fork stanchions

Orsonoce · Nov 13, 2011

hi there, I am upgrading to landsdowne, and am going thru a complete refurbishing of front forks. Found one of the stanchion a bit bent -like 1-2 mm, (1/10 of an inch).

I am buying a new pair. I see on ebay prices that are half the usual suppliers prices (andover-norton is about 40 pounds each, and on ebay you can get a pair at 45£) what you think? I of course to not want to buy crap stuff. But at the same time do not want to buy the same product and pay twice.
Where would you buy from (uk)?

thanks

bwolfie · Nov 13, 2011

I have recently purchased 2 sets of the Emgo brand fork tubes. They both were nicely finished , straight and fit without any problems. So for my money they worked out well.

Carbonfibre · Nov 13, 2011

Why not just get the bent tube straightened? This will be perfectly ok, as you only have a very slight bend.

Orsonoce · Nov 13, 2011

it's uneven (consumed) and one has lost the chrome plating in one part for about 3-4 inches. I was already thinking about changing them even before realising it was slightly bent.

john robert bould · Nov 13, 2011

Contact Velocette LTD, they supply excellent stanchions. English made .approx £70

Orsonoce · Nov 13, 2011

thanks John... will do.

debby · Nov 13, 2011

bwolfie said:
I have recently purchased 2 sets of the Emgo brand fork tubes. They both were nicely finished , straight and fit without any problems. So for my money they worked out well.

Have you tried fitting the lower bushes and circlips yet? I bought a set and they required lathe work to get the bushes and circlips to fit. Someone else in our club also bought a set, same thing. If you have access to a lathe and don't mind doing some cleanup work I guess they're ok. I've been told the chrome plating is show chrome, not hard chrome, and won't last very long. So far mine have held up ok. This was about six years ago. Maybe they've improved since then.

Debby

bwolfie · Nov 13, 2011

Both sets slid together with no problems. I don't know if the problems were on the earlier sets.

Flo · Nov 13, 2011

Mine are years old, but had the opposite. Had to shim the bottom dia. out because they were too small for the bushes.
Was going to buy a new pair last year, when it was apart, but Mr. Hemmings was out of stock, so the old ones went back on.
He did warn me not to put cheap ones on, but he would, wouldn't he.

john robert bould · Nov 14, 2011

Flo said:
Mine are years old, but had the opposite. Had to shim the bottom dia. out because they were too small for the bushes.
Was going to buy a new pair last year, when it was apart, but Mr. Hemmings was out of stock, so the old ones went back on.
He did warn me not to put cheap ones on, but he would, wouldn't he.

They say "you get what you pay for"!"
I have found some £38 a pair Indian tubes , But the "chrome" looks very sparce,and some threads are rough and look like barbed wire cut.
Velocette sell excellent tubes ,plus the size's are spot on. Little more cost wise. but again QUAILITY!

Orsonoce · Nov 14, 2011

john what about the stuff Mick sells (guess is andover norton). is that as good (if you happen to know...)?

Matt Spencer · Nov 14, 2011

Once , the Race Brigade used High Tensile steel replacements along with thier chromemolly cheater frames,
so coustom built ones could be done to a high specification , with chrome almost supuflous , if useing gaiters.

ZFD · Nov 15, 2011

Difference between Andover Norton Genuine fork stanchions and ALL others is the material of the tubes, and more often than not the finish. We use seamless steel tube from the correct steel, and just to get it made we have to buy two tons of tubing per purchase. They are then machined, ground to size and hard chromed.
The difference is in strength. You'll see it if you run into the back of a car and even though the car does't even have a dent in the bumper your beautiful Chinese stanchions (I forget the brand name) or even imitations from GB (forgot their name, too) bend and are fit only for the trash can.
I know, saw it on the Triumph of a friend's son, he did it three times in his first year of having a motorcycle license! Same make/material stanchions as the Chinese "sort of Norton fitting" ones you get so cheaply.
The old story- you get what you pay for.
Joe Seifert

john robert bould · Nov 15, 2011

ZFD said:
Difference between Andover Norton Genuine fork stanchions and ALL others is the material of the tubes, and more often than not the finish. We use seamless steel tube from the correct steel, and just to get it made we have to buy two tons of tubing per purchase. They are then machined, ground to size and hard chromed.
The difference is in strength. You'll see it if you run into the back of a car and even though the car does't even have a dent in the bumper your beautiful Chinese stanchions (I forget the brand name) or even imitations from GB (forgot their name, too) bend and are fit only for the trash can.
I know, saw it on the Triumph of a friend's son, he did it three times in his first year of having a motorcycle license! Same make/material stanchions as the Chinese "sort of Norton fitting" ones you get so cheaply.
The old story- you get what you pay for.
Joe Seifert

I would have thought Bending is good, after all all safety features built into cars have weakness built in, hitting the rear of a car with something solid aint good?

ZFD · Nov 15, 2011

Bending is fine when required- but not with minimum provocation. With the flimsy size of Roadholder stanchions I prefer less flexibility. And I speak from experience- I race a Garden Gate Manx with LONG Roadholders. Flex at its best!

Orsonoce · Nov 15, 2011

thanks Joe, makes sense to me. I defo do not wanna buy some cheap chinese stuff that will cause me trouble.
Does not make sense to buy cheap stuff on such important component.

swooshdave · Nov 15, 2011

If the tubes don't bend then something else will, like triple clamps or worse, frame.

debby · Nov 15, 2011

The cheap tubes will bend just from hitting a pothole.

ZFD · Nov 15, 2011

Swooshdave,
You need to compromise with the genuine Norton fork stanchions. The front wheel will stay where it belongs in slow accidents (and through potholes), in faster accidents the tubes will give, even faster the yokes and steering head. I recommend planning the crash carefully, preferrably days in advance to get the preferred result!
Joe

fork stanchions

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