Sorry to disagree Twigg, but my recommendations are based on first hand experiences, directly related to the Russell Daylong seats in question. I actually own one of each.
I have a full set of seats that I had covered in full leather for the '05 FJR, and I also have a solo seat (it's a 1 piece) covered in vinyl for the ManStrom. My thought at the time of ordering the second, ManStrom seat was that it would be less maintenance and if I was out camping, or in the woods, I wouldn't want to have to worry about the weather.
FJR seat:
ManStrom seat
Properly treated, leather doesn't readily pass water, but it does definitely still "breathe" better than vinyl. It's like a natural Gore-Tex thing. The pores in the leather can pass vapor and air, but not liquid water. There is no question that, even riding with my Olympia Ranger waterproof (breathable membrane) riding pants, the leather seat is more comfortable in hot weather for long periods than the vinyl is.
Sure you can always find something to mitigate the lack of breath-ability of the vinyl, like an Alaska Leathers sheepskin pad or a NY cabbie inspired bead-rider, but I find that don't need any of that on the leather seat.
As for the maintenance required for the leather, it's just a matter of spraying and wiping the seat down with Lexol Leather Conditioner about once every other month for me. This improves the leather's water resistance and also helps seal the seams, with the added benefit of adding a bit of tackiness to the otherwise slippery leather surface. When I'm on the raod, I generally do cover my bike with a 1/2 cover at night, more to keep the prying eyes off than the rain water, and I've definitely left it out overnight where it got drenched (to the point of having a pool of water in the sculpted seat) many times with no ill effect. And of course you can't avoid riding through some serious gully washers now and then if you are really riding your bike anywhere fun.
It may also be significant that both seats were made up in the "half moon" stitch pattern, as that pattern has the least amount of stitching perforations in the cover. In both cases, any water that is absorbed into the underlying seat foam is actually going to be through the stitching. That stitching is there in the vinyl seat too, so neither material is truly waterproof.
I guess the best testimony that I can give is that, since I just bought a new Gen3, I'll be sending those seats in this winter for Russell-ization. It will be dual full leather, half moon stitch pattern. When you find something that works this good you just have to stick with it.
YMMV
I have a full set of seats that I had covered in full leather for the '05 FJR, and I also have a solo seat (it's a 1 piece) covered in vinyl for the ManStrom. My thought at the time of ordering the second, ManStrom seat was that it would be less maintenance and if I was out camping, or in the woods, I wouldn't want to have to worry about the weather.
FJR seat:
ManStrom seat
Properly treated, leather doesn't readily pass water, but it does definitely still "breathe" better than vinyl. It's like a natural Gore-Tex thing. The pores in the leather can pass vapor and air, but not liquid water. There is no question that, even riding with my Olympia Ranger waterproof (breathable membrane) riding pants, the leather seat is more comfortable in hot weather for long periods than the vinyl is.
Sure you can always find something to mitigate the lack of breath-ability of the vinyl, like an Alaska Leathers sheepskin pad or a NY cabbie inspired bead-rider, but I find that don't need any of that on the leather seat.
As for the maintenance required for the leather, it's just a matter of spraying and wiping the seat down with Lexol Leather Conditioner about once every other month for me. This improves the leather's water resistance and also helps seal the seams, with the added benefit of adding a bit of tackiness to the otherwise slippery leather surface. When I'm on the raod, I generally do cover my bike with a 1/2 cover at night, more to keep the prying eyes off than the rain water, and I've definitely left it out overnight where it got drenched (to the point of having a pool of water in the sculpted seat) many times with no ill effect. And of course you can't avoid riding through some serious gully washers now and then if you are really riding your bike anywhere fun.
It may also be significant that both seats were made up in the "half moon" stitch pattern, as that pattern has the least amount of stitching perforations in the cover. In both cases, any water that is absorbed into the underlying seat foam is actually going to be through the stitching. That stitching is there in the vinyl seat too, so neither material is truly waterproof.
I guess the best testimony that I can give is that, since I just bought a new Gen3, I'll be sending those seats in this winter for Russell-ization. It will be dual full leather, half moon stitch pattern. When you find something that works this good you just have to stick with it.
YMMV
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