Wassell stanchions - good? bad? (2012)

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B+Bogus

B+Bogus

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Before I go shopping... has anyone got an opinion of Wassel's stanchions?
Any 'superior' alternatives?

TIA
 
B+Bogus said:
Before I go shopping... has anyone got an opinion of Wassel's stanchions?
Any 'superior' alternatives?
Click to expand...

It's unlikely they will be made from the same grade of steel tubing or have the same depth of plating as the AN stanchions.

fork-stanchions-t11547.html?hilit=stanchions
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.
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Haven't bothered to test the plating, but at least the Triumph stanchions from that source bend like they were made of copper tubing on impact. Our seamless tubing from the correct grade of steel is probably the biggest difference. I guess it must also make a difference in stability of the forks when riding but, dare I say it, would rather not test pattern stanchions on one of my Commandos- I love my Commandos too much. They might sulk.....
 
Thanks - it's pretty much what I suspected.

I remember that years ago some of Wassell's stuff was 'proper' OEM, but times change... :(
 
ZFD said:
Haven't bothered to test the plating, but at least the Triumph stanchions from that source bend like they were made of copper tubing on impact. Our seamless tubing from the correct grade of steel is probably the biggest difference. I guess it must also make a difference in stability of the forks when riding but, dare I say it, would rather not test pattern stanchions on one of my Commandos- I love my Commandos too much. They might sulk.....
Click to expand...


Bending on impact.....sounds good! Only a few quid to relpace, better than damaging the frame :!: These over seas designers have built in frame saving stanchions :!:
I thought car manufactures where clever with "crumple" zones ,your statement "copper tube "is a bit over the top, steel in its mildest form will not bend in normal use, Hobot excluded here!
 
Using the same logic you'd probably want to make frames from copper tubing, too. Easier to bend back instead of buying a new frame, forget about stability and roadholding! As long as it is cheap........
 
ZFD said:
Using the same logic you'd probably want to make frames from copper tubing, too. Easier to bend back instead of buying a new frame, forget about stability and roadholding! As long as it is cheap........
Click to expand...

Joe,
The cheap stanchions are of vairing quaility,my gripe with them is the standard of finnish,Threads are sometimes poor and the "chrome" is poor,
I personaly would use "our" British made parts ,but not because they are stronger.
Keep up the good work and all the best.
www.lansdowne-engineering.com
 
Hmmm...

I was more convinced by LABs response than the other dialogue - if someone had Brinell tested both types that would have been a more persuasive argument!

Having worked on aircraft, crash-worthiness has never been an issue, and I'm inclined to extend that philosophy to fork stanchions.
I've also been involved in repairing motorcycles for some time, and I've sent stanchions to be ground and chromed before---the first job is to straighten them. Not from impact damage, but from normal use.

They do bend, and certainly will under provocation. I was just wondering if they'd fit... :roll:
 
I hope people won;t mind if I resurrect this ancient thread? I'm interested in this as I will soon be buying stanchions for a T150. Quality seems to vary a lot between the various (unkown) manufacturers. I have a pair of stanchions with good looking chrome, but with an ID so large that the O rings on the damper pistons don't even touch the sides!

I had a set of B50 stanchions straightened last year. They were originals, with only slight bowing. The workshop that carried the work out did a great job but commented that it took a lot longer than expected because they had to bend them some way beyond flat because there was so much 'spring' in them. The Wassell / other modern copies must be plain mild steel because these will straighten on a press very easily.

I've also had new stanchions ("Made In England" but no idea by whom) which had poor finish to the chrome plating, as if they'd been gone over with fine emery paper.

So, to go back to the original question, can anyone recommend a source of decent quality stanchions (hopefully for Triumphs as well as Nortons)?
 
Rather than a mirror-like finish, inner tubes for hydraulic cylinders appear to have a semi-matte finish (like crosshatch bores?) possibly to lap the seal to the tube?
 
Tigernut said:
I hope people won;t mind if I resurrect this ancient thread? I'm interested in this as I will soon be buying stanchions for a T150. Quality seems to vary a lot between the various (unkown) manufacturers. I have a pair of stanchions with good looking chrome, but with an ID so large that the O rings on the damper pistons don't even touch the sides!

I had a set of B50 stanchions straightened last year. They were originals, with only slight bowing. The workshop that carried the work out did a great job but commented that it took a lot longer than expected because they had to bend them some way beyond flat because there was so much 'spring' in them. The Wassell / other modern copies must be plain mild steel because these will straighten on a press very easily.

I've also had new stanchions ("Made In England" but no idea by whom) which had poor finish to the chrome plating, as if they'd been gone over with fine emery paper.

So, to go back to the original question, can anyone recommend a source of decent quality stanchions (hopefully for Triumphs as well as Nortons)?
Click to expand...

LP Williams without a doubt for Triumph stanchions
sam
 
Beware of stanchions made by Velocette in Meriden. I got a set for a friends Trident I was working on. They were crap. They measured .0015" undersize on the main dia. & .003" & .006" oversize on the top reduced sections. Also the two diameters were not concentric by a mile. They wouldn't have fitted using a 50 ton press! The box said made in England & they came from TMS. I sent them back & phoned only to be told that after checking all the others in stock were the same. This is no reflection on TMS who I have always found to be good to deal with, but if this is the best we can do in England it's pretty sad. I fitted a pair of LH Harris ones & these were very good.
The Wassell stanchions are as far as I am aware are made in Taiwan by Emgo, who make good quality parts on modern machinery these days. What grade of tube they use I do not know.

Martyn
 
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I use the same grinder as velocette, for some reason they pay a straightening charge, I don't and never have after having around 2,000 metres of tube ground and hard chromed. Sadly I don't make CDS T140 stanchions. As the grinder says, our CDS tube is superior to other tube he sees for fork stanchions. I specify the material spec, and dimension, because of this have to order 2.2T at a time.
 
Interesting experiences from others on this subject. I should have mentioned that before O had my B50 stanchions straightened I bought a set of 'Made In England' stanchions from an Ebay seller. These were just wrong. For a start, they just slid into the bottom yoke, whereas I had to heat it (on B50s, the yokes are alloy) to get the originals out. With suspicions raised, I miked them and the originals. The new ones were .007" smaller diameter on the lower section (over which the oil seal passes and which runs in the aluminium fork leg).

I didn't find out who was the manufacturer. I wonder how many manufacturers there are, of these 1970s Brit bike stanchions? Which is why I seriously wonder who to trust when it comes to retailers. If LP Williams are known to only stock the good stuff (for Triumphs), that's good to know. I have bought from them, and from TMS for years, but it is true that TMS at least aren't always sure of what they're selling. I bought a twistgrip from them which was very shoddy. they agreed when i returned it and explained why, but they said they;d sold loads without complaint and hadn't noticed the faults until I pointed them out (the two halves didn't fit neatly together, but had on overlap of at least 2mm, which I;d have though was visible a mile off).

I will look into ABE, never heard of them before.
 
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