Andover Norton

Again, after writing the title to this thread, I read some of the related posts that popped up. I have ordered several Andover Norton parts already for bringing my bike back to life. They came from several sellers reselling their parts, and not directly from them as I would guess coming from the U.K. would take additional shipping time and cost, since I live in the U.S. The one time I did try to order from them directly, I simply could not get my order to send (electronically). Don't know if the problem was on my end or their end. The parts I've received seem to be first rate quality. Can someone tell me about their operation. Do they manufacture all the products they sell and what, if any connection do/did they have with Norton motorcycles. I will add that I am in no way associated Andover Norton, nor is this intended to be a plug for them.

The A/N website works as smooth as glass for me.


Are you clicking on search results?
Or direct to their website?

quawk said:

Again, after writing the title to this thread, I read some of the related posts that popped up. I have ordered several Andover Norton parts already for bringing my bike back to life. They came from several sellers reselling their parts, and not directly from them as I would guess coming from the U.K. would take additional shipping time and cost, since I live in the U.S. The one time I did try to order from them directly, I simply could not get my order to send (electronically). Don't know if the problem was on my end or their end. The parts I've received seem to be first rate quality. Can someone tell me about their operation. Do they manufacture all the products they sell and what, if any connection do/did they have with Norton motorcycles. I will add that I am in no way associated Andover Norton, nor is this intended to be a plug for them.

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Watch this:

quawk said:

and not directly from them as I would guess coming from the U.K. would take additional shipping time and cost, since I live in the U.S

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Previous posts from US owners say the service is good and the delivery time sometimes quicker than within US.

Try another credit card if you have one, I have several as each has its issues working outside UK but at least one always works.

You can also ring them.

marshg246 said:

Watch this:

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marshg246, thanks for the video. That has to be the most interesting motorcycle related video I've ever watched. For someone who speaks in somewhat of a monotone, I could listen to him for an hour because it was like listening to an encyclopedia speak about a topic. Well spoken, direct, and to the point, sans the BS.

Let me tell you all about my latest experience with AN. I ended up working on a 1978 Triumph T140 for a friend. I had him order all the engine parts, etc, from AN in late December last year. Engine was back together mid January or so. He got an email in late February from AN stating to not use the drive side main bearing. At this point the bike was back together and ready to go. He sent AN an email asking for a refund of the parts, as well as new gaskets, etc., to cover the costs to tear it all back apart to replace the main bearing. A day later he had a credit on his card, and the parts were in the mail. That folks, is customer service. They made a mistake(or the supplier did), notified the buyer, and took care of the problem. I wasn't thrilled to tear it all back apart, but it's going back together now. I buy a lot of parts from AN, and have never been unhappy with the service or the parts.

Its good to hear the upside of a company and its customer care as well as all the negative that is noted so often, and sometimes unfairly.

I would like to add, as a new USA customer, I tried to find someone who could sell me Andover Norton parts from a USA warehouse. No such luck.

There were a few sellers in the USA which I found, but they all marked up the price of the parts, and added shipping which exceeded the cost of just buying them directly from AN.

I now just order directly. I am constantly amazed at the full selection of factory original quality parts they are still selling for my 48 year old bike. Even the prices are not bad... I was so impressed I even bought thier t-shirt!

Edfury828 said:

I would like to add, as a new USA customer, I tried to find someone who could sell me Andover Norton parts from a USA warehouse. No such luck.

There were a few sellers in the USA which I found, but they all marked up the price of the parts, and added shipping which exceeded the cost of just buying them directly from AN.

I now just order directly. I am constantly amazed at the full selection of factory original quality parts they are still selling for my 48 year old bike. Even the prices are not bad... I was so impressed I even bought thier t-shirt!

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AN has no distributors. They have dealers but the discount is very small - I am one of the few left in the US.

You're probably right on large orders that it's no more expensive to buy from them, but you're way wrong on small orders when buying from me.

I place large orders which makes the shipping hurt much less, especially on small items, and you pay more than me for the parts themselves. That said, if you go to the big resellers in the US who make a living selling parts, the markup is big - of course it is, they are trying to make a living!

Selling parts for me is not a living, it's a PITA that I do to serve the community and to save on the parts I need for my rebuilds. It's also stupid of me to have $70,000 of parts in stock when I'm sure there will still be at least $60,000 left when I die! No, I don't have everything but I'm sitting here right now putting together my next order to replenish everything I've sold since my last order.

That said, I too am a major fan of Andover Norton and am especially happy that they are carrying more and more Triumph parts since I need them just as much as Norton parts.

Edfury828 said:

I would like to add, as a new USA customer, I tried to find someone who could sell me Andover Norton parts from a USA warehouse. No such luck.

