Harley Davidson Custom Seat Program

Harley Davidson has a new custom seat program where you design the seat online with different patterns, stitching, inlay materials and colors then take the print out to your dealer and order the seat. There’s 800 possible combinations so there’s a pretty good chance yours will be a little different or a lot different than the seat on your buddy’s bike.

It’s a nice idea but with computer control of stitching the company could take this to the next level, why not include customer submitted files in any pattern, maybe for an extra set up fee, as long as they were in some standard vector file format, like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw? Those programs are used to control sewing machines and sign making equipment in many industries and it seems to me you could offer that without too much trouble and you could have a truly custom pattern instead of choosing from pre-drawn selections.

Of course, some customer designed patterns might not come off so well and the company might not be able to offer refunds or guarantees for those but if done right, they might look really good. Just a thought.

Press release:

HARLEY-DAVIDSON LAUNCHES A NEW CUSTOM SEAT PROGRAM
Select Pattern, Inlay Material and Stitching Colors in 800 Possible Combinations

MILWAUKEE – A new Custom Seat Program from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories lets a customer design a leather seat that is hand-built to their specifications. Available for the solo Brawler seat (P/N 52246-08, $399.95) or the two-up Sidekick seat (P/N 52193-08, $479.95) designed to fit most 2006-later FX Softail models and 2007-later FLSTF Fat Boy and FLSTSC Softail Springer Classic models, the Custom Seat Program offers 800 possible design and materials combinations, making it possible to create a seat that is truly individual.

The design process begins at the Custom Seat Program website, www.harley-davidson.com/customseat, where on-screen prompts help the customer select from two seat styles, eight stitching patterns including flames, skulls and tribal designs; eight inlay color options; and 10 stitching color options. When the design is complete, the customer takes a print-out of the seat design details to a local Harley-Davidson dealer, which will submit the Custom Seat Program order. The standard lead time for seat delivery is three weeks.

The low-profile Brawler and Sidekick seats selected for the Custom Seat Program are minimalist designs that hug the motorcycle. Each features a hand-laid fiberglass seat pan with a soft, felt-finish bottom that is scratch free. The seating surface is genuine leather, and the leather inlay options have a simulated exotic skin pattern. Each seat also has an embroidered Bar and Shield logo.

Link: Harley Davidson