Leather seat sun protection

[The Buddha]

I'm thinking of making a seat cover from leather - cow hide.
Is there any UV resistance or sun resistance to leather, can I protect it with some stuff ? Anyone here play around with leather on a motorcycle seat ?
Cool.
Buddha.

[cbrfxr67]

I used it on a little 250 scoot.  Made the seat pan and wrapped it in leather.  Came out ok but I sold it so I dunno how it fared up to the weather.   Be interesting to see what you do!

[The Buddha]

It cant be stretched to install, it needs to be sort of installed loose. I actually think it would need care, oil and UV protect etc. And I think it will need to be waterproofed - like often, else it will soak up water. Let me see, its like 5X as $$ to buy and likely about the same $ as vinyl to stitch. However this place has poor selection of vinyl. They are a home upholstery shop. Not vehicle.
Interesting is the right word. I have no clue.
Cool.
Buddha.

[Bluesmudge]

Some of the custom seat shops do use leather, so its not totally unheard of. I wouldn't do it on anything but a show bike. Water (rain) is going to be a bigger issue than sun. If you pick a good leather conditioner and apply frequently you should be able to protect it from UV but nothing will keep 100% of water out. You may want to put a vinyl barrier under the leather to prevent the foam and seat pan from getting water logged. Nothing is harder on leather than wet/dry cycles.

If its a show garage queen bike that will never be left outside or ridden in the rain then none of this would be an issue anyways.

If you do it on a bike that sees frequent use, I would consider the saddle to be a consumable product, like a pair of high end leather work boots. They will do their job well for a few years but eventually it will start to degrade because leather is a natural product.

[The Buddha]

Bike lives outside in sun and rain, ridden in rain and sun. The vinyl got destroyed in 4 yrs. I'm going with vinyl, that I will try to install without stitching LOL.
Cool.
Buddha.