RichMaund

Thanks Joe! And I want to thank everyone here for all the interest in my work. I came home today to so many seat inquiries on my computer, many from this Board, that not only will I NOT be seeking a part time job in Jan., I'm going to have to go tomorrow to my supplier and stock up on some materials. I'll be picking up a fresh hide of thick 3 oz. black leather for those tool pouches as well! Thanks Folks! I do appreciate all the support!

Steve If you to my site in my signature line you can see my work there. I have done a number of newer Triumph seats. All the modern Triumph seats are excellent fodder for custom rebuilds. They have good pans and good foam. So reshaping them into what you need and covering them the way you like is a good project with excellent results! They suffer from the same problem most bikes have. Their seat shapes are dictated by stylists vice riders. But with a good pan and good foam, it is economical to rehape them into whatever you need. I like their seats! Here's my price structure for most seat rebuilds. This includes most two piece seats. $175 to do foam repair and some reshaping and a custom cover in any of my available marine grade vinyls. This includes things like Italian flag trim, welting if you want it and I double and even triple stitch all seams. $110 for each gel sheet installed. They start out as 16" x 18" sheets and I use them to cover a whole seating surface. Then I custom cut, trim, bevel and blend them to the shape of the seat. This way everywhere you sit, you're floating on the gel for best comfort. I don't order in pre-cut too small pads and just lay them into holes I route in the foam like most gel installers do. That leaves a hard edge of foam to dig into you and cause a pressure point and discomfort. And that exactly what the gel should be curing, not causing! FedEx overnight return shipping in the USA with insurance. $20 to $25. I can restore steel seat pans and I am a qualified welder and machinist. Each job like that is priced individually depending on what you want done and how well finished you need it to be. For example, I can hammer out new 16 gage CR steel to replace a rusted away pan edge and weld it in and touch up the paint for $50. I recently repaired a old Honda 400 seat that way. Functional and strong, but not concours in appearance! That's a basic repair. But if you want the repair to be invisible and the pan to look new, that could cost a heck of a lot more due to all the hours involved. Any more seats that come in will get worked after New Years. Just a few days to turn most jobs around. Here's a special deal just for Board members here. Have me rebuild a seat for you in January of '05 and I'll throw in a free 8"x4"x2" leather tool pouch for you for your bike. I normally sell those for $25 to $30 depending on the price of the hide. Please don't repeat this offer elsewhere. This is for Board members here. You folks have been very good to me over the years and I just want to show my appreciation. And not just in business. Back when the Board was new and I spent a summer giving my Mom hospice care, the regulars here helped keep me sane. You folks have meant alot to me over the years. So anyone reading this note here, remind me of the offer when you order your seat rebuild from me! Thanks Folks!

