Genuine

Fullauto said:

I always wondered why people fitted steering dampers to Commandos and I'm still wondering.

Click to expand...

To treat symptoms of a problem they haven't been able to troubleshoot and correct.

grandpaul said:

Fullauto said:

I always wondered why people fitted steering dampers to Commandos and I'm still wondering.

Click to expand...

To treat symptoms of a problem they haven't been able to troubleshoot and correct.

Click to expand...

Yep, sort of like putting a Band-Aid on a bruise.

Fullauto said:

Carbonfibre said:

Rohan said:

Did he meet Elvis ?

Öhlins is the name you think of for serious competition suspension. ??
In quite a lot of fields.

There is a very big difference between serious race winning suspension though, and comfortable road suspension for cooking motorbikes...

Click to expand...

Most people are certainly happy with cheaply made off the shelf suspension, but just because some are content with parts that simply dont work, doesnt mean everyone feels the same! Those that dont want rubbish handling go to people like Maxton, who is I think the only place in the world where you would be able to get top class suspension made in house, for just about any bike you care to mention.

Click to expand...

Quite a statement. It's funny you know, my Commando doesn't have "rubbish handling", in fact it steers and handles beautifully but it doesn't have Maxton suspension.

Gee, I never knew I needed it before you told us about it.

Click to expand...

I would not say a properly fettled Commando had 'rubbish handling'. My choice came from different origins. I am building a Rickman based on a frame only. I had no forks at all and wanted to go in a direction that would be an improvement on the bike I originally built in '75. The Maxton front end should do that. But I would agree that the standard product satisfies many needs.

But in any case the discussion was looking at 'quality' in components and component supply so was simply by way of comparison on my part.

Same logic.... if you don't drive a Mercedes, Bentley, Ferrari or the like for your daily drive, you are therefore, settling to drive a P.O.S. ?

JD

Carbonfibre said:

Rohan said:

Did he meet Elvis ?

Öhlins is the name you think of for serious competition suspension. ??
In quite a lot of fields.

There is a very big difference between serious race winning suspension though, and comfortable road suspension for cooking motorbikes...

Click to expand...

Most people are certainly happy with cheaply made off the shelf suspension, but just because some are content with parts that simply dont work, doesnt mean everyone feels the same! Those that dont want rubbish handling go to people like Maxton, who is I think the only place in the world where you would be able to get top class suspension made in house, for just about any bike you care to mention.

Click to expand...

Well I had to smile today. I have a Pre-featherbed fork conversion Model 7 1953.
As i use Commando stanchions i called in Norvil, I had a choice , Genuine or Pattern..So i asked the question.
Reply " Genuine are £86 pattern £70" I asked "what is the differance"? other than £16 quid :lol:

Well one pair had a genuine Norvil lable,the other NOT!

Basicly one set Birmingham the other anyone's guess, well i could not under stand the wrapping writing.

Reading between the lines, Purchase's from well regarded suppliers get the Norvil bag,others dont. So i have answered my own original post.

About a year ago i had a set of my adjustable dampers on EBay, I had a email "Are these Genuine Lansdowne dampers" made me smile

jeffdavison said:

Same logoc.... if you don't drive a Mercedes, Bentley, Ferrari or the like for your daily drive, you are therefore, settling to drive a P.O.S. ?

Click to expand...

YAHTZEE!

Fullauto said:

Carbonfibre said:

Rohan said:

Did he meet Elvis ?

Öhlins is the name you think of for serious competition suspension. ??
In quite a lot of fields.

There is a very big difference between serious race winning suspension though, and comfortable road suspension for cooking motorbikes...

Click to expand...

Most people are certainly happy with cheaply made off the shelf suspension, but just because some are content with parts that simply dont work, doesnt mean everyone feels the same! Those that dont want rubbish handling go to people like Maxton, who is I think the only place in the world where you would be able to get top class suspension made in house, for just about any bike you care to mention.

Click to expand...

Quite a statement. It's funny you know, my Commando doesn't have "rubbish handling", in fact it steers and handles beautifully but it doesn't have Maxton suspension.

Gee, I never knew I needed it before you told us about it.

Click to expand...

If you dont have quality suspension, then I would think its pretty difficult to work out whether this is likely to improve your bike or not? In most cases stock suspension is pretty poor, and while its perfectly ok for bikes which are ridden relatively slowly, a quality set up will make an enormous amount of difference on bikes which are used harder.

