with inlays on the seats. The gas tank, yes, but not the seat. I used to keep a scrap with different samples (snake, stingray, etc. ) sewn and laced in different styles to show people because most don't know what options are available. That "scrap" sold a lot of belts. Inlays are more work, but then the price goes up accordingly...something to think about.

Johanna

[ClayB]

The lace is Tandy's 3/16" 55006-03 natural calfskin lace. It is very inconsistant in quality so if you know of a good source for 2-3 oz 3/16" lace please let me know. Dave

Dave,

You might want to try some kangaroo lace. I have been getting it from Jim Downey and the quality is good and so is the consistancy. It comes in dozens of colors.

Jim Downey

Box 30

Skull Valley, AZ 86338

928 442 3638

928 925 3365 cell

j.c.downey@worldnet.att.net

[BruceGibson]

Just a quick side note...if the K-Man who posted at #41 is who I think it is, then we have a holster-maker extraordinaire among us. And he's got PICTURES!

Kevin, would you create a "Holster" entry here in the Show-Off section?

[BruceGibson]

Back on track--thank you again, Dave. What are you using for seat padding?

And I agree with the posts on kangaroo lace--the stuff is said to be the toughest and densest of all leathers for its weight. I don't know if that's true, and I've never laced with it, but I have braided a fair amount and it's some strong stuff. If you ever want whole kangaroo hides Weaver's got them.

I use Alum Tanned latigo for bullrope handle lacing, and that stuff takes a lot of abuse with little stretch. I cut my own because precut's aren't wide enough, or long enough. Plus, it tends to pull down and get narrower. For your purposes you'd have to split it down, but it may be worth a try. When I lace rope handles, I saddle soap the heck out of it to limber it up (after beveling the edges) and it lays down real nice. It tends to be real dry.

[wolvenstien]

I am interested to know if you have done any recovers.... I have a 98 Honda Magna, with the main seat and passenger seat as two parts, and I would like to recover it this spring and make it look good. I have already covered my tank with a chap and added other lether to the bike as well. I just dont know about seats.... I dont want to pull my seats apart and not be able to recover them and a month later not have a bike to ride... Any info that can be given would be great.

Mike

[Johanna]

Kangaroo is wonderful lace...stretches just enough, uniform thickness, good hand...but the ultimate in lace is made of goat. It's hard to find these days, but if you use goat lace, you will never want calf again. It's stronger than kanga and will not "snap" when pulled. I have very seldom seen old goat lace dry rotted, even on items that were never properly cared for.

Johanna

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone on the last day's responses.

There was a wealth of information in them. I will be looking into the kangaroo lace.....my only encounter with kangaroo leather is that my son used to play soccer in kangaroo skin soccer "boots". They sure were tough but very comfortable once you learned how to break them in.

I'll be contacting Jim Downey this evening about roo lace.

Thank you all for the very kind words, I've responded to wolvenstien in a separate email.

Dave Theoebald

[wolvenstien]

Sorry if my post sounded like I was asking for someone to do my seat for me, I was not, I was asking if anyone had experiance with re-covering factory OEM seats.

[BruceGibson]

Dave,

Here's the link to Jeremiah Watt's Blog that has the stingray seat insert on one of his custom saddles. I think you (and the rest of us) will enjoy his carving, too. The guy does amazing work. I think you'll find a bunch of ideas that you may want to incorporate into your bike seats...heck, technically they're "saddles" too!

There are also examples of what he does on scrap pieces of leather to come up with different ideas for leaves, flowers, scrolls, etc., to use in his carving.

As an artisan, he's one of the standouts that always come to mind--he makes the Horseshoe Brand tool line, builds custom saddles (5-year backlog last I heard), does silver work, makes his own saddle trees--from raw lumber to rawhide-covered finished tree, and last Fall rode his bike from California to Norfolk, Virginia.

Beyond all that, I don't think he does much.

I post this here for the saddle seat inserts we were talking about, but I think everybody will find something to learn from...

Here's the link, y'all: http://www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/watt/