There were a few sellers in the USA which I found, but they all marked up the price of the parts, and added shipping which exceeded the cost of just buying them directly from AN.

I now just order directly. I am constantly amazed at the full selection of factory original quality parts they are still selling for my 48 year old bike. Even the prices are not bad... I was so impressed I even bought thier t-shirt!

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I have purchased AN parts thru Greg Marsh (marshg246 on this site) and I find what he said to be true. For small orders he is more convenient and about the same cost as buying direct from AN.

marshg246 said:

They have dealers but the discount is very small - I am one of the few left in the US.

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Can I ask do you have an online store or prescence? If I were to be interested in puchasing parts from you, do I contact you (PM?) directly?

quawk said:

Can I ask do you have an online store or prescence? If I were to be interested in puchasing parts from you, do I contact you (PM?) directly?

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You can request a quote but it's just as easy to email me with what you want. The prices on my website are calculated and for the general public - Access Norton and certain club members never pay those prices. A PM works too, but the easiest for me is email and part numbers are appreciated but not required.

You can search parts here and request a quote: https://gregmarsh.com/MC/ForSale.aspx

There is also a lot of info on my site and no advertising.

marshg@gregmarsh.com
703-200-4025

I second the above. Greg Marsh takes VERY good care of members here on Access Norton. I like to give him first shot at supplying what I need . Andover gives great service as well .

I've placed a few orders with A/N, and have had good service to the US. As Edfury mentioned, even after delivery and cc charges, ordering direct came out much less than what I see US based resellers list the same parts. I'll haven't really looked at Greg Marsh's site before, but will check it out in the future.

RSR

rightshiftrick said:

I've placed a few orders with A/N, and have had good service to the US. As Edfury mentioned, even after delivery and cc charges, ordering direct came out much less than what I see US based resellers list the same parts. I'll haven't really looked at Greg Marsh's site before, but will check it out in the future.

RSR

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Greg Marsh is da man. I think Greg takes on supplying parts as a hobby, most certainly not as a money maker . Just to keep you peeps on the road. Old Britt's were always great service, no offense Fred and Ella, but bend over it's from Andover.

I’ve been using Andover on my rebuild of the 1972 commando. I tried to call 5 Australian sellers of Norton parts and not one picked up the phone or could ring back. I rang Andover and they picked up straight away so they got my business. No problems with payment but that’s a PayPal via visa account. The postage is cheap compared to the US and normally takes around 7 days to my front door downunder. Very happy with their service and quality parts.

....and if AN started supplying Trident parts....

Greg Marsh has always been great to deal with.
Mike

For those of us in "Canuckistan" shipping costs have become the primary determinant in supplier choice. Ordering anything from the states has become cost prohibitive due to shipping fees which, in some cases, are equal to or exceed the cost of the items. This is standard for anything coming from the US, but not as acute for items from the UK. So most of us now are having to stick with Cdn suppliers. I know our "carbon pricing" has a lot to do with the problem, but customs and border folks seem to have direction to nail everything coming over the border. So much for "free trade" eh?

acadian said:

For those of us in "Canuckistan" shipping costs have become the primary determinant in supplier choice. Ordering anything from the states has become cost prohibitive due to shipping fees which, in some cases, are equal to or exceed the cost of the items. This is standard for anything coming from the US, but not as acute for items from the UK. So most of us now are having to stick with Cdn suppliers. I know our "carbon pricing" has a lot to do with the problem, but customs and border folks seem to have direction to nail everything coming over the border. So much for "free trade" eh?

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Shipping costs within the US keep going up, but to other countries they have become ridiculous. UPS, DHL, and FedEX and to a lesser degree USPS found during Covid that people would pay more due to supply chain problems. Once those problems were gone, the shippers kept the prices high.

A terrible thing for those outside the US is VAT/Duties. Parts for our motorcycles have no duties coming into the US and there is no VAT in the US. State-by-State there are Sales Taxes, but generally not outside your state. For instance, I only have a "presence" in Virginia, so I only collect Sales Tax when shipping to Virginia or when someone buys directly from me.

I'm happy to ship anywhere, but to outside the US, buying AN parts from me makes no sense. Amal and Tri-Spark can make sense to Canada but not AU or NZ. Lucas/Hepolite/Girling (Wassel) can make sense to anywhere depending on the dealers in the destination.

I charge what it costs me for shipping.

Old Britts comes up a lot. They were about as expensive as it gets for AN parts - 200-400% markup. When I finally bought out their AN inventory it was pennies on the dollar and that is passed on.

One thing people often forget is that exchange rates change. Right now, they are really good for people in the US to buy from the UK but many of the parts I have were bought when the exchange rate was much worse.