SteveA said:

Carbonfibre said:

I would have thought anyone with much knowledge of serious motorcycling would know exactly who Ron Williams is?

Click to expand...

Ron Williams has retired now, but the business supplies a huge section of the classic racing world as well as modern bikes, and few know as much about making a bike work around the Isle of Man. They are extremely well respected in the racing world, and they will improve any road bike for actually very little cost comparative to standard parts.

And yes they know a bit about Commando forks, they do Manx and Seeley front ends, based on the standard Norton fork sliders and the rest built by them, or they will mod your Commando ones as you want, but they recommend using their own sliders, which are a '70s Ceriani replica, in which they can more accurately fit better bushes and achieve lower stiction, and before you say yes of course they would, the cost is around the same for either due to the extra machining and fitting required on the Norton sliders.

Take a look at the Classic Manx and you will find a huge amount of there products and it is the same in the UK Classic Racing MC race paddock.

Click to expand...

I would think anyone who is serious about getting any classic bike to work as well as can possibly be expected, wouldnt go far wrong with Maxton suspension! Most people think suspension is a simply a case of bolting on parts, but in reality its a bit like jetting a carb from scratch, in that a bike fitted with a carb with settings that are an educated guess is not going to run anywhere near as well as one thats been properly tuned on a rolling road.

Carbonfibre said:

SteveA said:

Carbonfibre said:

I would have thought anyone with much knowledge of serious motorcycling would know exactly who Ron Williams is?

Click to expand...

Ron Williams has retired now, but the business supplies a huge section of the classic racing world as well as modern bikes, and few know as much about making a bike work around the Isle of Man. They are extremely well respected in the racing world, and they will improve any road bike for actually very little cost comparative to standard parts.

And yes they know a bit about Commando forks, they do Manx and Seeley front ends, based on the standard Norton fork sliders and the rest built by them, or they will mod your Commando ones as you want, but they recommend using their own sliders, which are a '70s Ceriani replica, in which they can more accurately fit better bushes and achieve lower stiction, and before you say yes of course they would, the cost is around the same for either due to the extra machining and fitting required on the Norton sliders.

Take a look at the Classic Manx and you will find a huge amount of there products and it is the same in the UK Classic Racing MC race paddock.

Click to expand...

I would think anyone who is serious about getting any classic bike to work as well as can possibly be expected, wouldnt go far wrong with Maxton suspension! Most people think suspension is a simply a case of bolting on parts, but in reality its a bit like jetting a carb from scratch, in that a bike fitted with a carb with settings that are an educated guess is not going to run anywhere near as well as one thats been properly tuned on a rolling road.

Click to expand...

Disagree.

Maxon ceriani forks and dampers will cost over £1500, I will agree they are well made, I have a few on the bench i have replaced
Regarding Manx ,check out next seasons Lansdowne race's i think i now have 8 bikes with the Lansdowne-Kits in. which is 1/3.
With last years winner. But you will already know that with going and meeting and chating to the racers. :?: ...did you say No , never been?:

john robert bould said:

Well I had to smile today. I have a Pre-featherbed fork conversion Model 7 1953.
As i use Commando stanchions i called in Norvil, I had a choice , Genuine or Pattern..So i asked the question.
Reply " Genuine are £86 pattern £70" I asked "what is the differance"? other than £16 quid :lol:

Well one pair had a genuine Norvil lable,the other NOT!

Basicly one set Birmingham the other anyone's guess, well i could not under stand the wrapping writing.

Reading between the lines, Purchase's from well regarded suppliers get the Norvil bag,others dont. So i have answered my own original post.

About a year ago i had a set of my adjustable dampers on EBay, I had a email "Are these Genuine Lansdowne dampers" made me smile

Click to expand...

I know only one "Genuine" as far as Norton Commando spares go, and that is "Genuine Norton Factory Parts" made by Andover Norton. Obviously everybody can call what he sells "Genuine Myname", i.e. Genuine Hemmings, Genuine Russell Motors, Genuine Whatchamacallit.
Whether you attach value to somebody's self-made fancy labels is your choice. My choice for my Norton spares shop was, even years before I became the owner of Andover Norton, to rely on the only source that makes the goods according to the factory spec. I don't believe in price as the main criterion, I believe in the correct quality.

John, I don't think you have answered your original post, because you still don't see the difference between what we supply and what others supply under their own invented trademarks. Only the stuff with our labels and, shortly, stanchions with our marks on will show you you got the real thing, not some substitute sourced by a retailer with one purpose only which is to increase his revenue.

