ML said:
A bit of history - When the Norton factory was producing bikes, they put out supply contracts with drawings and specifications and makers would have to submit samples. Those accepted would then be subject to QC production inspections. As AN no longer has an assembly plant, the cheap option for them is to get stuff made to pattern. I doubt if original drawings even exist anymore. Patterns are doubious is they come from alternative sources, i.e. a worn part is not good as pattern.
AN should employ QC inspectors to measure and fit parts to ensure correct dimensional, material and functional conformance to the OEM specifcation. But that means employing someone! Nah, just send a pattern to India or China and take the lowest quote. Rule Britannia and get me a side order of pappadums.
AN has gone down the sewer just like 90% of the original British car industry - lack of vision, investment and pride. Thats why Germany now owns half of the British car industry and is the foremost Western industrialised nation because they have standards and a reputation they won't sell out. Please BMW, buy out AN.
Mick
Mick,
1. Andover Norton has all the factory drawings and original tooling;
2. If Mexico Mike took the trouble to put his steering lock far enough down the top yoke he'd see there is nothing wrong with it- provided he bought the AN original, not an Indian or Chinese copy. AN source the steering locks from the original suppliers who supplied them in Commando production days. I have yet to see one that does not work, and I have personally supplied nearly 1000 pieces in the last twenty years in Germany.
If jsouthard got his fender stays from AN and the mudguard was drilled by AN I can, from recent personal experience fitting both to my latest Commando build, vouch for it they fit together. If, however, the stays were not supplied by AN, say they were from an "alternative" source, possibly in stainless, or the mudguard was drilled by the dealer- AN have dealers who insist on mudguards in undrilled condition- it is very likely the holes did not line up.
3. Germany
has already bought AN, over three years ago, AN
has quality inspection, but AN can only warrant its own parts, not those bought by Norton dealers from "alternative sources".
4. AN has only recently bought another Commando to check components for which proper drawings did never exist, in this case exhaust pipes.
5. AN produces all parts made to original drawings in England or EC countries (Germany and Italy mainly). Only a handful of parts are bought from sources that produce in the Far East. None of the mechanically critical parts, i.e. engine, gearbox and chassis parts, are sourced outside the EC bar a few low-turnover NOS parts which are re-sourced in the US.
6. I was a BMW dealer for 5 years in my life, so don't tell me they don't have quality issues. Like everybody else who does not produce 100% of the parts under his control (and these days nobody does or even could), BMW have quality issues with suppliers letting them down on occasion. Been there, seen it- several times.
Many of the problems conceived as "quality issues" stem from the fact there were, and still are, "alternative suppliers" ever since Commando production ended,
NONE of whom have factory drawings, and these parts have found their way into virtually every Commando existing today. Add to it the fact most Commando owners, and many Norton dealers, to date have not understood the year-to-year changes, let alone what is and what isn't retrofittable, so frustration in the various workshops is bound to arise. It is always easy to blame a supplier. Few will admit their own mechanical incompetence. I bet a lot of the "quality problems" on this forum were due to respective forum member's lack of understanding or mechanical aptitude, but I have yet to see one of the contributors to admit to it by the time he has grasped the problem was
him,
not the part in question.
Joe Seifert
Norton dealer, racer and rider for over thirty years
Owner, Andover Norton International Ltd
