RichMaund

Sorry Tim, no web site. I have no advertising budget. Most of my business comes to me from word of mouth/keyboard referrals. But I do have pictures of many of the seats I have built. If you need a job done, I may have a pic in the files of that seat or a similar one I could send to you in jpeg format. If you search my name "Rich Maund" on a search engine, you'll turn up all sorts of hits. Many are other peoples web sites with photos of my work on them. Other are of me busy with the NARMA Club. (Russian sidecar bikes mostly.) I'm as deep into those crazy machines as I am into Guzzi's. That group is known as the "foil heads". I'm member number 9. Of course, I'm a life member of the MGNOC as well! So many neat bikes, so little time!

Those seals on the bearings aren't perfect. They don't seal tight. They just hold grease in. Often you can even remove those seals, repack the bearing and then reinstall the seals if your are careful with them. But they are so inexpensive, I don't spend time on them. I picked up new FAG Bearings (From South Korea. Stock bearings came from France.) today at a local shop. Less than $17 for a pair. Good light press fit into the wheel hub. (.005") They feel smooth as silk. I disassembled the cush drive just to inspect it. I have seen these assembled dry at the factory and then they lock up with rust as they age. One problem, the cheesy shallow headed grade 2 fasteners holding the plate in it were stuck with red Loctite. That was stupid. Red is appropriate for the grade 5 fasteners on the brake disks. But not on this application. Ruined all six heads removing them. :-( I bought new grade 5 (metric 8.8) hex headed fasteners to replace them at $.25 a pop at the corner Ace Hardware. Blue Loctite was used for re-installation. At least the cush drive hub had been oiled when built. But I prefer to use lithium grease there. Sticks around longer. I burnish a light coating of silicone dielectric grease all over the rubber wedges too. Allows them to move more freely against the steel plates and preserves the rubber. It all went back together very well. I just got home from the test ride. It felt great! One other thing I did, which I haven't done in ten years, was to use a Bondo file to take the edge off the flat spot on my rear tire. I put the bike up on the work stand, started it, then ran it in third gear at a fast idle of 2000 rpm to get the rear wheel moving well. You hold the Bondo file firmly against the tire and save off tiny bits to take the edge off the flat area and give the tire a rounder profile again. Took about 3 minutes and worked like a dream. I haven't done this since I wore a flat spot into a Dunlop Sport Elite on the rear of old Mille' GT back in '92 from three back to back freeway tours to Rallies! I had forgotten how well it worked! This is something I saw written up in Motorcyclist back in the 80's. Now at least the bike handles well again while I use up the rest of the tire! No other surprises in the job. The new rear brake pads are on the way from Eish. That'll be an easy fix when they get here. The V11S is back on the road running like a champ again, the weather's beautiful and all is right with the world. Not a bad day!

I tore into my bike today to get some preventive maintenance done. A customer canceled a seat job so I actually had a day free to do my own work! That doesn't happen often. I purged and changed all the hydraulic fluids. They were turning a bit dark after 2 years in the system. No problems there although bleeding the clutch slave cylinder is a bit tight. I'm glad I have small hands. I then pulled the rear wheel to pull the swing arm to better get to the zerk fitting on the forward universal joint. With teh swing arm off thebike, it is simple to flex it upward and get a grease gun on that zerk. But I had a problem pulling the rear axle out. I finally beat it out with a mallet and it took a wheel bearing out with it! Pressed it right out of the wheel. Funny thing is, the bearing remaining in the wheel on the left side of the hub felt very notchy when I tested it. Bad bearing. The bearing that was knocked free feels fine. But I always replace them in sets. Has anyone here had a wheel bearing go bad in only 8000 miles? I have to make a trip to the local bearing shop for a new set tomorrow morning. Another joy. My rear brake pads are down below 1/16" thickness. I called Joe Eish. He had a set in stock and they'll be on their way here tomorrow! God Bless Joe. He is terrific! I did check that the pistons move freely in the rear caliper. No problems. But they wore out in just 8K miles. That is a new low record for me with a Guzzi's brakes. Tonight I plan to tear into the cush drive to make sure the factory lubed it properly. I have seen these assembled dry by the factory before and then lock up with rust. And I will measure the wheel hubs ID and compare to the OD of the bearings to see what sort of press fit they had. Hope I don't find anything else. My tires will be worn out w/i another 2K miles. I'll check the front wheel then. Hopefully no surprises before then!

I have found with my V11S that if I add the required amount of gear oil, it goes to the top of the sightglass and I have to deal with weepage from the vent after hard rides. My Dealer's mechanic confirms this happens and said to fill the transmission until the oil level "just" shows in the sightglass. That cured the problem. No more weepage from the vent. When I work on my bike, it is on a level concrete garage floor and the bike is on the factory workstand to level it.

I bought my 2000 V11S a year and a half ago from Carl at Winchester. Though they are 240 miles away from me, I consider them my "local" dealer. The most serious problem my bike had was a leaking oil seal on the forward transmission shaft. They took about 6 weeks to repair it. That about drove me nuts. But that was during the time frame that MGNA was in the pits as far as warranty approvals and parts delivery to Dealers. The other minor problems the bike has had (oil cooler brackets, relays, neutral switch) were all handled well and they sent me new parts under warranty. They have two outstanding Guzzi Techs there. Rob and Dave. The $90 I paid them for two hours labor to "nail" the tuning of my fuel injection was money well spent. They run a great shop and have taken very good care of me as a customer. I love my V11S like none of the eleven other Guzzi's before it! Rich Maund

Jim The samples were mailed to you Monday. Big brown envelope. First class mail. You should have them soon. After rebuilding over 160 Cali and EV seats, I welcome new projects like this! There's been a few times that I found if I had to look at another EV seat... I would scream. I don't like doing the same thing over and over again. I finally compromised and refused to do more than 2 of those a week with other projects in between. A couple years ago when demand for my EV seat mod peaked, I stayed booked up three months in advance with folks wanting them. Hard to believe now I have done this for seven years and for the last three, I haven't held a "real" job. ;-) Life is good! Rich Maund

Folks Here is a good photo of the two up seat on my own V11S. The rack system holds a pair of Givi e360 bags. The passenger backrest bolts onto the rack. This is a very comfy set-up. 500 miles days are fun on it. The front has had the step moved forward one inch. The passenger portion was raised and reshaped for best support. The front of it is cpvered by a sheet of gel as well. I cut it, blend and bevel the gel to match the shape/contours of teh seat. Tell me what you think. Rich Maund

Al and All I am very much back in business. I took most of the summer off to care for my Mom when she was in the end stages of her cancer. She passed away at the end of July. I have been back hard at work since then. There have been times I have been booked up three months in advance. But that isn't the case now. I am booking appointments a couple weeks in advance right now. I turn most jobs around in a few days. I have to get back to work right now. But I will get back on here later to post some photos of my work. Great forum! Rich Maund