Rocker Pipes / Banjos New Parts Nightmare! SOLVED + Photo

[Swarfcut]

Pete, The answer looks to be the curse of pattern parts once more. Correctly matched tapers will end up with the bolt flange almost touching the outer face of the banjo, so well spotted by "hawkeye" RD ....the gap is the clue.

 So, producing a matching taper locally should fix it. Sending it back for exchange or refund is another option, but the logistics are not cost effective for either party. A tactfully worded request for a refund without returning the goods may also work, but at least the supplier should be aware that the parts are simply not to spec or incorrectly listed.

 Good chance these are well distributed through the supply chain and may well turn up when ordered through other sources. If you get the result you want, name the supplier for praise for good customer service. If you don't, I for one would like to know so I can avoid similar problems.

 Short term fix would be to attempt to make your own flat faced bolt, duplicating the drilled holes, and sealing against the banjo flat face with a soft washer.

 Swarfy.

[Peter Gee]

Yes indeed I have checked the ones supplied against the CBS version I pictured and it is totally the case that they have been wrongly made, and very much like you suspect I would think these are probably Indian items now in the supply chain everywhere...CBS only has 4 left they are likely older stock.

I have written the vendor and explained everything, we will see if I get a reply.

I am going to try and lap the bolts to the miserably non-existent tapers on the new set. Otherwise I am going to have a 3 week wait to import something else. Highly annoying.

Here is the offending set to compare with CBS set of better ones.

[Swarfcut]

Pete, Good chance the taper is 45 degrees. A simple countersink bit from your woodwork kit might be tough enough to cut a deeper, wider taper, or try local machine shop, file, Dremel, steady hand, magic, hope, anything you have to hand. Good luck..... let us know how you get on. Discreet pic identity noted.

 Swarfy.

[RogerSB]

Should we start to name the suppliers who sell us these sub-standard parts, or perhaps give an obvious clue to who they are? Then we can all avoid them.

[coater87]

Should we start to name the suppliers who sell us these sub-standard parts, or perhaps give an obvious clue to who they are? Then we can all avoid them.

 It does not help, at all.

 Lee

 

[Peter Gee]

Well, I have lapped in the tappet bolts...marked each one for a dedicated banjo and used fine valve paste. Took a while with now the bolts seal and under 30 lbs of air, tested with water too. seems to have done the job but I hate being ''on the edge' vs solid ground.

[Peter Gee]

Dear Roger SB..we are part of the problem..has anyone ever moaned at price like Classic Bikers? So what is the vendor to do? I think it's up to us to do our diligence and ask searching questions, according to our profile. I restore to compete in international shows. I have standard X. Someone else has standard Y. Bless us all. As long as they all run.

[berger]

this problem with parts not being as they should be has been around a long time. in the mid 80's I bought a gear box sprocket from a well known set up that had a full page advert in motorcycle mags with very small print because the list of BSA spares was endless. a couple of years later when I fitted it I had rear chain tension problems. after much scratching of my noggin and putting it in a lathe the conclusion was it was oval and ran out of true as well, I tried to get them to swap it but they copped a deaf un , I never bought from them again

[JulianS]

Unfortunately many of the new parts, no matter from whom we buy, come from the warehouses of just 2 major wholesalers - wassell and mca.

[RogerSB]

Unfortunately many of the new parts, no matter from whom we buy, come from the warehouses of just 2 major wholesalers - wassell and mca.

Yes, and there's EMGO International from Taiwan, worldwide suppliers who partner with Wassel.

I've had several sub-standard parts supplied to me recently - all were returned with a complaint and either good replacements were supplied or my money spent refunded.

The one that took the biscuit, for me, was a clutch pushrod that was far too short and supplied by feked in 2017. On complaining to them I was told that they knew the batch they had in stock were short, so there's no point in sending me a replacement. I then asked for a refund and was told they will only refund on return of the faulty pushrod.  So I did just that on the following day and I also demanded a refund for the return postage cost incurred for returning a useless length of steel rod that they shouldn't have sent me in the first place  . The full amount was duly refunded (see receipt). Did they initially rely on me writing off the faulty pushrod at my expense, like so many others may have done? .
.
Then very recently I bought a new rear wheel sprocket (not a cheap item by any means and stamped Made in England) and also an imported bearing to go in it. The bearing went in the hole with light finger pressure and dropped out again when the sprocket was turned upside down  .  I jumped to the conclusion that the imported bearing was under size. Both were returned to the retailer (Monty's Classic Motorcycles), who I know and fairly local to me. Monty checked both while I was there and it turned out that it was the sprocket that was faulty (hole slightly too big) and the imported bearing was perfectly ok. Monty was very apologetic and also very annoyed and said he was going to phone the manufacture and give them some stick.

In my view this is the only hope and leverage we have that may prevent manufacturers and suppliers glibly passing on faulty or sub-standard goods. If we just accept it and take the financial hit ourselves it's sure to continue and will probably even get worse.

[KiwiGF]

Unfortunately many of the new parts, no matter from whom we buy, come from the warehouses of just 2 major wholesalers - wassell and mca.

Here’s a quote from a previous post of mine, about “Aerco”.......I know someone who has visited the factory, albeit years ago, at that time Aerco boasted they could make a complete velocette from parts they made, they “collect” orders (not just for bsa parts but other brands) from wholesalers around the world and when they have enough orders (which make many months, even years) they make a batch, and every so often they make a bad batch.......and when that happens they fulfil the orders and won’t give refunds to the wholesalers which is why we often end up with em. It’s just the way they do business.

“I've been told that a high percentage of British bike parts are made by Aerco  jig and tool of Birmingham, and whose parts are often of dubious quality due to lack of quality control, but they offer little in the way of warranty to the companies that buy from them.

made in uk is not necessarily a good thing....

most major suppliers will be buying parts from Aerco which means if you get a problem with one supplier the same problem can occur with another as the ultimate source of the part is the Aerco.

some  suppliers wholesaling Aerco products will dump a bad batch from Aerco and take the loss, others will try to offload them and avoid the loss.

given the fact the parts suppliers seem to rely heavily on Aerco it seems we have to put up with Aerco (and other similar suppliers) quality problems and just hope the situation improves over time without the cost rising!”

[berger]

oh so uk does make things but they are not very good, well there's a surprise in this present era. 

[RogerSB]

A lot of you on here will have heard of Les Harris, who started to manufactured parts for British motorcycles in the mid 70s and also started to make Triumphs again, under licence in 1983, after the Meriden factory closed. Les had a shop in Paignton, Devon and being on my doorstep I bought a lot of parts from him to restore my Brit bikes in the 80s. His parts were always made to a very high quality.

For my recent A10 front fork overhaul I ordered a pair of chrome oil seal holders from Monty's Classic Motorcycles. Monty told me they would be high quality because he gets them from LF Harris International Ltd in Torquay, so happy and full of confidence I placed my order.  This was at the same time as I ordered the rear wheel sprocket mentioned in reply #24.

When I drove to Monty's to collect the parts ordered I decided to take my fork legs with me - and it was a good job I did because the new oil seal holders wouldn't screw onto the slider threads - no matter how hard Monty tried  . His assessment was that the chrome finish had got into the threads and had made them too tight to fit the slider threads. Once again Monty wasn't a happy bunny, this time with LF Harris International and said he would give them some stick also. I don't know who's controls LF Harris now because Les died in 2009.  In the end I ordered stainless steel ones from Simon of Barleycorn Engineering - and even that wasn't without complications for both myself and Simon.