Phil I sent you some info via PM. I'll look forward to talking to you! Everyone I thank you for your support. But back in '02 when Guzzi decided to make all their 1100 cruiser model seat into non-rebuildable junk, that put a real dink in my business that continues to this day. Much of the work I must take in to stay open isn't all that profitable. Not that I'm making a fortune on seats, (In my best year I earned $30K off the business.) but working my ass off building restaurant booth cushions like I did a year ago pays about the same as the fast food industry. I don't make enough in the warm months to see me through the lean ones. I need steady business in cycle seats to survive. Custom golf cart seats, interiors for little Corvette go-carts for Shriners and restaurant stuff just isn't what I had in mind when I went full time in this business back in '99. Back then 3/4's of my business was Guzzi seat rebuilds and business was good. I stayed booked 1-3 months all year! Steady work that I can schedule and count on means quick turn arounds for customers and support for my family. I just don't have that anymore. Unless I start molding fiberglass seat pans for Guzzi Cruiser bikes (Which is a messy PITA job that no Guzzi rider would want to pay me for.) I am kind of limited in the seats I can do. Many these days are not rebuildable. They're junk! More and more are being done like personal watercraft seats with the foam being molded right inside the vacuum molded cover so the two are permanently bonded to one another. No way to remove the cover without detroying alot of foam. Many Beemer seats have gone that way. Though I am a decent sheet metal pounder and finisher, few people want to pay for the hours those projects take. Same with my machining and welding skills. Occassionally someone asks me to make something and then runs away screaming when they find out how many hours it'll take to build. (One guy did that recently when he found out it took three hundred hours to restore my antique sidecar and scratch build/finish the body for it.) Few folks understand that true "custom" doesn't come from a catalog! Seats are my bread and butter and that has thinned out considerable over the last two years. Don't worry. I'll never "go away" completely. I'll continue to do seats part time regardless of what else comes up. But if I find a meaningful full time job, that means I can pick and choose the seat jobs I do in my evenings in the shop. (That just means no more gold carts or non-interesting work.) I hate television and TV sports, rarely drink and hate bars.... What else does a guy like me do but play in his work shop at night? I already had to put this coming years bike insurance on my charge card. I'll probably have to do the same with my internet service bill. Unless I get two jobs per week minimum in Jan. my annual taxes (Real Estate and Vehicular.) will come out of our meager savings. So I have no choice but to find steady employment. I find the holiday season crushingly depressing. Back in the Navy, I spent most holidays at sea away from my family. I have had many relatives die during the holidays. And for the past few years, I spend the holidays very much under-employed and wondering how I will earn a living. For me, this time of the year really sucks. Always has, one way or another. I know I'm not alone in this as so many people I meet have a real air of falseness and desperation in their "holiday cheer". Makes me wonder what sort of disease takes over this country every year as all the minivanners go out chasing crap to put under their plastic tree and our version of Santa comes from a Coca-Cola ad in the 1930's. (The model for Santa was a Coke truck driver by the way.) So much for the real meaning of Christmas! Yeesh! And Bah Humbug! But I am thankful for outlets like this board where I can still meet and talk to real people. Thanks Jaap!

Here's what the owner thought of this seat. >>>Oh, man! You really nailed it! Imagine my excitement this afternoon as I opened your package. Kinda like a kid opening that first Christmas present. The Lemans seat is an extremely handsome seat, even more handsome than I imagined it could be. You have outdone yourself Rich! I put it on the bike and sat on it and know that it is just right, just what I wanted, only better. I can't want for a little warmer weather to go riding and really try it out, but I already know it is perfect. Thanks for a job well done and I hope we get to meet someday. Merry Christmas, Rich. Joe This is something I do love about this business. I get a lot of job satisfaction from it! Problem is I need at least a couple seat jobs a week to stay open. This time of year, folks are thinking about other things. Discrectionary income doen't go to biking! That starts up again as folks think about Daytona in Feb. As to your comments above... Thanks Guys! I appreciate all your comments! I just hope things pick up around here soon or I'll be closing and getting a regular job. I barely stayed open for Dec. and have nothing lined up yet for Jan. I wonder if the local Wal Mart needs "Greeters"? Nine months out of the year I can work seven days a week if I'm physically able. But Winter time is really thin in this business! I'm rebuilding our bathroom right now. But after Christmas that'll be done. If nothing comes up I'll be sending out resume's. Anyone here know a company that needs a tech with machine tool, welding, power plant operation and maintenance and general shop skills that's also computer literate? (That means I can spell "computer"! ) If any of you need seat work done, I'm wide open! Quick turnaround and cheap overnight return shipping courtesy of your govenment! (Being retired Navy I can ship FedEx cheap at the Navy Exchange. I've used that for years now. Think of it as your tax dollars at work for you!

A rebuild of your seat like that with gel sheet padding all over the front, the custom cover and return shipping via FedEx in the USA is $305. Just takes a couple days to turn around. (But Va. residents will have to include 5% state sales tax.) No price increases yet. I have had the wholesale price of SS marine hardware double this year. That affects the prices of some sidecar items I build. But so far no increase in gel or marine grade vinyl prices. (And I hope it stays that way!) You can contact me at rmaund@pinn.net if you wish to discuss a job. And you can see my work on my site below. Thanks for the comments guys!

