Comparing leather by Year and Season (best, worst, characteristics)
- Thread starter mimz
- Start date
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I think 2005 had the best colors but I think 2007 has the most consistently nice leather throughout both seasons (spring and fall). F/W leather is TDF. 
Yeah...gotta put another vote in for '05...
I like darker colours of '04 and the silver HW was stunning...so this was hard...but I found some of the lighter colours to be on the dry side.
I am so picky, though. I might say it's a tie but I liked '05 colours more.
I like darker colours of '04 and the silver HW was stunning...so this was hard...but I found some of the lighter colours to be on the dry side.
I am so picky, though. I might say it's a tie but I liked '05 colours more.
What she said. I agree with every word. VehementlyI think 2005 had the best colors but I think 2007 has the most consistently nice leather throughout both seasons (spring and fall). F/W leather is TDF.
. I've never seen anything like the F/W 2007 leather. It's already legendary.
I agree the SS 07 is nothing special, except in that it followed some occasionally pretty bad leather offerings in 06 and allowed us to sigh in relief that at least they weren't crinkly, crispy and thin. But the FW 07 leather is in a different league.
It's difficult to compare across seasons, because it's really apples and oranges. I think it's safe to say that 2006 sucked, leather-wise - but apart from that, the early bags and the later bags are just different. Someone who worked until recently in the luxury leather industry told me that the first few seasons of Bal's bags - before they really took off - were made from young goatskin. But when Bal wanted to increase production, they had to switch to older goatskin, because there simply isn't enough of the younger leather available for the quantities they now produce. When they changed leather, they had to use new techniques to dye and finish it, because the older skin is naturally more flawed than the young goat. So the newer bags are more "processed" and "finished" and the colour is more uniform, and they don't have the organic quality of the older ones. Given that, it's really a matter of personal preference - to me, the original leather is what defined the aesthetic of the motorcycle bags. I have to admit that some of the photos I've seen of fall 07 bags look really beautiful - but the few I've seen in person have been a bit meh, so I'm withholding judgment for a bit.
wow LP!! thanks for shedding some light into the process of the leather for the older bbags!!
Without LP's guide it's hard for me to compare all the colors in my head, but I think 2005 was the best color wise and the leather was also great. 3 of my favorite colors came from 2005 -- apple green, magenta, and turqoise.
