Bad Ass Seats Takes On An Indian Uprising!

This is Shirley Zanelli’s latest leather seat creation. It was etched for an Indian restoration by “Lucky’s Speed Shop” out of Chandler, Arizona. It was designed by the owner, Don Yates, as a tribute to the Board Track Racers of the early 1900s. Mike Tomas, of Kiwi Indian, who’s responsible for building the engine, transmission, and the Springer front end, referred Don of Lucky’s to Shirley. The bike is being entered in the Laughlin River Run Bike Show, on Saturday, April 28th, ‘07.

The lovely Shirley, of Bad Ass Seats, in the Nevada desert, will describe every step below:

After receiving the original artwork I transfer it onto transferring film. The more accurate the tracing, the better the finished piece will look. It’s easy to lose some of the detail through sloppy copying.

The design is transferred onto cased leather with a stylus. It is then cut in with a swivel knife.

I tool the design to give it a three dimensional look. This raises the image out of the leather, and gives depth to the background.

Our Indian rises up! The carnival lettering is now bolder.

The seat pan came from the customer, Don at Lucky’s. We always need to know it will fit the bike it’s destined for. We can foam and cover any pan, be it steel, plastic, fiber glass. I worked with Don to make sure it was the right shape and size.

The customer’s pan is covered and shaped using neoprene foam. This foam keeps its shape and is water resistant. I can custom fit local customers to their seat, to give a more comfortable ride, but I need their ass to test it on.

The holes are punched prior to dyeing. I like to keep the color uniform, and I don’t want to go back and touch up the inside of holes.

I like to use an air brush to capture an even coloring with the dye. This gives me my base to complete any dyeing to the artwork. After sealing the piece, I add the antique hue.

All shading and antiquing done. Now we’re ready to put this thing together.

I lace the top and bottom together using kangaroo lace. There are four or five different lace patterns to choose from. The one used is normally dictated by the style and theme of the seat. Sometimes I even let the customer pick.

And here it is, another one of a kind, Bad Ass Seat. We don’t duplicate custom patterns, so you won’t find anyone else with your seat.

This was a fun seat to do, because we were working with a set theme. The seat was the finishing touch, so to speak. It was awesome to work with such talented artists as Don and Mike, and I think Don totally nailed the look he was going for.