Big daddy9564

Hi all
My black lightning has a beta black leather saddle
Do I just work dubbing or meats foot oil into it to keep up its lustre
After every ride or once a month
Thanks
Greg

Flip Flop Rider

looked it up…a horse saddle?

with any product that's good leather (baseball glove, bike saddle, leather boots, coat) don't put anything on them. Leather is tough. Cows live outside.

JohnDThompson 

You don't want to use any product intended to soften leather. Neatsfoot oil, glove oil, etc. should not be used if you want your leather saddle to last a long time. Soft leather stretches, which may be a good property for gloves, shoes, etc. but not for a bicycle saddle than needs to support your weight.

Brooks' "Proofide" is a product designed to be used on bicycle saddles. It's not particularly cheap, but a little bit goes a long way. I got a 20g tin with a Brooks Professional saddle about 30 years ago and there's still at least 1/3 of the contents left.

"SnoSeal" is another product that works well on bicycle saddles. It's little more than beeswax dissolved in a volatile carrier. The carrier allows the beeswax to penetrate more deeply into the leather, and then it evaporates, leaving only the beeswax.

Whatever you choose for your saddle, resist the temptation to overdo it. Riding will polish your saddle better than any leather treatment. Save the leather treatment for a thin application no more than once or twice a year.

europa

As someone once said years ago, the best thing for a leather saddle is Butt Sweat.

Don't ruin your saddle by softening it.

PaddleFoot

Wow, I wish I still had my Black Lightning and that seat!

Troul 

Sealing it from dry rotting & UV exposure is all I would consider.

no motor?

No kidding! Any Vincent would be nice.

gettingold

I had a Black Lightning as well. Cool bike. I have several leather Brooks saddles and agree with the proofide recommendation over neats foot or glove leather. They are short-sighted solutions. They break in the leather quicker but you don't want to break it in too much or it will be too soft and ruin the structure. Proofide sparingly (just to protect it from too much dampness) plus sweat makes for a very comfy saddle.

KarlK

Seems I stretched my good leather work boots by snow sealing them. They were a bit beat up and thought I could renew them.

Big daddy9564

Thanks for the advice everyone
I will leave as is
I have got beeswax so may put it on when I give it a yearly clean and polish
I do clean my bike after every ride but just a tidy up not a full on clean