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Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

olive oil,

email (option): warbikes@gmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Neatsfoot oil from a saddlery shop

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cve/Gold-Label-Neatsfoot-Oil-x-500-Ml/B007YZLQW0

This is what I use for soaking leather pump washers and on ammo boots.

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Maarten I had a similar dilemma with my Indian. I never like the look of the new 'ORANGE' saddle bags so I acquired some old originals. But they were so tatty and broken I almost wouldn't use them, but I persevered and got them repaired by an excellent saddlery girl I know and have given them lashings of saddle oil over the years and I love them know.

On the other hand my saddle had a brand new natural colour skin fitted. It was a pale creamy colour which would probably have looked ok after about 20 years use First I tried brown boot polish but it went orange, and oil didn't help. Then I bought some dark brown leather die off ebay and then it was "shit or bust" First I mixed a bit in some oil, then I wiped it over again neat, then more oil. See the result, it doesn't look out of place against my ancient bags.

I have another friend 'Stuart' who simply soaked his new 741 bags in old engine oil, but he really didn't care about having a 'Rat' look. So I would suggest 'Neatsfoot or something like this stuff I use and add some darkness to it as you go.....You can't put too much oil on them. Ron
 photo 741B 101_zpsmlmzhu8k.jpg
 photo 741B 104_zpss0zyy32l.jpg

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Thank you all for your tips...
Ron, that's a great result you have with the saddle...

email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Fake patina?...Nearly as bad as an 'ex factory' rebuild... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

It is a strange paradox, you restore the vintage machine so it looks nearly new but then make the new leather bits look 70 years old?

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Well for me it was just a case of making my saddle colour match that of my bags. Much the same as if I'd fitted a new painted part. The saddle still looks quite new.

I don't know if this orange colour you get with these US repro leather parts is correct, but I don't like it Fortunately as part of the British army we have a different set of standards...."If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it"

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Restore or 'patinate'..we're all faking it...But I can't help thinking false patina is faking it a bit more, as it's ultimately an attempt to deceive...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

I'm convinced there are a very few all original bikes out there....even those who think they have the real deal and state that the full history of the bike is known etc....
IMHO is aging a repro item better than the alternative...I bet one will piss vinegar also when it's put in place in its original orange new look or when the wrong type old saddle is placed....When the original item is no longer for sale or for unrealistic prices, what is the alternative?

email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Perhaps the thing to do would be to look at the original maintenance instructions. What care was required for components made of leather ? I'm pretty sure in the British Army they'd have been instructed to 'dubbin' it.

An unprotected saddle or bags would become impossibly wet. There must have been some waterproofing used.

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Ian Wright
Restore or 'patinate'..we're all faking it...But I can't help thinking false patina is faking it a bit more, as it's ultimately an attempt to deceive...Ian


Ian I think you know that am not one for patina, fake or otherwise, and have argued that point on several occasions. As I said the issue with my new saddle skin was simply the colour. I can't believe the original colour of the leather would have been cream and I just coloured mine to please myself and to what I think it might have looked like in 1942, without any attempt to make it look old. The saddle bags however were already old and I did my best to make them look the best I could. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

this stuff will darken down leather a bit at a time, and feed and preserve it at the same time.

recommended to me years ago by an old time horseman.

I know it darkens down leather,'cos the leather stuff I used it on I did not want darkened

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ko-Cho-Line-Leather-Dressing-/142260441879?hash=item211f621317:g:Ns8AAOSwImRYjI-p

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Hello,
for the leather items i use "SAPO"since years, and old uncle who work at "Forestier" saddelery say us it's maybe the better thing for the leather, maybe he is right ( or maybe he was paid to say that... )
http://www.equiphorse.com/graisse-a-cuir-%22sapo%22-a11838.html
very good stuff who not darken the leather as the oil,
and for the colour of a new creamy leather, who is never oiled, just use professional wood color ( the solvant version) it work very well, and with a small gun spray you could also darken a little more just the portions you want to make more fake patina...

Arnaud

email (option): leger-arnaud@wanadoo.fr

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Maarten, ask a cardealer for old engine oil, put your saddle bags 2 weeks in the old engine oil, ask a friend who owns a gun licence to take the saddlebags to his shooting club, take a few 9 mm shots on the bags and you have original " old bags ". When I had my Harley WLA everybody ask me hoe I got those original bags.

email (option): Gertpolman@gmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

@Gert....I like your solution to my problem, especially the 9mm gun part...

email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

I know how to make a Harley look older. I found the perfect answer in the M.W.E.E. ledgers.

Apparently they liked this sidecar outfit so much that they torched it !

 photo IMG_0415_zpsrujhrjww.jpg

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

the results so far....



email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Well Maarten I much prefer the brown look over the orange colour of the new items..... Would they really have been that orange colour originally It makes me think that any Harley rider at the time would have been a potential target. Probably the enemy would even have had to wear sun glasses Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

That's why the 9mm bullet holes Gert suggested are a realistic modification...

email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

The finish on the leather is a matter of personal preference, I think. But patina on a WD bike is inevitable unless you do not use the machine or re-restore it every few years. Again, personal preference, but my bike was restored to WD trim some 13 years ago and what with the nature of the paint used as well as use on and off road, plus petrol leakage and oil splashes, it has attained a natural "patina".........and I think the bike looks better each year as it gently ages, unlike its owner!

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

Do not use neatsfoot oil on old bags in more than small amounts as it turns leather into something like licorice. It darkens the leather and softens it. That's ok if the leather is very dry but not so good if it's already supple. Neatsfoot oil is also known to rot cotton based thread, so not so clever. I never use it commercially any more. It's boiled up hooves. If you want to bring hard leather back to life far far better to use Westgate Gold Label Hide Food which is lanolin based, ie Face Cream that Old Bags use.

Re: How to "age" a leather bag, saddle etc.

What a sales pitch...'Buy Westgate Gold Label Hide Food for you motorcycle panniers...Tested extensively on old bags'... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

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