AJS & Matchless Owners Club

I've seen loads of pictures of the seats, I have the seat with some 60's era "tan" vinyl on it put on with someone who owned a staple gun and dinner fork.

Anyways, I'm wondering if any of you still have the original saddle on your bikes would you mind posting some pictures from top and sides?

I'm going to try and find some leather that has the same "used" look to match the rest of the bike I'm building now. Comments welcome and any description you can provide is always useful to understand how it should look and be built (horse hair? foam? etc)

Thank you!

was it ever leather and what bike/seat are we talking about

I had a couple of original 50's unused but tatty saddle bits in a load of stuff that I bought from a closed AMC dealer. A Wrights saddle and a Lycet saddle cover. They weren't leather but a type of grained 'plastic' leathercloth (Rexine?). Not sure if the pics will help you but here are a couple:
Wrights saddle
See next post

Lycet saddle cover:

Thanks this is great!

Your '54 18S would originally had a dual seat. There are no lugs for a single saddle at the front or back. I've seen them fitted to later bikes with clamped on lugs but they look too high to me. Why not go with a dual seat?
Dave.

dave16mct wrote:Your '54 18S would originally had a dual seat. There are no lugs for a single saddle at the front or back. I've seen them fitted to later bikes with clamped on lugs but they look too high to me. Why not go with a dual seat?
Dave.

Oh I plan to use the original dual seat. I started this thread hoping for various original images so I can take them to the upolsterer to try and match leather style and construction so it looks old and correct

Can anyone confirm the material used for the seats on the 18S 1954? Was it vinyl or leather? Any other details would be useful.

Rexine was used. Its like a coating on cloth. The sponge needs to be compressed when sticking the rexine inside. Left to dry stuck. When released the sponge will expand so the Rexine is tight. You could use a wooden plant top and bottom compressed using G clamps.

Rob Harknett wrote:Rexine was used. Its like a coating on cloth. The sponge needs to be compressed when sticking the rexine inside. Left to dry stuck. When released the sponge will expand so the Rexine is tight. You could use a wooden plant top and bottom compressed using G clamps.

Thanks, I'm going to have the local upholstery shop take care of it for me, what about the color? Black?