Solo seat I.D. please

[Old Ugly 40]

Hi to all,
I am hoping someone can give me some input on this seat. I bought it at the Mt. Vernon swap meet for $30.00. I first thought maybe it was an original seat that someone recovered with vinyl as the cover is stapled on. After getting home and removeing a few staples and folding the cover
back I found that the leather strip is fairly thick and the rivets are put in with the heads on the inside (put in from the top). The skirt is also stapled
and glued on. Here are some pictures (I hope).







I,m closing now so I don,t have to many pics for one post.

[Old Ugly 40]

More photos.





So is this seat an old repop. If not, what was it used on?
On closer inspection the cover is leather. The conchoes appear to be the same as the ones used on VT repop 40,s saddle bags.

Thank you in advance for any info.
Rod
AMCA #25781

[rdillon]

I can't give you any info on it, but I will say you made a great buy. I like it.

[1950Panhead]

Not a factory seat, missing factory rivets and not open seam.
Looks like a recovered seat from long ago.

[Rubone]

That looks like someones idea of customizing their seat. Those conchos were available from Tandy and most saddle shops for decades, along with the spots.

[Jerry Wieland]

If that seat T is what it appears to be you made one heck of a purchase. That appears to be a top grease zerk 1938 to 1940 T and if it is it is $150+. Even a later T is worth $60 to $80. Plus you also have the seat.

If you do not need it I would trade a nice 1941 & later T + cash.

Jerry

[Old Ugly 40]

I can't give you any info on it, but I will say you made a great buy. I like it.

The seat was mixed in with auto misc. I don't think the vendor knew what it was and neither did I.

Thank you for looking.
Rod
AMCA#25781

[Old Ugly 40]

Not a factory seat, missing factory rivets and not open seam.
Looks like a recovered seat from long ago.

Comparing this seat pan to the one that danf19 posted pictures of in the thread "36 VL Seat Pan" they look to be the same. In the same thread Steve Slocame
stated that that type of pan came out about 1940. I am guessing the pan may be original.
What does an "open seam" look like? Is the cover folded over the riveted strip so the stiching goes through the three lairs of leather like most of the repops we see?
From what I can see so far the riveted strip is 2 to 3 times thicker than original sewn ones, I guess to acomadate the staples. If I can soften the leather some i will take the cover off so I can see more.
Thank you very much for your input.

Rod
AMCA#25781

[Old Ugly 40]

That looks like someones idea of customizing their seat. Those conchos were available from Tandy and most saddle shops for decades, along with the spots.

So the skirt is definitely not original. Someone hand tooled it and put the hardware on it.
This eases my mind a bit. If I can soften the leather, take it apart, change the riveted strip, repair the pan and hand stitch it back together again I wouldn't be destroying anything of value. Great.
Did they still use horse hair for padding in 1940?
Thank you for your input.

Rod
AMCA#25781

[Old Ugly 40]

If that seat T is what it appears to be you made one heck of a purchase. That appears to be a top grease zerk 1938 to 1940 T and if it is it is $150+. Even a later T is worth $60 to $80. Plus you also have the seat.

If you do not need it I would trade a nice 1941 & later T + cash.

Jerry

Hi Jerry,
Sorry but the seat tee is off my 40 EL. I put it on the seat to show that it fit the seat. I should have mentioned this when I posted the picture. Again, sorry for getting you excited. As you know all to well original parts for a 40 are hard to find and expensive so I can't part with it.
As this bike has a buddy seat on it and I have short legs I am hoping a solo seat will get my butt cheeks closer to the ground. Hopefully I can take it apart, clean it up, put it back together and make it look half decent. I really don't want a seat that looks new.
Thank you very much for your input.

Rod
AMCA#25781

[1950Panhead]

What does an "open seam" look like?

Factory seats from the 30's and 40's have a piece of leather riveted to the seat pan, the seat cover meets the bottom and is sewed together resulting in an open seam.
In 51 or 52 the top rolled over the bottom sometimes called rolled seam.

[wideglide38]

Factory seats from the 30's and 40's have a piece of leather riveted to the seat pan, the seat cover meets the bottom and is sewed together resulting in an open seam.
In 51 or 52 the top rolled over the bottom sometimes called rolled seam.

I heard/understood the rolled seam started in '52. I think the open seam is a good looking feature IMHO.

[Old Ugly 40]

Factory seats from the 30's and 40's have a piece of leather riveted to the seat pan, the seat cover meets the bottom and is sewed together resulting in an open seam.
In 51 or 52 the top rolled over the bottom sometimes called rolled seam.

So what I tried to describe in post #8 would be a rolled or closed seam. For the open seam the top was simply sewn onto the top of the riveted leather strip and then trimmed flush exposing both edges. Have I got this right?
I was confused as I have read on this site and others where people complained about repop seats having white thread instead of black (or brown) but have never seen a complaint that 99% of the repops have a closed seam. I have looked at many pictures of seats and have never seen any good close ups of an open seam seat.
Does any one have any? I will keep looking.
Thank you so much for your input.

Rod
AMCA#25781

[wideglide38]

So what I tried to describe in post #8 would be a rolled or closed seam. For the open seam the top was simply sewn onto the top of the riveted leather strip and then trimmed flush exposing both edges. Have I got this right?

Rod,
See below for the open-seam (top) and rolled-seam solos (bottom) I have.
William

[Old Ugly 40]

Rod,
See below for the open-seam (top) and rolled-seam solos (bottom) I have.
William


[IMG]http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums
/i443/wideglide38/Open%20amp%20Rolled%20Seam%20Solos.jpg[/IMG]

William,
Thank you for the picture. It gives me a good idea as to what a correct seat for a 40 should look like.
Would you (or anyone else) happen to know what type of river was used used in 1940? Steel, brass, copper, plated?
Thanks again.

Rod
AMCA #25781