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RichMaund

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  1. RichMaund

    RichMaund

  2. Folks I made a reply to the pinned seat service thread up top with details and photos. Free shipping in the USA for forum members. Please check it out. Thanks!
  3. Hi Folks It's been an "interesting" year for us here. Business is way down and the prices of all my materials are up by as much 50% in the last year. We had to cancel a number of Rallies we normally attend. Just couldn't afford to travel. August was the only really good (What used to be a "normal month" until the government began working to destroy our economy.) month we had this year. That was a lucky thing too since the heat pump went out and needed replaced along with all it's auxilliary components. So August was a break even month too. September is looking weak as well. I need business! And I'd still rather do this work for less money than I used to earn vice looking for a job at Wal Mart. Here's your motivation to use my service. 48 hour turn around on most seats and then free overnight priority FedEx shipping in the USA. If you're having a seat shipped back overseas, I'll cover $25 of the USPS shipping fee. I have not raised my prices in three years. Factor in inflation and you see my custom seats have never been a bigger bargain than they are now. To get the free shipping just mention when you e-mail me that you saw this on the V11 Forum. Prices: On a typical Lemans seat I can reshape the front for better support, gel pad the entire top of the front where you sit for best comfort and then custom cover it in any of my available marine grade materials. $390. For the same price I can also reshape the rear for better comfort. But that means the seat cowl can no longer be fitted on the seat. Here's some examples of V11 seats I have done over the years. About four dozen total. This is a sampling. My seat album on Photo Bucket: (280 pics to see there.) http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b155/rgm.../Richs%20Seats/ You can contact me at maunds@verizon.net Any seat projects you may need, just write me! I'll be happy to discuss them. And as a V11 Forum member you'll get the same free return shipping in the USA even if it isn't a V11 Lemans seat! Thanks! Rich Maund Rich's Cycle Upholstery Chesapeake, VA. USA
  4. Folks My Cali III is now listed on EBay. The arthitis problems in the joints of my left hand are now bad enough that I cannot deal with a Two wheeler safely. I have a difficult enough time just getting work done. This bike could be a great sidecar tug, but I just do not ride enough anymore to justfiy building a second sidecar rig. I don't ride the other one enough as it is! Here's a link. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=130221468109 I also have some other Guzzi stuff for sale there. Check out my other auctions. I will be adding auctions as I have time to go through the shelves out in the shop! Thanks for checking it out.
  5. Geez. I went through four pages trying to find this thread! I wondered where it went! Thanks guys! I'm honored. I've never been "stickied" on a board before.
  6. Thanks for the comments folks! I wish people would stop listening to rumors and just write to me directly. I had to stop working on all Guzzi '02 and newer "cruiser" model seats! (Cal-spec-bassa-sport-ev-trouta-whatever) The '02s were poor seats. In '03 they made them even worse and I had to give up on them. Their seat foam was too soft and needed total replacement. And the pans are flimsy and and will damage the bodywork and cut into the covers at the pan edge. Those are "non-economically viable" projects as I cannot make a new seat pan for them. I never stopped working on V11S and V11 Lemans seats. I lost count last year on these after doing four dozen of them. And I still rebuild all the older Guzzi seats. I did a old Eldo solo seat and a SPIII seat for an owner earlier this winter. I can reshape and recover the 750 and 1100 Guzzi Breva models. But those seats are good enough that they annoy very few people enough that they want to spend money to make them better. I've only done two. They're pretty darn good stock seats. Make sure you don't write to me at the e-mail on that seat in the photo that I did back in 2002. It hasn't worked in a while. We got DSL over a year ago. My address is maunds@verizon.net if you need to speak to me. I always initial and date a card and staple it under the seats I rebuild so folks know when I did the work. I do warranty the materials and craftsmanship for a year. The card helps if they have lost their receipt. After almost eleven years in business I get a kick out of seeing cards I initialed back in the 90's coming back to me for fresh rebuilds after getting 70 to 100k miles put on the bikes. many Guzzi owners keep their bikes for a LOOOOONG time!
