I've never heard cows complain when they get wet either.

 

I put a little scratch in my stock seat, '09 Heritage, and it sure appears to be genuine hide to me... 'course, silicone looks like the real thing to me sometimes, too.

 

A guy I know runs an upholstery business, and does a lot of custom leather work.

He verified that the seat on the 2003 WG I recently purchased is solid leather, but then again, the seat was on the bike when I purchased it from the original owner and I'm not sure if he had 'upgraded' it from stock or not..

 

I am with you, Gym. Every now and then, I run into a thread on this forum that shows me how naive I can be on Harley ownership. I had strongly presumed that all these stock seats on these expensive bikes were leather. Now that I realize that may not be the case, it does explain some differences in wear and tear that I have observed on my two bikes.

I believe that the stock seat on my '05 Road King is leather. It has been maintained like it was leather and does not show much wear after 43k miles. However, my '07 Low Rider, which I have also maintained like it was leather, is already showing some tiny splits after 28k miles, so I believe it is probably vinyl.

I guess this thread goes to show that a seemingly simple topic about seat maintenance can reveal something significant about these bikes. I am considering replacing the seat on my Low Rider, and I now realize I better check on the material so that I know how to properly maintain it.