Parts Quality

Since my drama with the solenoid I have had another new part fail. I had a bad leak from the oil filter. I assumed I just hadn't tightenned a hoseclamp enough or the filter wasn't tight but it turns out the fitting leaks where the little steel tubes are pressed into the casting!
This is a new part also. The original was missing from the bike when I bought it.
Is it just me or are there serious quality issues with all the parts. I have also had problems with new chain tensioner plungers, oil lines and other odd parts. I assume most of the suppliers are sourcing the parts from the same place. i.e. a lot of Norvil parts are just marked up Andover items and others are just from the same third party.
I guess maybe this is why professional restorers make such a fuss about NOS parts.

shedweller said:

Is it just me or are there serious quality issues with all the parts. I have also had problems with new chain tensioner plungers, oil lines and other odd parts. I assume most of the suppliers are sourcing the parts from the same place. i.e. a lot of Norvil parts are just marked up Andover items and others are just from the same third party.

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I think many of us here have encountered this problem with new parts, myself included, for instance, when I needed to fit a (new genuine) oil junction block a few months back when I noticed one of the metal pipes of the one fitted had been partly crushed at some point in its past, the new one seemed to fit just fine when I pushed it into position, however when I then installed it with the bolt the block oil feed hole was pulled out of correct alignment with the spigot, as a result the spigot dug into the side of the hole and the assembly did not *quite* pull down against the gasket properly, -yet it all looked fine, oil then started pouring out of the joint as soon as I started to refill the oil tank! After I removed a little metal from the inside of the block hole where the spigot had dug into it, it was fine.

But is all this down to the new genuine parts being incorrectly made?
Or could many of these problems actually be due to the original parts themselves not being made accurately?

I wonder if the Norton assembly workers selectively fitted various parts on the production line? My guess would be that this probably did happen occasionally?

There have been many pattern parts made and then sold by parts suppliers over the years, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that, as some original parts became unavailable, and replacements were commissioned by the parts suppliers themselves as Norvil and others have done in order to be able to keep on supplying certain items. However when these pattern 'Norton' parts fail or don't fit, then Andover always seems to get the blame!

I have seen a lot of those 'Emgo' Commando oil filter kits offered for sale (on eBay) and I have no idea where these filters and housings come from?
You haven't mentioned if the filter housing was a genuine one or not? Maybe it was and was just a faulty item?
If the parts did not come individually plastic wrapped with a "Genuine Norton Factory Parts" card inside, then there's no guarantee that they are genuine Andover Norton parts.

I know for a fact that there are parts manufactured in India and Asia. I think you are pretty safe if you buy genuine Norton parts. I have also run into problems with pattern parts. The parts suppliers I deal with, British Cycle Supply and Walridge Motors will usually give you the option of original or economy parts. A heads up is usually that the asian part is about half the cost of the original.

I've had a lot of quality issues with genuine Andover Norton parts, purchased from reputable dealers and delivered in the factory packaging, complete with the card (i.e., not pattern parts being misrepresented as genuine parts).

It's nice that new parts are available but disappointing that the quality is so poor.

Debby

I've had an oil filter housing with a stub that I found during maintenance could be pulled out by hand. There is a problem here with the original design because the stubs are not cast or screwed in and rely solely on a small amount of interference. Clearly something that should have been improved upon.

I fear that the Andover operation is actually just a small retail operation that commissions parts and relies on their suppliers for quality control. I don't have the impression of a department full of engineers destruction testing every batch.

79x100 said:

I fear that the Andover operation is actually just a small retail operation that commissions parts and relies on their suppliers for quality control. I don't have the impression of a department full of engineers destruction testing every batch.

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I agree, Andover Norton may not actually manufacture anything! But then again, the old Norton factory probably didn't either?

L.A.B. said:

I agree, Andover Norton may not actually manufacture anything! But then again, the old Norton factory probably didn't either?

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Bracebridge Street made lots, Woolwich made quite a bit, Andover made very little (but they did thrash the products round Thruxton a lot !) and Wolverhampton at the end was just an operation that sorted the least-worst parts out of the scrap bins ! :roll:

79x100 said:

Bracebridge Street made lots, Woolwich made quite a bit, Andover made very little (but they did thrash the products round Thruxton a lot !) and Wolverhampton at the end was just an operation that sorted the least-worst parts out of the scrap bins !

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Yes, I was thinking rather more of the Commando era of Norton factory production. Didn't R T Shelley make a lot of the parts for Bracebridge Street?

L.A.B. said:

Yes, I was thinking rather more of the Commando era of Norton factory production. Didn't R T Shelley make a lot of the parts for Bracebridge Street?

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Ah, but you said the "old" Norton factory and that threw me ! Shelleys were in the same Bracebridge / Aston Brook Street area anyway.

Nothing wrong with out-sourcing components but quality control should amount to rather more than a machine for heat-sealing plastic bags !

79x100 said:

Ah, but you said the "old" Norton factory and that threw me ! Shelleys were in the same Bracebridge / Aston Brook Street area anyway.

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Yes sorry, as I would think of the 'new' factory as being Shenstone.

I, too, have found “genuine” Norton parts to be lacking in quality control; quite frankly, I don’t think there is any QC. Moreover, there is no incentive to develop a QC program. In the old days, when Norton manufactured complete bikes, there was a modicum of incentive. You see back then management wanted the part to bolt up to its mating component and function more or less properly at least through the warranty period. But with the demise of the complete motorcycle, the bike warranty incentive is gone.

Now that Andover Norton is owned by Norton Motors and has been moved to Hungerford hopefully there could be some improvement to the quality of parts?

Reading an article of the recent events at Norton Motors and ANIL in the latest issue of 'Roadholder' the NOC UK magazine, I am quite sure that the Norton Motors/ANIL team are dedicated to improving the quality of their parts, but I expect it is likely to take some time for this to happen, also mentioned in the article was that prices were likely to rise as a result of many parts only being made in small batches at a time, and also to ensure the financial viability of the spares operation.

L.A.B. said:

Now that Andover Norton is owned by Norton Motors and has been moved to Hungerford hopefully there could be some improvement to the quality of parts?

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Let's hope that will be the case. It does sound like the new management team may be more interested in the pursuit of quality.

I certainly wouldn't mind paying more to get parts that actually fit. Of course if they doubled or tripled prices I might be annoyed, but I could always go price some Ducati parts to put things in perspective.

Debby

As a matter of interest it is an Andover part. I have only bought one "non-genuine"part and was quickly cured of that!
I have found by pretty careful comparison that Andover were by far the cheapest of the three biggest suppliers available to me in Oz. Others being Norvil (most expensive) and Old Britts (great service). The kiwi guys have a great catalogue but always seem to be out of stock of what you want!
To Nick and Andover's credit they have never quibbled over sending replacement parts but it is very frustrating and time consuming.

I bought an Emglo oil filter a couple of years ago for the Norton. I brought it along on a 2200 mile road trip planning that I would change the oil somewhere along the way. Unfortunately I removed/destroyed the existing filter before giving the Emglo a good inspection. Large metal shards from the thread cutting operation were still inside the Emglo filter in plain view. I removed what I could see of the shards and used the filter, since I had to get the bike operational again in order to continue on my way.
Not a good feeling using a junk part like that though, that was the first and only time I have opted for the econo part!