Anybody recondition a Tenni leather seat?

[FreyZI]

My Tenni's leather seat is a lovely saddle brown to tan in color.  UV has seriously faded the front seat. I rather like the color, but when the pillion seat cover is removed, the richer cocoa brown is revealed.  Anybody tried to dye their seat back to original color?  Or put the seat in a tanning bed?

[footgoose]

It's not real leather. I'm not sure what it's made of. I've only used mine a couple of times. Still looks new.

[fotoguzzi]

Suede? that's what to brochure called it.

[FreyZI]

Yes, the suede seat.  Maybe roughout leather is a better description.  Pic follows.

[FreyZI]

The pic:

[footgoose]

yeah fotoguzzi, you got me thinking where exactly I got the "faux suede" idea I've had for quite some time. I must have just read it somewhere on line/magazine. I did some digging and my Tenni brochure calls it "imitation leather unique saddle"

 

It seems a good idea it's not leather.. for wet riding purposes, it should last longer. I won't be using my "suede" seat for anything but very special occasions, and posterity.

 

I wouldn't know where to start with reconditioning it FreyZ1. I really love the look tho, enough that I bought a beater seat to have recovered in real leather. I like the darker shade too, example Tenni Griso.

Note: 2 tone

[FreyZI]

I must say, if it's imitation suede, they did a pretty damn convincing job.  I looked online and found the book, The Complete Book of Moto Guzzi: Every Model Since 1921, by Ian Falloon, which may shed some light.  However, Amazon's preview of the book includes page 207 -- and not 206, where the answer may lie.  According to that source (beginning with the first words on page 207), "... the 1950s racers, also including an imitation leather seat..."  My guess is that page 206 mentions a suede seat; and that the "imitation leather seat" noted on page 207 is referring to the black imitation leather seat.  Anybody have that book handy?  If so, I'd be curious to know what it says on page 206.  I did take the seat off to look at the underside, where I hoped I would find an edge of the suede under the staples where I could take a look.  However, I was surprised to see the material neatly trimmed and meticulously stapled to the pan -- showing no edge of the suede.  Thus, I put off the physical investigation.

 

[docc]

I have that book. It is a very nice "coffee table" book, but I would not rely on it as a reference.  There are just too many models to cover, so briefly, and get all the details right.  For example, the V11 Sport section contains a few misleading or erroneous statements. Overall, it is a beautiful book, and Ian Falloon does a nice job. (Unlike Mick Walker who appears to have started the "tractor motor" bullcrap ).

 

So, the statement about the "imitation leather seat" is all that is said of the matter in Falloon's book.

[docc]

Hey, chamberlin posted quite a few original brochures in our "fileshare" subforum.  Here's the post with the Tenni brochure:

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18360&p=199425

 

" . . . an imitation leather unique saddle . . ." certainly refers to the brown.

[FreyZI]

Docc, why does that certainly refer to the brown? I'm still not 100% sold.

 

As best as I can make out from the sales brochure -- which is riddled with errors (much like the users manual):

 

"A modification the stoic and spartan champion would have not appreciated[,] but which present bike[r]s will certainly pleasantly welcome[ ]: an imitation leather unique saddle..." Or to paraphrase, 'Omobono wouldn't have been happy with an imitation leather saddle, but modern bikers will welcome it.' Tenni apparently liked the grip offered by the more coarse stuff, and so he would have shunned a smooth, slick (imitation) leather saddle. Perhaps the brochure was talking about the "extra" imitation leather saddle?

 

Of course, there's nothing "unique" about the black imitation leather saddle, so my argument may not hold up. However, we may be too quick to jump to the conclusion -- because the brown suede seat is quite unique (as in "uncommon", "exclusive") -- that the brochure is discussing the brown seat. But, for the sake of argument, "unique" could be a poor translation (not entirely improbable) for "separate". Read that way: 'modern bikers will appreciate a separate imitation leather saddle.'

 

Devil's advocate in me says further investigation is necessary.

 

Since I brought it up, there are -- I've just learned -- several different leather products that can be confused -- suede, nubuck, and roughout. I'd have to say that the Tenni "suede" looks more like roughout.

 

I was able to flip a corner and get just barely a peak of the underside and edge. Still can't tell for certain.

 

Not trying to be a PitA, but I won't know how to dye it if I don't know what it is.

 

So, has anybody actually had the seat cover off? I guess I'll get best results if I don't try to dye the seat cover in situ, anyway, so I'll probably remove it tomorrow. Incidentally, what's the best tool for re-stapling? Pneumatic staple gun, I suppose. I think I bought one of those years ago for a project that hasn't yet happened.

 

[docc]

As far as I know, the Tenni "suede" seat is the only "unique" seat to the V11 series. Seat pans changed, but the black cover is, otherwise,  ubiquitous.

 

(As I write this, I do recall the very last of the series, the Scura R, had a red seat cover.)

 

Yet, at the time the 2002 brochure was written (and roughly translated from the Italian), the only comparisons were the early Sports, the Rosso Mandello, first gen Scura, and the 2002 LeMans (all black seats).

[fotoguzzi]

find an upholstery shop and get their advice, they can probably pop a corner off to look inside . best to get some expert advice. Once you pull it off yourself it might not be that easy to fix..

 

from the pic, it's not that bad and I'd just leave it as is.. give it character.

[swooshdave]

The obvious answer is to leave the pillion seat cover on. 

 

I bet mine has been off maybe twice in it's life and that's including the one and only time I'll ever take it off just to look at it.

[LowRyter]

I think seat looks cool with a little fade. Patina, the right kind.

[H-E-Ross]

I feel pretty confident the suede seat on my Tenni was real leather (also faded).