First Project - Indian Motorcycle Seat

[indianbobber]

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?

[benlilly1]

Good start...I would have punched the holes in the bottom piece first before attaching it to the pan. You can still punch the holes if you're careful. Punch in the bottom first then lay on the top piece where it needs to be, turn it over and mark the holes from the underneath then punch the top piece from the back where the holes are marked. Good luck!

[indianbobber]

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?

[tkirwan]

very nice job..i am getting ready to do the same thing with a panhead solo seat..not sure of the tooling design but i am very inspired by your project. yer wife unit is gonna love the seat.

[indianbobber]

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.

[Josiah]

I lace with 1/4 kangaroo lace from Y-knot Lace.

[indianbobber]

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?

[Itch]

Looks like you are doing a fine job..Here is my 46 Indian might be time for a seat as well but it starts on the first kick..

[indianbobber]

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.

[skeeter]

Wow awesome project. Looking good.

[indianbobber]

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

[Itch]

There is a product called saddle lac.I do think that it is a sealer and that is what I was told.I had a buddy that had a motorcycle seat that was black with a couple of orange flames.We put black dye on the seat a couple of cats and then spayed a few coats of this over it but eventually it would bleed off.That was our experiance with it..Good luck. Sice you are in to old scoots here is a picture of my 49 flathead..

Edited April 3, 2013 by Itch

[Jimbob]

Killer scooters.....more pictures...please....!!

Love these old rigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well done seat, nothing better than a flat head.....got to love em....

James

[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.