I have been wanting to recover my western flyer super's seat for a bit but didn't have the leather to do it and couldn't find it local but this weekend I picked some up from a shoe repair shop about 60 miles out of town. I had allready decided what thickness of leather I would use after seeing a few threads but when I got to the shop he said what I wanted to use would be too thin...Now I have been tinkering with these bikes for quite a few years and I know by removing the remnants of the previous seat the aprox of the leather thickness the original had. So he suggested a hide that was so thick I couldn't imagine shaping it with any ease....SO I went with a lesser thicknes but not much, he cut the hide 12 inches high by allmost 3 feet long for 13 dollars...Now driving home I would glance back at the leather piece in my back seat thinking about whether I made a big mistake buying the leather to thick and how angry I was gonna be if it didnt work out seeing how it was a 120 mile round trip...anyways....I made it home soaked the leather in warm water used a thin pad and shaped the leather with much aggression and here is the result I had...Needs sealer but its done...I have another Im doing and im staining the leather mahogany before I shape it....Thanks for all the tips and pics from previous posts!!! Also when I went to shape the leather there was a small tear in it so I positioned it near the front right where most bikes get damage before I shaped it...It gives it character Im not into perfect!
