Le Pera Seats, A Family Tradition To Be Proud Of

                                       

From time to time here at Chrome Asylum we run across a company or product that's just so damn good that we have no choice but to break out the old soapbox, climb up and give a shout. Le Pera is just that sort of company; great people, quality products, and best of all, made right here in the U. S. of A. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Le Pera Seats (http://www.lepera.com/) has been around since 1972, but sadly, yours truly didn't get around to experiencing their unsurpassed customer service until late last year...........hey, I was busy. Obviously being in the motorcycle accessories business for over 20 years, I was well aware of the company, but seeing as we didn't carry their products (way too specialized for our business model), and I didn't own a Harley Davidson for most of that time, there was really no reason for us to cross paths.

Thankfully over time, I came around, plunked down my slavishly earned coin of the realm on a couple of  HD's, and thereby became a potential Le Pera customer. Potential turned into actual after chatting up Christine Le Pera at Arlen Ness' (http://www.arlenness.com/) 40th anniversary bash. She was "manning" the booth, answering questions, and charming the devil out of anyone that came within twenty feet. Christine Le Pera and her brother Bob Jr. run the company now, sadly their father and founder passed away in 2008. Bob sorts out design and production, and Christine handles sales.

A typical Le Pera masterpiece

After asking a few questions, and scoring their very nicely done catalog (their website's not bad either), it was off to plot and plan. I had decided on a seat for my 2007 CVO Softail if for no other reason than it was as close to a genuine hot rod that I had ever come, and as such needed a proper custom leather seat.......diamond stitching, buttons, the works.........oh yeah, this was gonna be great.

Couple words to the wise, if you're scooting around town, terrorizing the local haunts on anything other than a Harley Davidson or custom V-Twin, well brother, you're just gonna have to make do with that crappy vinyl parked under your rump. You see, Le Pera specializes in seats for Harley's, and that's pretty much it........so back away VTX wannabe, it's not happening. Although, while I have zero inside knowledge on this score, I wouldn't be surprised to see Le Pera's on some Victory motorcycles down the road.........I'm just saying.

Secondly, if you're going for genuine leather (and why wouldn't you!?) it ain't cheap.......plan on north of six hundred bones and you should be safe. They do work in vinyl, so if your budget's stressed, you can still score Le Pera quality........on the flip side, there are some really trick designs that incorporate exotic materials with outrageous stitching, that's gonna cost you more. It's all up to you.

Having decided on the seat model, and the stitching pattern, I gave 'em a call. And who do you think answered the order line? Christine Le Pera, that's who. How cool is that? More than cool, it saved me from making a really stupid, and expensive boo boo. Seems the stitching pattern I chose would not have worked at all with the design of the seat itself. Thankfully Christine set me straight, and order was placed........all I had to do was wait.

Custom orders usually take about two to three weeks, and sure enough my box 'o joy landed on my front porch exactly when promised. After gently opening said container.......very careful with the knives my friends.....yeah, how bad would that suck, I examined the seat. I dunno, "amazing" doesn't really do the thing justice. Stitching is perfect, I mean perfect. The leather is flawless and tight around the seat frame. Even the backing plate is a flippin' work of art, complete with the "made in USA" sticker proudly attached.......that alone is worth the dough.

Lastly, the fit........and I have to say, I was pretty paranoid given that Murphy of Murphy's Law fame, tends to spend an inordinate time in my garage. I prefect mating of seat to machine was no guarantee, not for me anyway. But this was a Le Pera, and to be honest, it fit better than the OE unit, and that's saying something, as the Motor Company knows a thing or two about building quality motorcycle seats. And yes, you'll see some pics in an upcoming profile of my Softail.

So in the end could anything have been improved? Actually yes. I was kinda surprised that for the money, no leather conditioner/protector was provided, for that matter, there's none even offered for sale.........this seems like a huge missed opportunity for additional accessories sales (hey, I was in the business!). Also a follow-up email or call would have been nifty........again, when folks spend big money, they like to feel special........really special.

Now as soon as the weather clears a bit, we'll get some miles on that seat and report back. I have a feeling though.........there's a Le Pera in my Road Kings future. Damn you Christine!!