Joe Seifert

I have a genuine Fullauto Technologies head on my bike. Very rare.

Fullauto,
I have to give you, though they are not a Genuine Norton Factory Part, they are very nice and well-made. Had a look at one at Mick Hemmings Motorcycles in Northampton. Not something Andover Norton will do shortly, so I think it is good you fill the gap. Officially I should probably not say so.
Joe

Thanks Joe. I remember reading an article in the British bike press about you a couple of years back and you said that you weren't going to produce heads because of the tooling costs. I'd already spent my money by then. Somebody will probably have them made in "the Far East" or "Eastern Europe" to quote somebody on this very thread and sell them for peanuts. The fact that they will be total rubbish and not take "Genuine Norton" parts won't matter to some because "they'll be cheap", which is what really matters in the end, doesn't it?

When price is the only criterion people should probably stay away from getting quality spares for their bikes.

Eastern Europeans aren't stupid, and the cheapo days are long gone in most of their countries. A lot of "clever" German managers are currently moving production back into the country. "Going East" has proven an expensive error in product quality and/or labour rates terms for most of them.

It makes me wonder why the cheapskate Norton owners got a Norton in the first place. I should have thought a secondhand Korean 125 was far cheaper?

Joe

Joe,

Any word / further information regarding the pictures of the tool marked fender I sent off to you?

Thanks

JD

Jeff,
Re. fender. Sorry, everybody and his dog wanted Norton parts before Christmas. We (Andover Norton Team) have discussed it and it looks as if our manufacturer has failed to polish the tool marks out on some of the last batch. As they are not normally unwrapped before we put them in store they slipped through. A case of their foreman supposedly off ill and nobody giving a s**t in his absence. We have now checked the remaining examples and will have them polished up.
I can't offer anything that but you send yours back to Old Britts for exchange and we sort out with Fred and Ella what to do with the offending fenders (!) they have in stock.
Regards
Joe

I'll give Ella a call to work it out then.(edit)... just got off the phone with Ella. She'll contact you / wait to hear from you on the timeline and exchange process.
Thanks

JD

ZFD said:

Jeff,
Re. fender. Sorry, everybody and his dog wanted Norton parts before Christmas. We (Andover Norton Team) have discussed it and it looks as if our manufacturer has failed to polish the tool marks out on some of the last batch. As they are not normally unwrapped before we put them in store they slipped through. A case of their foreman supposedly off ill and nobody giving a s**t in his absence. We have now checked the remaining examples and will have them polished up.
I can't offer anything that but you send yours back to Old Britts for exchange and we sort out with Fred and Ella what to do with the offending fenders (!) they have in stock.
Regards
Joe

Click to expand...

Jeff,
Have just sent an email to Fred and Ella to sort it.
Joe

Disagree.

Maxon ceriani forks and dampers will cost over £1500, I will agree they are well made, I have a few on the bench i have replaced
Regarding Manx ,check out next seasons Lansdowne race's i think i now have 8 bikes with the Lansdowne-Kits in. which is 1/3.
With last years winner. But you will already know that with going and meeting and chating to the racers. :?: ...did you say No , never been?:[/quote]

John,

I am not sure who your are digging at with this comment, or why?. I paid Maxtons price and am content, might I suggest it is not a good sales technique to critisise others simply because they did not buy your products, especially if the reason is that they have never actually been in the market for your products.

The bike is not a Commando or a featherbed and I had nothing to start with. As an option I priced a complete set of Norton style forks to the standard I wanted based on new parts, but the difference was not as great as you suggest because I needed every part.

Not that I wanted Norton forks for a bike that never had them, ideally I wanted Betor as originally fitted, but could not find any. As for your products, I did not know they existed until I searched after your quoted postings! They look interesting if you have Norton forks, but I don't, if I ever do I will take another look. Nobody I have spoken to in the 8 visits I have made to CRMC paddock over the last two years have ever mentioned them! But then again those with Manx Nortons don't talk to the rest of us very much!

No, if indeed your comment was aimed at me, I have never been to a Lansdowne series race, and have to say I probably never will, my time is limited due to spending most of my time 800 mies away, so I will only go to race meetings I have entered myself (CRMC).

SteveA,
My reponce is to Carbofibre,who stated that Maxtons conversions are "Cheap compared to standard parts" CarbonFibre as not responded to my remarks yet.