Western and Floral themes for Harley accessories

With more and more women buying Harleys every year and taking to the road, I’ve seen an upswing in more feminine designs for the leather accessories.  This is great as they can be fun to tool and something you don’t always see at a bike show.  Done well, floral designs can really add a fun look to the bike.

For the guys, similar designs evoke a vintage or Western theme, adding some authenticity to a gunslinger style many like.

With so many styles of flowers, vinework, and then adding in other bits like guns, butterflies, crosses, or even skulls, you can really make your floral hand tooled leather Harley tank bibs, fender bibs, bags, and other accessories truly one of a kind.  We can alter existing designs or draw up something completely unique for your ride.

-Chris
For more info on these and other custom accessories call or email!
chris@threemuttscustoms.com  (855)362-5847

 

New custom leather toolbag design!

Here is a new style of custom leather motorcycle & bicycle tool bag I designed. This 4″ round x 12″ long bag is designed to be mounted on the handlebars or under the headlight or behind a spring seat.  The flip open flap exposes the zippered pocket, making it very weather resistant but easy to access.  They can be tooled, engraved and airbrushed for a unique style, check out the pics below!

-Chris
For more info on these and other custom accessories call or email!
chris@threemuttscustoms.com  (855)362-5847

 

Aftermarket seat matching motorcycle accessories!

One of the items that have become popular this past year is tank bibs, fender bibs and bags that match the aftermarket seats for Harleys.
Turns out some of the biggest seat manufacturers; Corbin, Saddlemen, & LePera don’t make matching accessories.  Mustang makes them, but only for their black seats.
So after talking with each of them, I started designing and building matched sets  for those folks looking to compliment their custom Harley cushion.

Each company features their own leather and vinyl selections so these are still a custom build based on bike model and seat bought, but all 4 companies work with me to buy smaller batches for custom builds to make our client’s visions come true!

Here are photos of match tank bibs, fender bibs, swingarm bags, tool bags, leg guards and other bits we’ve done for each seat brand.

Looking for a Corbin, Saddlemen, Mustang or LePera matching bib?  Drop us a line at 855-362-5847  or chris@threemuttscustoms.com

Mustang Seat matching bibs & bags:

Corbin Seats matching bibs:

LePera Seats matching bibs:

Saddlemen Seats matching bibs:

Pecard & Kiwi available soon!

So I have decided to put my money where my mouth is. Starting today I will be carrying Pecard Motorcycle Leather Dressing and Kiwi Horsehair brushes for purchase. I talk about them here and Facebook/Instagram but then send folks elsewhere to buy it…not anymore. I’m also going to offer them at the same price as Pecard, no unnecessary gouging here.

Prices will be $4.00 for a 2.5 oz jar of Pecard Motorycle Leather Dressing and $6 for a Kiwi Horsehair Brush.  Shipping for one or both is $5.25 via Priority Mail (USA/APO addresses).
Order them with your custom leather job and they’ll be included in the same box to save on shipping.

The new website should be online later this month with the new products. In the meantime drop me an email at chris@threemuttscustoms.com to order or request it with a custom leather job.

Honda VTX and Aero 7 50 whaletail tank bibs

As promised in a previous post, I’ve come back with more info on whaletail tank bibs. If you’ve emailed me anytime since December 2013 or checked the forums, you already know that I stopped maknig them that winter.  The good news is, late last year a fellow VTX rider came and asked if I would instruct him on making his own. Jeff made his first whaletail using my pattern and tips and was hooked.  After six months of working on whaletail tank bibs for the VTX1300, he is now expanding and making them for sale for the whole VTX 1300/1800 line and the ’04-’09 Honda Aero 750.  His website: http://abgmsales.wix.com/whale-tail-bib shows the current models and he has the rest being shipped to him in the next week or so.  Contact info is on his website or you can email him at: abgmsales@hotmail.com Cheers, Chris

2014 Sturgis Promo!

In the last few weeks I have been scrambling to get about a dozen pieces finished for the last run of orders that will be on their way to Sturgis this year.  After shipping the last one off this week I had a thought, why not make it a little fun and give folks the chance at a discount while they are partying?!  Email your photos to Chris@threemuttscustoms.com to participate!

 

 

New artwork option – Laser Engraving!

I’ve been working on a few different options for custom fender bib and tank bib artwork to compliment hand tooled designs for the last year. After researching what is possible, what looks best and performs under the sometimes brutal conditions motorcycle leather can go through I added custom embroidery to the line up late last year.  Embroidery gave folks another option for affordable, full color designs but there was still a gap in the line up.  I wanted another line, one that could provide in stock or fast ship inventory at a great price and still be somewhat customizable.  I was also trying to figure out a way to provide bibs with the possibility of tiny detail, to the level that hand tooling and embroidery couldn’t achieve with prefect clarity.

After long consideration, I’m adding LASER ENGRAVING to the available options for adding designs to your custom leather fender bibs and tank bibs!

Laser engraving is a great addition to our offerings, the detail possible is insanely small and it has a similar appearance to hand tooled artwork for flat two dimensional and line art designs.  It will also allow us to now personalize items like the wallet chain and key chain fobs like never berfore.

Here are a few examples of pieces a few clients have been brave enough to let me experiment with to dial in the process, enjoy!

Chris
http://www.threemuttscustoms.com

A couple of new tooled leather closeups

I was pretty pleased with these recent images I tooled into a couple of custom leather bibs and felt they warranted their own post.  Not much else, just showing off a bit.  Enjoy!

Chris
http://www.threemuttscustoms.com

 

New! Black Antique dye process

I’ve been working out the details on a new coloring process called “Black Antique” to help highlight darker bibs with extensive tooling.  The product isn’t new but the way I use it is and it took a bit o playing around to figure out how to do it right.  Why? Because solid black bibs look cool but when crazy detailed toolings are dyed all black, they loose a bit of that detail due to the loss of defining lines and shadows.  The best way to describe Black Antique is it gives the tooling a burnt look, maintaining the dark colors while letting the detail show through.  In direct sunlight, the artwork pops a little more,  showing off areas where the color has been pulled back to look, well…antique, aged.

Here are a few examples of the new Black Antique coloring results on some recent Harley rear fender bibs and a Harley tank bib.  For those interested, the previous post shows these pieces in their raw uncolored state.

Enjoy!
Chris
http://www.threemuttscustoms.com

Harley tank bib with hand tooled eagle head & feathers in Black antique with turquoise lacing

Harley rear fender bib with hand tooled Asian Water Dragon in Black antique with black edge lacing.

Harley rear fender bib with hand tooled Dueling Skulls in Black antique with black edge lacing.

New Article – How to make a rear fender bib

My latest article for the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal is in print now, “How to make a rear fender bib” appears in the Jan/Feb 2014 issue of the Journal.  The article covers everything from pattern making, layout suggestions, how to protect the fender during the work, wet forming, lacing and a free pattern for 1997-current Road King/StreetGlide fender bibs.

This issue also has a number of other worthwhile articles and is the kick-off issue that will feature a new section, “Urban Leather” featuring article that focus more on the motorcycle and rock & roll scenes!  To get a copy of this issue for yourself, visit their online store here:

http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/product.cfm?product=383

~Chris
http://www.threemuttscustoms.com