  7. Folks Sorry I haven't been by here for so long. It's been a rough Winter with my wife losing her Dad in Oct. And the first few months of the year we just seem to be working to pay taxes. I can't wait for April so at least I have Rallies to go to again! It hasn't been all bad though. I still have my trusty Ural rig. But now I also have a Guzzi again. I purchased my friends old 1993 Cali III in Nov. He had to give up two wheelers and get a trike. I couldn't resist it. It's even serial number 1! How cool is that? My gel supplier tells me that there's gonna be a price increase on my next gel shipment. I went through six rounds of price increases on my other materials last year. But I still have some gel sheets in stock I got earlier this Winter. I can hold my old price through March. After that a rebuild will go up about $50. So if any of you are interested in getting a V11S or V11 Lemans seat re-done by me please contact me soon if you want the old price. I can only hold it through March. That is $340 for a reshaping of the front to flatten and widen it and gel pad the entire front. I also lower it a tad under the tailbone area to make it a bit closer to level. I can do a custom cover in any of my available marine grade materials. Italian flag trim on the sides for no extra charge. The cowling will still fit right into place. That price also includes return shipping in the USA via FedEx. The rebuild just takes a few days to do and then I overnight it back to you. Contact me if you'd like it done or have any questions. I've done well over four dozen of these seats now. Plenty of experience! Thanks for your time!
  8. That first one looks very much photo-shopped. She was hotter before she had her lips done.
  9. Since I can reinstall the gel, it'd just be $200 plus $20 shipping in the USA. The gel sheets are really pricey stuff. I cringe every time I have to order them because the next few jobs just go to pay for them! But it's the best top padding material I have yet found for improving comfort. Just let me know if you want it done. I have openings in late June. Just a couple days to turn it around and then overnight it back to you.
  10. Folks I am still rebuilding Leman's seats. I'm doing the 3rd one right now just in the last month. I do appreciate the patronage I get from this board. I still make the leather 8"x4"x2" leather tool pouches too. Here's my site: http://www.geocities.com/rgmaund/RichsCycl...l?1069633040109 Go to the seat photo page to see a number of Lemans seats mixed in there. Many are of two-up seats I've resculpted. I can do the two-up ones radical wider or just moderately wider depending on the riding you do. Reshaping it for two up means the cowl can no longer be used though. I can rebuild the seat you have and FedEx it back to you w/i the USA for just $340. That includes the reshaping, gel padding installed in the front and a custom cover. Last time I ordered in a new seat, it cost me about $200. If you want a new seat rebuilt, I just ask for reimbursement on getting the new one here. Eish gives me 20% off for being a MGNOC life member. Great guy Eish! I mostly stay busy with my sidecar accesories these days. But I still get a regular seat or two here every week to rebuild to keep my skills fresh. Can you believe that last month marked ten years I have formally been in this business? Damn, I'm getting old!
  11. I've bought and sold a number of things on EBay for three years now. Never a bad experience yet. I have had some wrong items sent here and a watch I bought from a Russian guy was DOA. (The replacement he sent me keeps perfect time. They build some excellent mechanical self winders over there.) But even these problem deals were all taken care of well and I've never had to leave anything but positive feedback. Patience and good communications are the key to solving these problems. Most of my deals there have gone perfectly though. But as a habit, I study the sellers feedbacks and even some feedbacks on on the people leaving the feedbacks. If the seller then seems legit, I deal with them. Its worked for me so far!
  12. There is only an inch of foam in that seat to begin with. (Under the bum area.)There is no way to lower the seat and maintain comfort. You could look at sliding the forks up in the triple clamps and perhaps a softer rear suspension setting? But that would affect handling and ground clearance.
  13. Here's a better view. At least it's a proper shade of green now.
  14. Here's my Tonti frame. It'll be a 1979 1000SP again someday with a 1000S paint job!
  15. Come over to the dark side(car) side Carl! You know you want one. (Que Darth Vader like heavy breathing through a full face helmet.)
  16. I do have a full sized arse as well as a full schedule! I was often working 12 hours a day seven days a week this year. I took in a bunch of Guzzi and Ural and sidecar rallies as well! I set aside each wednesday morning for chasing my wife. And if I'm good, she lets me catch her. And I still have two teenagers to take care of and customers to deal with. That's a pretty full life! Things like a morning on the computer for my own enjoyment, like this morning, get brushed aside for more vital stuff. Sorry!
