LeatherLyke ?

I recently purchased a 98 Valk with LeatherLyke bags which look great... until it rains.  Seems as though the previous owner used ArmorAll on them and whenever they get wet they take on an ashen look that just plain washing won't take away.   Have to use ArmorAll again to make them black.

  Since I don't shy away from riding in the rain and would like the bags to be somewhat presentable; does anyone have suggestions on how to cure the problem?

 TIA.
BJR

It's not only the armorallo -- they do tend to fade after a time. You might want to try a Turtle wax product called Color Magic -- it's a combination wax and dye that deepens the black on the LL's, at least, longer than the Armorall does.
Doug

i have a 97 with leatherlyke bags; i think they've been on since day 1.  they were faded terribly.
i've tried everything except the turtle was stuff(will try that) cause nothing i've done works: shoe polish, leather dye, waxes of all sorts.
have entertained the idea of repainting them;  that might work!

['KC']

Re-painting them, you mean painting them.  They weren't painted to begin with were they?  I haven't heard much on a good fix for this one, but I will kick it around on the VERMIN board, and see if anyone knows anything.

kc, you're right, just black plastic.  i'll have to paint them anyway; when i went down last week, the left bag fractured in about three places.  used crazy glue and liquid metal glue to fix it.  will now have to sand and paint:explode: .  that's ok, they were ugly to begin with.

Have you considered new throw over saddle bags that you can throw over the fender, under the rear seat....here is a place that sells real leather saddlebags..Ozark

There are other alternatives!

Midnight

[admin]

I have all but given up on trying to make them look good, whatever they use to make them they dont hold any polish of any sorts.  You have to keep after them all the time period.  I have tried lemon pledge, blackall, every black wax type of stuff and nothing holds the color for any length of time.  Good bags but suck for color keeping and thats the final word on them.  I gave up on them keeping them shiney at all....if you find something let us all know....maybe wild boar fat will shine them up, now sure......something has too i guess.  

Good Luck.....TAZ

I have L.K. bags with the fringes.Well they had the fringes.Cut 'em off today. Drilled out the rivets reamed out the original holes replaced the fringes with bullet style krommets.Looks damn good.Why did I do this you ask. Well I hate fringes and I have seen plastic bags where the fringe rub a circular wear pattern on the bag. Thought about going with the skull krommets but that would have been to much like H.D. thinking. Has any one out there tried to clear coat their bags? I'm gonna do it unless some one says it doesn't work.Keep on truckin.

let us know if it works.  mine shine-up just fine; problem is, the tops look faded (shiney faded)!
they do glue-up real nice, though:D

I have a 98 standard with Leatherlykes too.  Same problems you describe.  When they get wet, they spot and turn ash grey as your's do.  I've tried about everything and the best thing I've found is a mink oil product.  I can't recall the name, but found a part used bottle in my garage and thought I'd try it.   I apply it liberally, then wipe down with a rag.  Works beter than anything I've tried.  It's a little tacky, but its a fair trade-off for the extended period of shine that it gives.   That's my only gripe with the Leatherlykes.  From a functional point of view, they are great.  

Ride Safe.

Has any one clear coated these Leatherlyke bags.Will the clear coat stick to this type of plastic?Might be the ticket.What do ya think?

You might try a product called Back To Black from Autozone.  It works on everything on a car, especially  plastic.

Just got off the phone with LeatherLyke and when I told them about the bags turning grey in the wet she immediately asked if I had used the glossy Armor All on them.  I sheepishly replied "yes" and she told me how to (hopefully) correct the problem.

  She said to first, clean them with Windex without directly spraying the bags.  After that, shine 'em up with "Turtle Wax Formula 2001 with Super Protection".  She said that some folks say it works great but others don't have as much luck.  

  That's about all the info she could give me... so good luck!

I have a  left side leatherlyke bag for sale.  Small scratch on the bottom side of it, but no big deal.  Asking $150.00 for it.

Ed

I used WD 40 on mine and this seems to work fine.  Saturate a rag with WD 40 and apply and wipe dry with another rag.