New parts,needing work!

Just assembled a Forum member's forks, Brand new British made stanchions. Now how much work would you think is required on BRITISH MADE stanchions?
Well when i was trained as a fitter in the 60's no part ever passed inspection with enormous burs! I slide my dampers in .and shit they got jammed ,the two large holes had the mother of burs on the inside!
When i expected a finnished part, it's just crap to start getting out the rotory file to finnish British parts, China you are forgiven!!!

Name names. Shame them. They deserve it and we deserve to know who is a weasel.

I have used 3 sets of Emgo Stantons in the last 2 years, all sets fit with out fiddling.
I must be lucky.

Nameing the retailer would be wrong, its the maker that needs a big stick up their ass :!: I have an idea who produced them. about 45 miles away. So that rules andover out!

reminds me of a previous thread where a guy on this forum had the same damper jamming problem, and guess what I suggested the problem could be?

When I put my racer together many many years ago, I bought brand new Norton wrapped stanchions. They were three thou below the minimum diameter. Every pair in the shop was the same, so I made some bushes to fit.

one of my new brake testers in OZ decided to fit new stanchions and bushes while he was fitting my new slider.
he ordered new bushes and stanchions , I believe genuine parts, the bottom bush would not fit over the stanchion bottom and the top bush was to tight on the stanchion , sent it all back and got the same quality stuff in return , so he had to repair/modify the parts.

i have often found the top fork bushes to be at fault oval in shape jamming the stanchions get your micrometer out and check them prior to fitting
does not matter which supplier you choose Andover / Velo / Wassell they all use the same manufacturer ( who made O.E.M for Norton )
the only thing that varies is the supply price UK traders cannot get favourable trade terms from Andover so choose to buy elswhere

Aparently they are not finished with a cutter but roller burnished under pressure to close the surface pores in the oilite material which causes the ovality

with modern CNC machinery can they be made perfectly sized from a suitable solid material so no fettling is required ?

It may be considered as sacrilege by some , but I consider "made in England" as a warning sign these days.

http://www.andover-norton.co.uk/Pirate Parts.htm and then look at Fork Stanchions . Nothing new here : you have what you pay for !

bwolfie said:

I have used 3 sets of Emgo Stantons in the last 2 years, all sets fit with out fiddling. I must be lucky.

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I don't know about lucky, i've used 5 sets of Emgos with zero issues.

i have also had no problems with Emgo stanchions and excellent value for money
ZFD will disagree with that one ( made from cheese i seem to recall was the comment ) and you get what you pay for ? mmmm
lets face it EMGO are a huge supplier of parts in the USA and in Europe so if the quality was an issue i am sure EMGO would have had thier asses sued
long before now and we would all know about it

Emgo are a huge supplier of all things motorcycle and offer BSA/ Triumph / Norton stanchions and possibly some Japanese tubes as well
they use a ( japanese standard ) OEM fork stanchion supplier to produce thier product who make fork tubes for Honda etc

Where do Andover source thier tubes from a small UK engineering firm (that would probarbly fit in the tea room of the EMGO factory )
Who only produce a batch every two years , i recall a comment about AN having to specially purchase the material to make tubes
do they make featherbed tubes at the same time ( same material spec size ) not seen them offered

It is basically a case of scale EMGO have buying power and can commision big quantity to be made in state of the art factorys at low cost

Andover Norton do not have a large customer base so have to make small volume at high cost and then make ridiculous claims ( pirate parts )
Ours are made to factory drawings ( that may be the case but material specs have moved on since 1975 ) drawings are for cave walls
with new CNC machinery and 3D CAD systems re manufacture of a simple Norton stanchion is easy for a Specialist fork tube producer
I guess EMGO are hitting Andover Norton sales harder than anticipated hence the constant sledging from ZFD

bwolfie said:

I have used 3 sets of Emgo Stantons in the last 2 years, all sets fit with out fiddling.
I must be lucky.

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You were lucky, or maybe they have improved the product. I bought a set a few years ago and they needed lathe work before the steel bush and circlip would fit. Someone else in our club bought a set at about the same time, same problems. Also my machinist says the chrome is decorative chrome, not hard chrome, and it will not last very long. Mine seem to be holding up ok so far though. Also I've been told the steel they use is very soft and they bend easily. Watch out for potholes and don't be getting on that front brake too hard! :lol:

"Nameing the retailer would be wrong,"

Well, regardless of whether naming is considered appropriate, IMO it is precisely the retailer who should take the heat because THEY are the ones selling/marketing to the customer. It is the retailer's responsibility to provide what he CLAIMS to be providing. If he cannot supply the proper fitting parts then he needs to change makers or find a different line of work. If the maker is producing crappy parts the retailer should not be selling them.

