JGray Report post Posted June 10, 2015 Hi all - I started getting into leatherwork a year or two ago. Started buying tools here and there and trying my hand at a couple of projects. This forum looked like a great resource for learning more, so I figured I would sign in and look around. Some amazing stuff here! I'm originally from British Columbia, Canada, but am currently living in Maple Grove, Minnesota (Minneapolis area) - would eventually like to meet up with some local leatherworkers to see what we can learn from each other, if folks are willing. After a holster and a knife sheath as first projects (which of course were pretty rough), I made a laptop/messenger bag that turned out fairly well, and then decided to take a stab at some custom saddlebags for a cruiser. The black was drum-dyed veg tan, the orange was my first go with Angelus leather dye on veg tan (messed around with eco-flow, have mostly used fiebing's), and the rivets and buckles are 'gunmetal black'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MonicaJacobson Report post Posted June 10, 2015 Wow, these are super cool. I saved them in my favorites folder. Great job on the photography, as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JGray Report post Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) Thank you Monica! I appreciate that a lot, on both counts (I'm even newer to photography than I am to leatherwork)! Took a look at your site & etsy page - beautiful work, for sure. Edited June 10, 2015 by JGray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillB Report post Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) Welcome to the forum JGray, Having ridden motorcycles in the past (@200,000 miles) the one problem I had with the leather saddle bags I had back in the 70s was that they would start to flap up and down at high speeds if they were empty, which most of the time one of them was. I eventually had to add a way to tie them down, either forwards to the passenger pegs or in the middle to some other structure. The tie downs near the front worked best since they kept the leading edge close to the bike. Other than that they look great. Although I live in Minnesota, I am almost to Fargo, so it might be hard to get together. Edited June 10, 2015 by BillB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JGray Report post Posted June 10, 2015 Thanks Bill! They are hard to see in the picture (they are on the far side in the pics) but I do have some metal eyelets in the 'connector' strap just barely above where they meet the bag. We put 'em facing forward when they went on the bike (a Honda Shadow). I made some tie downs with some latigo lace I didn't include in the picture, but they aren't being used yet. Then again, the bike's owner never had the old mass-produced soft bags tied down, so maybe it wasn't too big of an issue for them for some reason. You've got me thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to include a few more tie-down points for more flexibility in mounting for future design attempts though! If I had anything other than a GSX-R 600, I'd think about making myself some too. Might have to add a cruiser to the garage for an excuse to make more leather stuff. Yeah, sounds like you are basically across the state - a bit of a haul! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillB Report post Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) Great that you added the tie downs. My first bike was a Kawasaki 350 back in 1971. Then a Moto Guzzi 750 Eldorado which I had the bags on. The flapping of the bags might be a result of the way the Guzzi engine sits and the turbulence that comes up from below. After two wrecks I laid off bikes until 1991 when I purchased a HD Tour Glide Ultra. I had it for over 100,000 miles and then got a 2001 Road Glide with add-ons to make it an Ultra. The HDs came with fiber glass bags so no need to make leather ones. Last year we sold the 1959 Triumph Roadster I had restored and recently purchased a 2012 Miata. Too many trips on the HD and hitting hail storms. As for leather work, I do writing bi-folds (posted some pictures the other day in the Show Off forum), purses and miscellaneous bags. Yeah, it is about a 3 hour trip from the Twin Cities to our house, but I have a 400 acre lake for a front yard. I am looking forward tor seeing more of your work. Edited June 10, 2015 by BillB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gmace99 Report post Posted June 10, 2015 Really nice work Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
