If you were to make your own pans and buy your own leather you could make a good profit for a part time business. But if your just doing one DK has a good item and it gives you a great opportunity to build something yourself and not buy it online.

 

Ya thats what I was looking into, trying to find the materials locally but its all basically in Orlando, Fl, which is only like an 1.5 hour away but my bike is my only transportation so multiple trips is a real pain.

 

Agreed.

I am still in the market for a seat.
Not sure I would want a tooled seat but the option is nice/different designs to choose from etc.
I for one would like a company to maybe (if they can/not sure but doubt it) give a hardness or longevity count from 1-10 on how long in the seat one could be expected to go etc and I also realize people are different, but a seat that is not rated for 200+, 400+ miles or just around town etc indication if you get my meaning.
Just a ballpark 1-10 but then some wouldn't even look at their seat if that statement was made I/not in the customers ballpark (could be good or bad).
How well is your seat for longevity/comfort etc. Some will ask, like me.
I'm still looking but narrowed it down to a springer seat now that I have learned from the forum members and not the vendors (except DK on his springer spring kit if memory serves). But in all reality, looking at your seat for my needs, I don't think it would work unless I found out more about it as mentioned above.

In my opinion, and it doesn't mean much, and because it is your first seat and you had no plans to go public, but your first seat it is great in my opinion.
Now, If you want to hit the big dollar mark (again, my opinion in searching the net for a few weeks for a seat/looking at various ones) the rivets need to line up across the seat and the edges cleaned up etc.
Just those few things will set you apart from others.
Again, just an observation that you will in time, see as you go.
Rome wasn't built in a day so take it one day at a time.
My intention was not to offend but you asked.

Also, might want to offer and oddball size seat. The norm is 9x13; 12x13; 9x7 etc. You get the idea.
Some look for a 13.5x15; 12.5x13; 10.5x15-just those .5" to an inch can be a game changer for those who don't want a 14" or 13" etc. And also, if you build springer seats-keep the spring mount universal/matches the others seat pans/hardware on the market-that would help a lot in people wanting your seat but not having to worry about it fitting a standard seat pan/hardware as a springer.
Just some thoughts from a guy who has been searching and finding out what's on the market.

P.S. Shipping rates from Orlando isn't much for material.

Jim

 

Thanks man I honestly didn't even consider how long the impression will last, I guess time will tell. I usually ride around 130-200 miles a week so as time rolls forward from I did it. I screwed up on parts for sure I didn't know how to burnish the edges or properly line up the rivets so I eyeballed it as best as I could. Currently I have about 350 miles on the seat since the day I finished it. The black dye has faded a smidge but the design is still good, and my wallet/keys on my belt loop have not scratched up the seat all so thats good. Durability/ comfort is something that I'm going to be looking into. The sizes would be pretty cool I've got a local metal worker that has good steel I could get for relatively cheap so I'm really trying to find now the best way to get materials for the cheapest possible to get more practice in and play with designs/ pan shapes/ dyes etc. Getting my learnings on via leatherworking forums, which I probably should have trolled before I started but hey you live you and you learn, to excited to play with my toys!