Working on the engine of my dad’s Indian Scout motorcycle is the priority, but I also want to take care of the saddle and saddle bags asap, because I know those will take time to handle. Giving back its suppleness, to the leather that hasn’t been taken care of for over 40 years, is a long term challenge!
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Here are 10 ways you can help me rebuilt my dad’s Indian Scout. Most are free and will take just a few seconds! You want to see me going on a road trip with this bike, don’t you?! Go ahead then, every penny will help!
Magic sponge to clean the saddle
With regards to the saddle, the first thing that needed to be done was to clean it! Dirt, oil and grease had built up to give it a brownish, indescribable look.
For some reasons, I thought of using magic sponges to clean the saddle.
Magic sponges and I have a long “love / hate” relationship which is too long to explain, but faced with the condition of the saddle, I thought, why not!
And I must admit, they really did a fantastic job!
I unfortunately didn’t take a close up picture of the state of the saddle before starting cleaning. But you can tell from the partial pictures here and on the main page, that progress has been made!
The leather on the saddle had never been taken care off. So in between cleaning sessions, I also nourish it a bit, to not damage it.
For cleaning, I also tried different options. For example, I tried white vinegar but it didn’t help. Magic sponges, really did best.
At this point, I’m stuck a bit and have to wait. Last I took care of the saddle, I used a sort of waterproof polish which locked in the remaining dirt! Silly, I know. I didn’t pay enough attention.
I’m sure I’ll find a solution.
In any case, if I can’t get the saddle to look clean enough, I’ll probably use some die to give it a light brown color. Will see.
For now, I focus on taking care of the saddle bags….
Hand made saddle cover
To make sure we don’t get the saddle dirty while working on the engine, I sewed a saddle cover! And I use my vintage singer sewing machine to do this! Everything is vintage in my life nowadays!! I had brought it with me on one my latest trip and thought it would be good training for me to try and sew a cover, for the saddle!
The saddle is nothing like the original saddle of an Indian Scout. It looks a bit weird being so long, but it is for 2 people and the registration document of the motorcycle allows officially 2 people to be on the bike, so that’s pretty cool!
I wanted a saddle cover that would be easy to remove, not too tight to not damage the saddle fringe and easy to wash! I used fabric I had and just created the cover on the go. This mean I went back and forth, from the garage to the sewing machine, lots of times, adjusting things as needed!
It worked out great!
It stays in place because of the shape and because there is a little bow underneath. It got dirty already!
Olive oil on the saddle bags
So what about the saddle bags?
Well first let me tell you, I never, ever liked saddle bags! Not on my bike when I was younger, not now, not a motorcycle… Those saddle bags are no exception, but my dad had them custom made when he was young, so they are part of the renovation project.
Those saddle bags are not in terribly bad condition. Having been in boxes for 40 years or so, they are not damaged. The leather has dried up, but the good news is that it didn’t get moldy!
So for now, what those saddle bags really need is moisturizing and I simply use olive oil to give them just that! It’s probably not the ideal option, but it works!
Every time I come see my dad, I try to take the saddle bags out and nourish them with oil. Sometimes I don’t have time, but I try. I think so far, I’ve probably oiled them 6 or 7 times.
They are getting a bit softer and maybe it’s not obvious on the picture, but they do look better. There is still quite a way to go! When I put the oil, the leather absorbs it in no time and is thirsty for more! So I think I will continue like this, until they are ready for leather polish.
Home made fringe straightener!
As you can tell from the above pictures, the fringe on the saddle bags have curled up and are being, overall, just very messy. 40 years in boxes have dried them out!
I came up the idea of a “fringe straightener”, which is basically just 2 wood boards tight up together. Dad and I started attaching the boards on one side, putting the fringe in place, one leather string at a time. And then working our way through the whole length.
It moved at lot, it got annoying… The strings curled back up, several times. At the end, we managed to get all the strings flat and secured between the 2 boards.
Is this going to work?! Well, I sure hope so but I’ll have to wait at least 3 weeks before finding out (on my next trip!). Meanwhile, there is another technique I’m about to try… the one you can find everywhere on internet. I have my doubts because the leather on these fringes is so vintage, that’s it’s almost antique and it is very thick. Will try anyway and keep you posted!
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So that’s that! Here is my update on the saddle and saddle bags TLC progress. If you other have ideas on what I should do to improve their conditions, pop me an email at Miss Coco Travel @ gmail . com
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