Folks I had a customer ask for a neat variation on my solo Lemans seat that I make. He had me put the basketweave fabric in the rear as well as the front. Put the cowling on and it still looks like a cool solo seat. Take it off and it looks like a two up seat. (Though frankly the shape is not meant to have the passenger spend much time on it!) No one had asked me to do one like this yet and it came out pretty cool. Photo below. If you want to see what I've been up to on my own sidecar project, see my home page in the signature line. The sidecar body is scratch built from 18 and 16 gage steel. I did all the finishing, welding, upholstery, everything, right here at the shop! Now I just have to make a windshield for it! I hope y'all are getting some riding in. Our mild weather disappeared the other day. It was 29 degrees out there this morning. Yeah, that nothing to you midwesterners. But to us warm blooded southern folks its quite a freeze!

I almost hate to say this folks... But what kind of world are we living in when Aprilia and Guzzi won't honor warranties and Ural does? Are we trapped in a backwards universe? From what I read in MCN, even Honda's aren't "Honda-like" anymore. Kind of makes me glad I'm into sidecar rigs right now. Below is a pic of my latest project. Restored 1950's M72 frame & fender, '03 Ural Retro, the fender lighting is a Frankenstein hodge-podge. The tail lamp is 67 VW with a euro lens. But the sheetmetal for the tail lamp is made by me to fit the symetrical curve on the fender. VW sheetmetal won't fit a normal bike fender. I have a NOS 1960's Lucas red reflector on the rear bottom of the fender. The sheet metal for the fender lamp is stock. But I made the lens from a sawed off Mack Truck cab running lamp and a piece of 3" PVC pipe I turned on my lathe. Body is under construction. I still need to trim the cockpit and finish the trunk area on it. I say if you can't find a company that'll build you the bike you need, build it yourself! Who'll give me an "Amen" here?

This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning is the Sept. Guzzi Rally sponsored by the MD/DC Guzzi Rep., Bill Sharp, family and his friends. It'll be held at the Hagerstown MD Snug Harbor KOA. Just get yourself to a hiway around Hagerstown and follow the signs to the KOA there. It's tucked away on a hillside above a creek with towering old growth trees to shade your tent site. Bill and Company will cook Chili Friday evening. The campground offers a big turkey dinner for a reasonable price Saturday evening. The camp also cooks a great breakfast up Saturday and Sunday morning. Very reasonable prices. Bill always sets up some tarps to shelter the picnic tables. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous through the weekend. Bill usually has some great door prizes for registered Rally go'ers too. Hope to see some of you there! It's a great little Rally and the countryside around that area is bike heaven! My own bike is "under construction" right now. I am almost ready to attach my restored/customized M72 sidecar frame to my Ural Retro. Frame is done. Fender will get painted tomorrow as will the lighting fixtures I built. But the body still needs sheet metal work to finish the trunk. Lottsa work to go yet on that. But I may just trailer the whole mess up there to show it off.

I used to grease mine on my V11S by removing the rear wheel, drive and swing arm and then you can rotate the driveshaft upwards under the fender to fully expose the grease fitting underneath. Simple then to plug in and inject some #2 Lithium grease. If your grease gun fitting is too large, you can grind a little off the OD. I had to do that to one tip to fit a fitting on one machine I used to own. A grease injecting needle that you can press into the fitting works well too. After I got one of them, I could grease everything without tearing out the swing arm anymore! But still, removing, greasing and re-installing everything only took an hour. MUCH simpler than on a Tonti framed Guzzi!

Ian Darn good article. The reshaping you did is a very nice piece of ergonomic work too! If I may add a few suggestions: A larger sanding disk makes for a smoother sculpting job. I use a 8" 80 grit one. If you have a drill or pneumatic grinder that will handle that, it makes the job easier. Do use a dust respirator and eye protection when sanding foam. It makes a bloody mess! The foam dust takes on a static charge that makes it cling to you as well! I use a cotton coverall and a hood respirator when I do this work. Get a bit of this foam dust up your snoot and you'll regret it big time! Hand held staplers can be a PITA to use on a seat. It'll wear you hands out quickly and they lack an extended nozzle to get the staples down into nooks and crannies where they often need to go. Recover a Ducati or BMW seat sometime and you'll learn about nooks and crannies! Yeesh. Harbor Freight sells 1/2" crown pneumatic staplers pretty cheep. Just as good as Sears one for half the price. You may have to set the 3/8" long staples into the pan at an angle if they are too long, but they'll get the job done for you. If you have one available, a blower type kerosene heater is a great way to keep the cover (And you!) warm as you work on fitting it. Keeping the whole cover very warm to the touch will allow it to bend and "flow" more easily around compound curves. Holding the seat & cover down in front of the heater about 2-3' away from it from time to time as you work will keep it nicely warm and pliable. I realize that frugality was a major factor, but some of these tools I bring up are fairly cheap or may be borrowed from friends. I used a Craftsman stapler in my business for a few years myself. But now I get most of my air tools from HF. Their quality is just terrific for the prices they get! Some seats lend themselves to covers with no sewing and some don't. Yours came out very well for the tools you had available! It reminds me of the work I did as a hobby with my own seats over ten years ago. Be careful, your friends may force you into business as mine did to me! Excellent how-to article! Thanks for putting that together!