  17. Nevermind. I found it on the net using Google. http://www.motoguzzi-reports.guzzi-days.net/mgnorge.htm I think it's a nice Retro looking bike. Should look good in my shop next to my Ural!
  18. I tried finding the Norge there. Won't get a hit with their own search tool. Any direct links to one?
  19. Wow. You guys are reminding me of why I love this forum so much! I finally get a Saturday morning off. The wife is out of town. What better thing to do that catch up here with a big cup of good coffee? On my way to the Hack'd Rally in WV last month on my Ural rig (Yes, I tour on it!), I stopped at Velocity Cycles in Richmond Va. and ran across my old V11S for sale there. It needs a proper cleaning and polishing and some rubber bits are dried out now. But it brought back a rush of good memories. I toured the heck outta that bike while I had it. Its a shame that the importers lousy warranty service spoiled the ownership experience for me because the bike itself was wonderful. Someone brought up earlier how these were like Shelby Cobra's. A bit crude and rough around the edges but with great character. It could be scary fast. Nothing smooth or refined about it. But it did handle better than any other Guzzi I've owned. And that would be eleven Guzzi's before it. And the way it made power and put it to the ground made me grin every time I rode it. One friend of mine who rode it came back almost shaking. Apparently he took my advice to ride it hard and use yellow line as a shift point. He's used to riding a new Triumph Bonneville. I think the experience brought him closer to God because he kept muttering "Jesus Christ" between sentences. Then he says "You ride this bike ALL the time like that!?". I said "yes"! That was how the bike was meant to be enjoyed. He said it was fun but he wasn't sure he could handle the adreneline rush every day like that. The design compromises in these bikes that were done to save money such as Sach's suspension and not having a longer swing arm with the pivot point in the proper position never bothered me. I'm a street rider, not a racer. I could never ride it hard enough to see the shortcomings. So they didn't bother me. I was able to modify the front forks easily to handle well for me. (Longer preload spacer and heavier suspension fluid.) Compared to my old Guzzi's, it handled like a dream. Quick and light and almost thought controlled. I saw the bike as a new "Lemans". Yeah, I know it was the V11S. But it looked like a modern Lemans to me. I always thought the newer V11 Lemans should have been called the V11 Lemans ST since the handling had been slowed down a tad and good sport touring bodywork fitted. But that's just my opinion. I once owned a Rennspoort built Lemans CX100. Awesome bike. But the V11S spanked it by handling even better. And the original V11S with the red frame and no fairing and all one-color body work looked very sleek and purposeful to me. The bike fit me like a glove too. I liked the newer Lemans after it, but I thought the black frames and fuzzy black engine and cheesy plastic frame covers were a mistake. They should have left the drivetrain silver, the frames red and uncovered and done the bodywork in all one color like Frank Wedge's red V11 Lemans. THAT would've looked freak'n awesome! What they did build always looked like a hodge podge to me. Like ignorant teenagers who think "customizing" their bike means painting everything black and doing it badly. The more I look at my own old round head 1979 SP1000 I have torn apart in the shop, the more I wonder if I will go through the restoration. I keep comparing it to the V11S. It'll never handle as well as the V11S. The swing arm feels like an anchor compared to the S's. That's alot of sprung weight. The forks look spindly. I can upgrade the switchgear and electrical system no problem. But I know it'll never make power the way the V11S did. I bought the bike to restore for me and wife to tour on. That, because she didn't like sidecars. Now after the Fall sidecar Rally in Asheville NC last month and a long afternoon in the hack, she's decided she likes them afterall! Leaves me wondering if I finish the SP, will I be able to enjoy it? Comparing it to the handling and power of newer machines will always be a problem. That situation happened at the NY Rally in 1996 when I rode a friends new Cali 1100 FI. Although I have no love of cruisers, that bike just worked so much better than my 1989 Mille' GT that it wasn't even funny. Eventually I bought a Cali and sold the Mille' GT. I'm hoping that since it's been a couple years since I rode the V11S, holding it up to the SP won't be fresh in my mind. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the bike on it's own merits. Thanks for all the thoughtful postings Guys! It's a real pleasure to drop in here!