I have mostly stayed away from Emgo after encountering a problem with an Emgo oil filter that I happened to look inside of before installing on the Commando. Inside there were several sharp metal shavings that appeared to be from the threading operation of the flter. I decided not to use the filter, even though the shards were easy enough to pick out.
I made me wonder what else was caught down in there.
I did get one of their short megaphones last year, no problems and nicely chromed for a $60 megaphone.

On the question of using only British suppliers of parts to ensure quality, The VOC spares company uses mainlyparts from sma ll suppliers in the UK. The parts are highly variable in quality, but better now than they once were. Cost is very high, as you might expect when an item is produced on small old equipment in a tiny damp old shed. One supplier calls his company BIAS engineering, not Bias as on an angle but as in
B.uilt I.n A. S.hed!

There is pressure now for the Spares Company to look worldwide for parts in order to get some more modern manufacturers and better quality along with better pricing. Up until ten years ago the parts supplied from the UK by them were jokingly referred to as "useful lumps", not anything that could be installed without reworking. Perhaps that is why so many vintage bike owners have a mill and lathe on hand.

The new Hinckley Triumphs use parts from all over the world and have gained a reputation as fast (the triples) bullet proof bikes that can easily do 100,000 mileswith only maintenance. Would they be this good and also as competitively priced if Bloor had insisted on UK only components? Not a chance.

There has been previous discussion here on replacement fork bushing size variances...

(don't just blame the stanchion tubes)

These were older steel bushes that fit perfectly on the old stanchions. Also the circlip grooves weren't even close to being the right size.

YMMV I guess.

Debbs, your gaiters are a good idea with the flash chrome on the stanchions! Proper hard chrome is approx '005 thick, and not microns,
Velocette chrome is .001 as is most supplied tubes, again cost fuels the market. a local chromer grinds off approx .005 and plates approx .003 over ,then grinds and polish's ..cost is £130 a pair , thats the old ones supplied...compare that to £38 a set!

debby said:

bwolfie said:

I have used 3 sets of Emgo Stantons in the last 2 years, all sets fit with out fiddling.
I must be lucky.

Click to expand...

You were lucky, or maybe they have improved the product. I bought a set a few years ago and they needed lathe work before the steel bush and circlip would fit. Someone else in our club bought a set at about the same time, same problems. Also my machinist says the chrome is decorative chrome, not hard chrome, and it will not last very long. Mine seem to be holding up ok so far though. Also I've been told the steel they use is very soft and they bend easily. Watch out for potholes and don't be getting on that front brake too hard! :lol:

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Hi all,
gonna throw my 2 pence worth in now.
My forks have been rubbish for years now and were really tight up & down. They also topped out badly .
The upper bushes were really tight over the holes in the bottom of the stauntions but I assumed the bushes would not travel this far down
so put it all together. I thought the insides of the sliders were worn as there was a lot of play.
Ive now had the sliders machined out & steel inserts bonded in. New lower bushes were supplied so now it all slides a lot better.
Also at the same time ive fitted Lansdowne adjustable dampers. I have just finished putting it all together & adjusted the damping.
AT LAST THE FORKS WORK. The forks now compress over bumps & no more topping out. Its actually a comfy ride.
Maybe in a couple of years I may try new stauntions & upper bushes + new springs but for now its a massive improvement.
Cheers JRB at Lansdowne Engineering, now my back does not get jolted over every big bump.
Went for a ride & found out my MOT Test expired (certificate of road worthyness for you lads outside the UK).
Happy Riding guys.

Good to have a chit-chat, many thanks for your custom, hope to get another chance to meet up on the bikes in the future.
regards
John

Don Tovey said:

Hi all,
gonna throw my 2 pence worth in now.
My forks have been rubbish for years now and were really tight up & down. They also topped out badly .
The upper bushes were really tight over the holes in the bottom of the stauntions but I assumed the bushes would not travel this far down
so put it all together. I thought the insides of the sliders were worn as there was a lot of play.
Ive now had the sliders machined out & steel inserts bonded in. New lower bushes were supplied so now it all slides a lot better.
Also at the same time ive fitted Lansdowne adjustable dampers. I have just finished putting it all together & adjusted the damping.
AT LAST THE FORKS WORK. The forks now compress over bumps & no more topping out. Its actually a comfy ride.
Maybe in a couple of years I may try new stauntions & upper bushes + new springs but for now its a massive improvement.
Cheers JRB at Lansdowne Engineering, now my back does not get jolted over every big bump.
Went for a ride & found out my MOT Test expired (certificate of road worthyness for you lads outside the UK).
Happy Riding guys.

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