Aww Geez Folks. I felt my ears burning, so I figured I better check in on the Board. Yep, sure enough, y'all have been talking me up again. I DO appreciate that. It was a pleasure meeting you Ralph! I always enjoy having customers actually come here! I almost qualify as a hermit with all the time I spend in my shop. So having folks come and visit is a great compromise for me. I hope you weren't too put off by the mess here! After I rebuilt your seat, I got about half the sheet steel together for the sidecar body I am building for my Ural. I just finished cleaning up that mess so I can do more seat work this week. It was cool to be able to spend a weekend doing my own project for once though! That was great! I welcome seat business folks. My busy season is winding down and I am now only booking work a week in advance. You can get a real quick turn around from me as slow as it's been lately! I am enjoying the "breather" though. Since March I have stayed booked up an average of three weeks in advance and have worked almost every weekend and evening. I have to wonder how I stay as fat as I do. You can see more of my work on my site link below. My price to rebuild these seats ($305 or $318.73 if you live in Va.) should be good through sometime this Fall. That's when my suppliers raise prices if they plan to do so. I haven't raised mine in three years, BTW. I'm now one of the cheap shops! That price includes reshaping within the design limitations of the seat (Either to use the cowl or not.), a custom gel sheet installation in the front, a custom cover just about any way you want it in my available marine vinyls and return FedEx shipping/Ins. in the USA. If you'd like your job scheduled, please give me a shout! Turn around is about two days with an appointment. Thanks again Folks for your comments!

Take a look at the coils. Where the spark plug wires go into them there so much other stuff interfering there that they can get smashed to one side and pulled out of their connection. That can cause a mis-fire as it weakens the spark to have to jump the poor connection. I have also found that if a plug mis-fires for whatever reason, it fouls enough that it will continue to mis-fire even if the problem that originbally caused it gets corrected. Keeping new plugs handy solves this. One last easy check. The vinyl intake boots can crack and leak air. This will lean out the mixture on that side and cause mis-firing. Loosen the clamps on the boot and work it loose and rotate it 360 degrees and visually inspect for cracking. Flex it a bit to make any cracking show up. Hope this helps!

MJ There is not too much foam in a V11 Lemans seat to begin with. There is little room to lower it and still have enough foam to provide comfort. Please have your wife keep that in mind when checking out the bike. You could lower it perhaps 1/2", but that is all.

Here is why I do not rebuild any Guzzi cruiser seats made since 2002: The foam is too soft. You can add firmer foam, but the rest of it is too damn soft to support anyone but a small woman. The whole thing needs replaced and hand carving foam to fit a pan is time consuming and expensive. Most Guzzi folks would be unwilling to want to pay extra to have new foam carved. The pans are junk. They are like flimsy ice cube trays. 2002 was a problem. 2003 and on was a serious problem and the EV's are the worst. They don't fit the bikes! They rattle around even when fastened down. On the non-EV cruisers, the pans can sag under load and the pan will contact bodywork cutting the covers. The EVs are worse because they get jammed into bodywork even before you sit on them. That's a recipe for long term damage. The rear seats sag at the sides due to a flimsy pan and inadquate support and the staples in the seat cover will dig into your back fender's paint. Since the pan is junk, I want no part in rebuilding them. Long term... folks come back to me mad at the damage as though I was responsible for designing the stupid thing. That hurts my reputation and business. They won't complain to Guzzi, they'll come to me since they paid me hundreds of dollars to rebuild it. I can't knowingly get involved in a project that will eventually fail. I hope yours lasts for you. If you are of a "healthier" weight than many American riders, it may be OK for you. But here in the land of 200-300 pound riders, they collapse under load and damage stuff. So I stay away! I'm working on a custom golf cart seat this week for a customer! Talk about diversifying!