  20. Folks It's been quite some time since I posted here. Sorry for that. Work and many bike Rallies get in the way. This has been my busiest year yet! And I want to thank those of you who had me rebuild your seats this year. Many of my materials and costs have gone up. The soaring cost of fuel fueled was responsible for much of that. I raised my seat rebuild price earlier this year but kept the old price for those of you here who wanted your V11 Lemans or V11S seats re-done. I did that in thanks to this group for all the business they've sent my way. I promised to hold that price until the end of '05, and I will. That's a $30 savings on the rebuild. So if anyone else here would like their's rebuilt, just contact me and mention that you're a member of this board! You'll get the discount. I recently rebuilt my web site below to reflect how much Ural sidecar work I do. But I repaired and retained my seat photo page. (The link has been broken somehow for a few months.) There are many examples of rebuilt V11 seats there to see. A rebuild just takes a few days and I overnight it back to you in the USA. Feel free to e-mail me from my site or PM me from here if you'd like to discuss a job. Thanks!
  21. Thanks Guys! We finished blasting and POR15 coating the frame this evening. Its off to a good start!
  22. Folks I started a new Yahoo Group to document the rebuild and updating of my current project bike. Its a 1979 Guzzi SP 1000. I'll post full sized pics of the work and home made (Cheap) tools I create and use in the process! Check out the cheap frame stand we put together! (Harbor Freight can be a great resource!) http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/79sp1000group/
  23. Geez.... You guys are really willing to go through some blood, sweat and tears to save a buck! Guzzi has apparently dropped back to their old price on NOS V11S/Lemans seats. (They made a significant price increase last Summer. But now I'm getting charged the old price again. Go figure.) The last two I have bought from Joe Eish only cost about $189 to get here to my shop. Then for $305 I can rebuild it just about any way you like with a gel pad installed in the front and overnight to you anywhere in the USA. So the complete package would be under $500 and you get it on a factory seat pan that'll fit! You'll even get the "as new" take off seat cover and belt from the new seat. You never know when a friend might need one! I still have some of my 8" x 4 x 2 leather tool pouches in stock that I originally designed for the tail piece of the V11S. More than double the size of a stock pouch. They're $29 each including Priority Mailing in the USA. Thanks for your comments on my work guys. It does mean alot to me! I do find it funny to see the positive comments about Sargents though. They screwed me over so badly ten years ago that I rebuilt my seat myself after they messed it up. So you could say that they forced me into the business! Glad to see they're getting much higher marks now. I'll be leaving for Abbeville SC Thurday morning to attend the USA's largest Ural Rally at the Shrine Park outside of town this weekend. If any of you want to see how the other side lives, come on by. Visitors welcome! We had over 50 rigs there last year. This year looks to be bigger yet! The Ural factory will even have a rep. there with a off road only Ural dirt bike rig to demo and the company's CEO, Chief Designer and Dealer Relations Rep. will be flying in to attend too. Should be a great party!
  24. I grew up in a family of seven children from three marriges so I learned from my Dad how to pack a station wagon (Olds Vista Cruise just like the one "That 70's show".) I spent five years on a submarine, almost a year of that sharing a bunk. (Don't ask, don't tell! Geez! You guys have dirty minds. With a crew of about 135 and just 110 bunks, the junior folks have to hot bunk until they earn some seniority. ) So I learned to pack efficiently and make the most of small spaces. So my little 20' x 28' shop has two sewing stations, a welder, machine tools, wood working tools and a blast cabinet as well the compressor (60 gallon 6 hp vertical tank.), shelves for upholstery and a few work tables. And my bikes share the space. Oh yeah, My son has his own work bench in there too. Little did I know that my lifetime of training was leading up to being able to run a business from a garage!
  25. Bah! Ya don't need lots of air chucks! Just get one of those neat spring retractable hose reels for your air hose and mount it from the ceiling in the center of the shop. I have one with 40' of hose in it. Super convienient to use!
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