I asked this before, but maybe the wrong way.

I've got an old motorcycle jacket. black. Really thick, good quality leather.

I don't want a black jacket, I want a brown jacket. I don't even really care what kind of brown, or how dark of a brown. I don't care if it looks beat up and blotchy with some black still visible in the seams. If it looks old and abused, so much the better.

Is there a way of leaching the black out of the leather? A chemical process? Household bleach? can I sand the finish off? I don't care if I end up with a 'rough-out' or messed up suede look. In fact I just might like it, I would even prefer it to a shiny finish.

I imagine bleaching of any kind will rob the leather of all it's oils and suppleness. I also imagine with enough care i could re-saturate it with new oils after re-dyeing it brown, right?

So essentially, what I'm asking is, can it be done at all? leach or bleach a good portion of the black out? enough to take a little brown dye and end up with some shade of darkish brownish? and how?