good lookins set of bags; I like that extra small external pouch a lot.

 

I haven't seen many of this style around. They are original HD bags from 98.

 

Ok, after 48 hours to let the leather dry I applied 2 coats of dye allowing 1 hour between coats. The lighting for pictures ifs not the greatest and the finish to this point looks chalky but I guess that is just the way the dye dries. The tan areas covered well but the leather it's rougher than I thought. We'll see what happens after a couple of days, at that point I'll be able to start the hand rubbing and conditioning.

 

Never seen those style of bags……they're really cool looking

 

Thy're original HD bags from 98, like the bike...

 

The bags are looking good!

 

Well the styling is really neat. And I can see the from the pics they're genuine leather, not the cheap vinyl stuff that HD uses a lot. I used Doc Baileys on my "leather" bags with excellent results. You may not need to go the route you're going with dyeing. Maybe give the product a shot…..I think it would work well with the condition your bags appear to be in. Just wipe on and lightly buff…..very easy to use.

 

Would that be by hand or an electric buffer?

 

If you immerse the bags in water, glycerin needs to be added. You can get it at the drugstore. Also whatever you stuff the bags with should be in a garbage bag. Newspapers especially draw all themoisture out too quickly. Rags and towels are not much better.
Worscham Castle is a restorer of leather motorcycle stuff. He brings stuff back to life that is 70 years old and hard as a suitcase. The glycerin tip and garbage bag routine came from him. Anything less and it will be difficult to get really good results.
Also there is an argument about using it. Michael at WC I believe said not to use it, to only use real neatsfoot oil. Personally I didnt know there was a difference, or that there were 2 diffrent types. But he said that the non real stuff rehardens the leather and makes it unworkable. Again, I THINK mike said this but I am not 100% sure.

 

Anytime leather gets wet you remove the oils, and as leather gets old the oils evaporate/get rubbed off, dry out from dirt.
Conditioners vary from waxes/silicone to oil content.
If the leather becomes to dry it get hard and starts to dry rot.
This is what you are trying to prevent.
Stiff leather is great until you open the flap and it rips because it is dry rotted.
Oil soften the leather and make it pliable, they also control dry rot.
Waxes are used to make the leather shiny and to help with water resistance.
The first thing you want to do is get some oil in the leather.
I like Neatsfoot oil, however if you are in a wet climate or have any mold problem I would use leather therapy.
If you have mold problems you need to be careful because mold lives on the oil, so it is important to use the right oil.
Then you need a conditioner with wax to protect the leather.
Saddle soap is a soap, not a conditioner, yea it has oils/waxes but it is not designed as a conditioner.
I would not use lard, it turns rancid, there are much better modern product that work better.
Hd leather conditioner is Valvoline, but I do not necessarily recommend it.
I have fiberglassed the insides of bags before to reinforce and for them to keep their shape, also used plastic to do the same thing, used plastic pails, trash cans, this is before everyone came up with the kits so yea this is the way to go.
Otherwise they are just going to sag again.