The Truth About Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

Seems you can't thumb through a motorcycle rag these days without being subjected to the carefully stylized image of a leather clad attorney touting his or her nearly superhuman skills when it comes to defending "your rights". The more succinct of the ads get right to the bottom-line, "We freedom loving riders at Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe (not a real firm, or is it!?) will get you more money for your accident now!" Can't get more direct than the promise of free dough! And in the end, isn't that what we want? Isn't it? Even if we need the slithery skills of a sewer dwelling lawyer, someone has to pay.......it's our right dammit!

Let's face it, all real Americans hate lawyers (their own attorney excluded of course), there are few professions viewed with such disdain........with the exception of perhaps investment bankers, and rightfully so. But why you ask? Simple, because almost without fail they ultimately destroy that which they proclaim to save. It's inevitable, like a democrat's opposition to tort reform, funny how that works.

If I get hit and crash, or even if I go down through no fault of anyone else, shouldn't I be entitled to recover some money? Maybe so, after all, we're "entitled" to just about everything else, so why not? But have you ever thought about where that huge settlement comes from? Wrong. This is one instance where the government isn't writing the check. Let's think it through Sparky.

The money comes from a number of sources, namely the motorcycle industry itself. But isn't that OK, I mean they have deep pockets right? Wrong again. The vast majority of both retailers and manufacturers in motorcycling are small businesses with hardly any pockets to speak of, let alone deep ones. In a typical claim, the lawyers go after (sue) every business, product, and person that ever had a transactional relationship with the victim (and in many cases even those that never had any dealings with the plaintiff at all).

No matter the nature of the accident, or even who's at fault, everyone gets sued, and I mean everyone. Aside from the all too obvious ethical issues this "strategy" conjures up; from a very practical perspective, what difference does it make if I sold you the pair of boots you were wearing on the day, after downing copious quantities of liquid courage, you attempted your very best Jason Britton imitation and slammed head first (uh-oh, forgot to wear a helmet....) into your neighbors parked minivan? The obvious answer, to anyone other than an attorney, is absolutely none. But I'll be named in the suit anyway, because that's the way its done.

What's even worse is, I'll probably pay, or at least my insurance company will, if for no other reason than to make the whole damn nuisance go away. And when you start adding up all those individuals and companys paying to make it "go away", that whole "sue 'em all, let a judge sort 'em out" strategy really begins to make a lot of sense....for the lawyers anyway.

The fact is, lawyers and the legal system they've created (remember, there's a good chance your favorite legislator is a damn lawyer too) drive good businesses under, and make every aspect of motorcycling more expensive. Think riding gear costs too much? Can't find a good local dealer that stocks actually stocks product? Wish there were cheaper motorcycles to buy? Wonder why your favorite riding area just closed down? Why is your insurance so expensive? Airbags on a motorcycle!? Thank your friendly neighborhood lawyer.

But you're a good American, you're not one of "them", what can you do end this cycle of economic and ethical madness? It's easy, first off , don't support the "motorcycle accident attorneys". If you're in the motorcycle industry, don't let them buy ads in your publications or sponsor your events. Whatever you do, don't let them attend your events (in my past life as the marketing head of the largest accessories retailer in motorcycling, we never took a dime from any law firm, although under the new regime I would wager that policy is sadly in danger), or support them in any fashion.  I know times are tough, but stand firm, sell ads to drug dealers, at least they're up front about their product.

As a rider, take some responsibility for your actions, every accident isn't a lottery ticket waiting to be cashed in. If you screw up, accept the consequences, and move on. Or better yet, pass up the opportunity to collect when you know you have no legitimate claim to do so, no matter what that ambulance chaser is telling you. In short, do the right thing, not the personally profitable one.

Lastly, push for common sense tort reform. The only way we can end this idiocy for good is too stop giving these bums and their clients license to game the system for their own profit. As long as folks can get something for nothing (no recourse contingency fees have to go), accident attorney's will be around to facilitate the process. The sad fact is, if we do nothing, greed enabling lawyers will eventually kill motorcycling for all of us.