New Girder Forks from India ?

[rogerwilko]

All the webbs i know of, aren't bushed .

[wetdog]

are they Indian ? , all the ones i have are , the spindal runs trough them , i now have the adjustable reamers to replace them as they are offten worn by now . take a closer look

[yebbut]

None of my bikes girders were bushed when new, but they are now, thats because over the years they have become f****d.     So they were bushed, by Ray Daniels as it happens.

Ray Daniels is to be recommended, if you want some Webbs get on his list;  I bet he's got  a long list of waiting.

all you'll need then is a rigid  frame to match............

[Matt]

  So how many Royal Enfields have been sold in the UK and does anyone know anyone that has had a front end failure? 

We are talking about repro girders not tele forks.

I understand the girder forks made in India are for Norton 16H and have earnt a bad reputation for failure as  believe they are made from castings rather than forgings.

Why do they bother to make them?

Because they think someone will buy them perhaps?

 They don't care, just want to rake a few bob in as best they can

Some Indian made tin ware looks to be quite good, quality control is erratic and widely variable

We are talking about girders but you wrote teles. Maybe have a re read of your post that I am quoting.
So where is the actual evidence? Who says they are a problem? Who owns a set and has had issues?
Heresay is a dangerous thing and unless we have some actually examples of failures or poor fit then heresay is all we have.

[yebbut]

You are right Matt,   a slip of an old mans keyboard, edited it now.

But if you are so keen to try out these dodgy girders , don't let me stop you.
 Bad reports on other forums are enough for me.

Heresay it maybe but I am quite old and have no wish to go just yet.
Perhaps you could do a trial for us? You seem to be quite keen on Indian made kit?

[rogerwilko]

I think Matt has a point. In all the forums there is only one guy who has actually bought a set and shown detailed photos, and he is just tidying them up and is reporting back as to their final fitment. But now i've forgotten which site! Maybe Britbike forum?

[wetdog]

Girder fork spindles are usually made of EN16 or EN24T steel , Girder fork bushes were originally a high copper-content phosphor-bronze type.

[yebbut]

Might have been one of the military bike forums I read it on.

Can't remember, it was a while ago.

Then again I can't remember what I did the day before yesterday either.

[RichP]

These forks have been discussed at some length on the WM20 forum and one experienced chap has had a look at a Triumph set. They were dimensionally inaccurate and didn't stand square.

They appear to be made using cast lugs and no seller or supplier is apparently willing or able to advise on the metallurgy of lugs or tubes.

Bearing in mind how stressed the components are and how potentially life-threatening a failure is, I wouldn't want to be the test pilot.

I'd feel happier having a damaged original set re-tubed and repaired.

As far as I know, the only properly constructed girders which have been made recently are the Castles which Jake Robbins made for the Brough club.

[Matt]

A friend recently had a set apart that had been built for one of the new Brough Superiors he even went so far as to have them photographed inside to check the method and quality of manufacture. They were not made in India I hasten to add rather in main land Europe and they looked great. I shot some video sat on the back at silly speeds and never gave the forks a second thought.
After inspecting them I would be happy to test a set of Indian girders for anyone not brave or daft enough.

[phil_h]

I've trawled some ebay feedback and asked some people the question:
"Girder Forks - I saw you bought some from india - can you tell me what you think of them please, as there doesnt seem to be any info about them anywhere.
regards, phil"

1st reply back:
"interesting question, i own a engineering workshop, iff your handy on the tools buy one, iff not don't."

[yebbut]

We have here in this country all the skills needed to remake girder forks of high quality, indeed probably of  superior quality in these days to the originals.

What we do not have however are motorcyclists who  prepared to pay right price to the craftsmen for their skill and labour.

This is why there are so many moans about crap pattern spares from abroad. Or even here.

I speak as one who has the financial and metal scars from trying to provide quality British made parts to motorcyclists.

I cant work out why, when there are some people prepared to have made 8ft long girders for some ludicrous  un rideable show /chopper bike when others are reluctant to pay out to put them on a decent vintage machine.

As for thoe who would fit repro girders on a modern telefork bike [not an old one with a S/A conversion ] for reasons of "style" the mind boggles.

[phil_h]

At last something substantial !
http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=388072&page=1 Post#379348
Definitely castings.
Definitely need plenty of fettling to make them fit.
And they've gone very quiet on that thread since june !

[phil_h]

And more pics here in a guys project:
http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=388072&page=1 Post#379348
and that thread mentions another guy who bought some, but sold them on.

[phil_h]

Hmm, that last thread has the following quote:

spoke with a guy today who selled 21 one of those
he got 19 back with cracked and snapped castings
2 of them didn't come back because of luck ...or the projects are not done yet
so the girders are still in a corner instead of being mounted and driven

well he said because of the fact that these are hard to come buy
he tried them
he bought 25 of them
he got 19 back ...3 where to $%^&&ed up when he recieved them ,to sell these would give bad karma he said
the other 3 got sold to 2 too people who didn't came back with it
and the last one to a guy he'sdoing a complete resto for
now because he feels bad he took one of his one org. girders out of one of his own bikes to help the guy out ,he's doing the resto for

so he paid for 25 pieces and he didn't recieve any money back from the "india" seller
because that guy blames the shippers ,salt water fumes on the trip over,and that this shop owner i know wasn't careful enough unwrapping
the girders etc etc > WTF !!!!

so he lost loads of cash and has a bunch of shitty girders that are deadtraps