Form-a-gasket is really tough stuff compared to regular RTV. Let is squish slightly, give it time to dry and then use it. It can be hell to remove though. It really sticks to a clean surface!

I believe Mike said it best. And I'll add that I have had Yamaha switchgear catch fire at a redlight in traffic. I have had a Honda clutch slave cylinder lose it's seal and suddenly puke brake fluid all over the case. (Does wonders for engine paint!) I have had a old Kawasaki triple spit a muffler core outta it's pipe like a shot from a mortar! I have had to repair a Yamaha starter in a frozen parking lot at 1 in the morning after a tiring swing shift at a shipyard. Don't even get me started about my old B-M-W's instrument beating it's tach needle clean off on a cold day or the electrical gremlins that plaqued it through three years of ownership. I could on and on. In fact, I usually do. I don't care who makes it, if it has an engine and wheels it WILL drive you nuts at times. The key is to focus on the positive factors and work through the BS stuff as efficiently as possible. When the BS gets too thick and frustrating, move to another machine to get some different BS going for you for a while. I have found that simply changing the things that annoy you from time to time make them easier to deal with. Perhaps you're ready for a early 1990's Ural now? I've owned and worked on 25 bikes over the years including 12 Guzzi's. The Guzzi's universally had more bugs in them when new due to lazy and ignorant plant workers doing the assembly. I have no solution there. Trying to get unionized Italian factory workers to "work" must be alot like trying to herd cats. But the bugs in all my Guzzi's were easily overcome by good dealer and owner mechanical skills and once sorted, the bikes were very satisfying to own and ride. I did step up and buy 12 of them over the years after all! Taking a longer perspective on things often helps in these situations. Having the weather warm up so you can ride more and not go stir crazy helps as well! I just tell myself that Spring is just around the corner!

I've used S100 since it came out. Great stuff! But DO keep it away from bearings. They aren't sealed up THAT tight! S100 takes off brake dust better than any cleaner I have ever used. Great degreaser too and it's neutral pH won't hurt most plastics. It won't turn your alloy parts black like high pH products will! (Don't ask how I know that can happen!)

Thanks Jaap! But only owners of new bikes, in general, spend money on seats. And since none of the 2002 and on Guzzi 1100 Cruiser seats are rebuildable, there's no reason for me to encourage people to call. It is just a waste of time. Few owners of older bikes want to spend money on custom seats. So it's a small market. Right now, only the V11S/Lemans series bikes have improvable seats. And there are only a handful around. Since the seat is pretty darn good to begin with, only a handful of owners will want work done. Those folks can always find my help here if they want it. After almost eight years in business, I know my customers buying habits! Lately, I do a trickle of old Guzzi seats, but mostly I do the big Japanese made cruiser seats and some Victory (Polaris) seats and lots of sidecar stuff. That makes up the majority of my trade now. Some folks like my ability to chop their backpad bars and redesign them for better support and better pads. I'm doing one now for a Cali 1100 owner who got a seat from me last year. That's where my new welding equipment comes in! Metal work is a nice way to break up the sewing and sculpting work. I prefer to vary what I do. Seems better for my arthritis too! Thanks again for your kind offer. But it seems I get better business is I stay just a little hard to find. Weeds out the riff-raff!

This is a case where using the shop manual is very valuable. It's directions are well written and the photos are a big help as well. You can make your own spacers from PVC pipe. I recommend using synthetic suspension fluid as it won't break down as quickly. The directions in the manual tell you how to pump them dry and refill and purge air. Good techniques to use. I made spacers for mine 13mm longer than stock and used 7W fluid vice 10W. Some Dealers recommend 5W, but I am a heavy guy. That made my front end work just right for me. The shop manual is a good investment. Many Dealers sell good copies of it.

