New motorcycle bag kits from Tandy

[Johanna]

Tandy Leather has come out with motorcycle bag kits:

This kit is easy-to-make and costs a fraction of what a pre-made bag would from a motorcycle shop. Cut from heavy-duty, black 8-10 oz. leather, this kit comes pre-punched and most hardware is pre-attached – all you have to do is lace it up and attach a few rivets for extra strength. The lace is 1/8” wide and is cut from the same durable leather as the bags.

They have added conchos with skull and crossbone themes to decorate the bags. If it's the leather I think it is, I don't think the leather can be tooled even if soaked in a bathtub for a week. If I were still a Tandy manager, I would be organizing lacing classes because lacing these kits is going to be intimidating to a novice.

For those of you who do shows and need ready made items for display, I think the kits are priced rather high to be useful. Even factoring in the time spent doing it from scratch, my guestimate is that it will still be cheaper to do the bags from scratch.

Johanna

[Coyotero]

Tandy Leather has come out with motorcycle bag kits:

They have added conchos with skull and crossbone themes to decorate the bags. If it's the leather I think it is, I don't think the leather can be tooled even if soaked in a bathtub for a week. If I were still a Tandy manager, I would be organizing lacing classes because lacing these kits is going to be intimidating to a novice.

For those of you who do shows and need ready made items for display, I think the kits are priced rather high to be useful. Even factoring in the time spent doing it from scratch, my guestimate is that it will still be cheaper to do the bags from scratch.

Johanna

Mayhaps I'm putting my ass on the line here... Hope nobody in Tandy corporate is reading this, but I'll be frank...

I'm not impressed by them. They're overpriced and made from this wierdo factory-finished leather... No hope of tooling them, which is lame... Kinda takes out the whole "custom" aspect that Bikers like... If someone were selling these, tooling flames or skulls or summat on them would up the price dramatically at shows, but alas, it's impossible given the material.

I think Tandy's hitting the right market with the wrong product... It's good they've finally recognized that somebody other than cowboys does leatherwork, but I doubt these bags will do well... They need to be toolable and about half the cost.

[Johanna]

Coyotero, I visited the Tandy in Pittsburgh (Dormont) over the weekend and examined the kits/bags. I have to agree with your assessment above. I recognized the leather before I touched it- and I was right. It is that dyed all the way through black, probably 6-7 oz, and not suitable for either carving or molding (forming). Maybe Tandy plans to call this black leather "weather resistant" or wanted a leather that would not show a scratch, but the leather they chose feels like thick plastic. I looked at one of the bigger kits and realized I could buy a "real" hide cheaper than the kit, and have leather left over, plus be able to trick it out any way the customer wanted. A customer who can afford a Harley can afford good quality leather, and usually knows the difference, or they would have bought the steel and chrome saddlebags with the bike. (Ugh! Those are ugly!) If I were in a hurry, and those kits came in 8-9 oz veggie tanned, I might consider a purchase, but there is no way I could justify spending $100 for clicker service, and I do not care for pre punched round holes in kits.

Johanna

[ksshane]

I almost picked one of these kits up. Glad I read this post first. Being a novice I probably would have ruined it by trying to tool on the leather.

Tandy prices do seem a bit high, but one of their warehouses is only about 2 miles from my house so I can hand pick my leather, and save on shipping. Now if I only new the good from the bad...LOL

[Coyotero]

I almost picked one of these kits up. Glad I read this post first. Being a novice I probably would have ruined it by trying to tool on the leather.

Tandy prices do seem a bit high, but one of their warehouses is only about 2 miles from my house so I can hand pick my leather, and save on shipping. Now if I only new the good from the bad...LOL

With Tandy, it seems to depend on what your getting... In my area, my store has the best prices on anything leather-related you can find... I don't know how true that is nationwide.

[ksshane]

With Tandy, it seems to depend on what your getting... In my area, my store has the best prices on anything leather-related you can find... I don't know how true that is nationwide.

And they probably are here as well... It just seems like some of the things I look for seem a bit pricey, but I always look for things in kits, and I tend to think everything is a little pricey

[B.J. Mantell]

The Tandy store in New Orleans I go to is sometimes less sometimes not, but I am willing to pay the extra price just to be able to pick out my own hides. I do find their kit prices to be a bit over the top though.

[Ed Miller]

The tandy store here in Tulsa is the only place I can find to buy leather. We do have a biker shop for finished products but no other store to just buy leather that I have found. Will probably try to at least get into the wholesale club fairly soon. Most likely I will save back the 35 it costs a year to get in.

[abn]

Will probably try to at least get into the wholesale club fairly soon. Most likely I will save back the 35 it costs a year to get in.

Ed, definitely give the Wholesale Club a try. I enrolled a few years ago and kept track of the discounts to see how quickly I recovered the cost. I got it all back on the first big order. I think if you spend more than $150 a year at Tandy, the W.C. makes sense.

Plus, every year in the mail, I get a $10 discount coupon to renew my membership, so it's possible that each succeeding year, the W.C. will only cost you $25.

Regards, -Alex

[Tom Katzke]

The tandy store here in Tulsa is the only place I can find to buy leather. We do have a biker shop for finished products but no other store to just buy leather that I have found. Will probably try to at least get into the wholesale club fairly soon. Most likely I will save back the 35 it costs a year to get in.

Try Texas Wholesale Leather. They are in Durant Oklahoma 1-800-477-9923 or www.twleather.com they do not keep there web page updated but you get an idea of what they have.

Tom Katzke

Central Oregon

[Roger]

tandy does sell a set of patterns for bike bags.

the tool bags i make are based on thier pattern.

[whinewine]

I have always bought kits (from Tandy & others) and used them to make patterns, before I assembled them, to make more (& more suitable) items. Some of my best sellers are made from patterns I made from long discontinued kits. What's old is new again!