i seem to remember that this topic has come up in the past and would like some thoughts on it from you all please. I have just over 5000 miles on the bike. Have not been able to ride as much as I would like in the past 1 1/2 years due to family illnesses and getting worked on myself but now am back riding and noticed that the stitching is starting to tear in the forward cross seam on my seat. I showed it to the dealer and they dug out their guidelines and said, 'Well.....' They looked at the MoCo guidelines and told me since I have not been using the MoCo leather softener on the seat then the stitching going bad is not covered under warranty. I did not know there were all these conditions that must be met. Do not think it is in my owner's manual. The newer seats have a reinforced stitching arrangement so obviously the seat with the early type seam is not right, they recognize it so who do they bow up when it is time to fix it. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks...
Your dealership is trying to screw you over. There is no such thing as a requirement to use a Harley leather treatment to maintain your warranty. Have them show it to you in the documents Harley provides to the consumer for the warranty. I'll save you some time; it isn't there. Furthermore, you do realize that most of the seat is not leather, right? As best I can tell the only thing even close to leather is the insert your butt touches, and not the sides and other parts which are vinyl. That has always been the case with the CVO seats, they don't come with true leather seats like you can get from the aftermarket.
I'd suggest you contact Harley-Davidson Customer Service yourself, and bypass the folks at your dealership. If those people were worth more than two dead flies they would be trying to help a customer, not find bogus ways to blow him off.
Jerry