Hi Jaap! I still drop by almost every day. But your Board has grown and become busy to a point that it is difficult for me to keep up with it! Congrats on your success! I'm trying not to freeze here. We've been having our coldest weather lately in ten years! My new Ural is running great and I'm spending spare time coming up with new accessories for it. Here's a pic of it taken today. Notice the antique KMZ steel leg guards, scratch built bolt on back seat & backpad/grab rails to fit atop the stock luggage rack, custom seat cover to match the pillion, centerstand modified for easier use and I made mounts to hold the tire pump in brackets next to the rear fender. Thick tan leather saddle bags will get started on in about a week. And I'm saving up for a wheel for the sidecar frame we're working on for it. Darn good Winter project! I'm told only three more of these bikes are in stock at the importers! I was the second customer to buy one, but the first to put one on the road. (First customer bought his bike three days before I paid for mine. He lives in Massachusets and immediately stored his new bike for Spring!) Even my business is doing well. WAY better than last January when I had to consider getting a part time job! Yheck! I'm staying busy with customer work about 3-4 days a week and I'm free the rest of the time to pursue my own projects! My new welding equipment is just terrific too. So life is good! I hope you're doing well too! I can still rebuild non-Ural seats folks! Just contact me if you have any projects you'd like to discuss! There are over a dozen of my rebuilt V11S/Lemans seats in use now! I wonder how many Corbin has sold!

The seams appear to be double stitched. But that red thread will fade in the sun. Also, they placed the seams right under your thighs. Expect to feel those seams in your thighs! Also, that will accelerate wear on the seams. Break a stitch and the seam will open. If you plan to fit one yourself, use a good Pneumatic staple gun with a extended nozzle to get the staples down into where you need them. A regular hand actuated staple gun is very clumsy in this type of work. Craftsman makes a decent air staple gun. But good luck finding staples at the stores. They are always OOS in my area! You will need to drill the rivets from the hand strap and re-rivet it back on when done too. Free seat advice! And you folks thought I wasn't dropping in anymore! If you think it looks cool and that is what is important to you, get it! But don't expect it to hold up in use for too long. Common problem for aftermarket seat cover kits.

I never take offense when someone goes to another shop. If I'm not the right person for the job, I'd rather not take the work anyway. I have sent a number of people to other shops over the years simply because the other shops already specialized in what the customer wanted. I'm not one to re-invent the wheel. It's just business afterall. I don't know if it's right to start referring to me as "ECR". I do live 20 miles from the actual coast and I know for a fact there are several people named "Rich" who live even closer to the coast than I do. That moniker could be easily disputed in court. I have had the MD/DC MGNOC Rep. try to hang "Rich the Stitch" on me when he was mad at me for referring to him as "King Bill". I have been referred to as that "Nut case who rides a Ural". At Rallies I am often referred to as "That seat guy". In my years in the Navy I was often called things that I can't repeat even in a forum as tolerant as this one! But as long as folks are still calling me to work for them, I really don't worry about it! And I do appreciate your business folks! Thank you and have a happy holiday! BTW: Mocked up the new sidecar body in posterboard. Finalized the design and it looks really classic. New bike is due here Friday. New Welding equipment (175 amp MIG with a AR/CO2 rig.) got here Monday evening. Built a nice steel cart for it yesterday and painted that today. Hopefully in a week or so we'll be cutting steel for the new sidecar. Here's hoping y'all are having fun this season too!

I had a matched set of Road Pilots on my V11S for almost 3k miles. I thought they were terrific. I did go down from a 170 rear to a 160 since the bike had a 4.5" rear rim. A 160 is a better tire for that rim. Handling was always confidence inspiring. The new owner has told me he loves the bike as well!

I have to say that I still like my own redesign for two-up use best. The cowling won't fit on any longer, but this shape is much kinder to the passenger's bottom. I do like the triple stitching they put into your seat. Nice touch there! Good reshaping on the front as well. Here's one of the 2-Up Leman's seats that I have done pictured below. I am still very much in business if any of you want seat work done this Winter! I can build on short notice now, but come March I will be back to having to make appointments as much as 6 weeks in advance. So if you wish it done in a timely manner, this is the season to get your bike worked on!

Sounds like a great excuse to bar-b-que! I wish I were close enough to attend! We've done this in my shop with some of my friends from the Richmond area 100 miles to the north of me. Tech sessions and riding and bull sessions go together great!