Herringbone Oil Hose Fail

jimbo · Nov 16, 2018

A person from AN emailed me about the herringbone hose. They said the herringbone hose was a stopgap because the cloth covered quality hose became unavailable, back in the day. Personally I have a original 68, it has smooth oil hose, and newer Commandos always had herringbone hose, I never saw OEM cloth covered hose on a Norton.Am I missing something?

elefantrider · Nov 16, 2018

Overpriced hose which will fail a lot sooner, great deal at $57 a foot.
You can find better hose for around $3 per foot at your local NAPA.

Don't know if cloth-covered hose ever came original on a Norton but it looks closer to Herringbone than standard rubber hose.
And it is anti chafe so serves a purpose.

jimbo · Nov 16, 2018

another observation, the OEM herringbone hoses I have , have a red stripe on them, maybe that's a tale tail sign of the good quality versus the bad ?

worntorn · Nov 16, 2018

I recently purchased ( at great expense) a 12" piece of herringbone hose from the VOC Spares Co.
It was very tough to push it over the barb fitting, so I happened to end for end it.
Then it pushed on with very little resistance.
On measuring, it had a 40 thou larger Id.
at one end than the other!
So it's on the shelf and I've decided that high quality, inexpensive, readily available, smooth or nearly smooth Gates hose looks better than rough old Herringbone.

Glen

htown16 · Nov 16, 2018

Elephantrider has the right idea. I use oil cooler hose from Napa. Cheap and never any issues. Besides that I use zip ties to secure it. Rivet counters avert your eyes.

NoLongerHere · Nov 16, 2018

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/173642218584

I'm wondering if the seller has read this post and decided not to risk it?

olympus · Nov 16, 2018

I have to agree the cost of some of these hoses (braided or otherwise) are a tad steep...
Researching on the RGM site i see they indicate a 3/8 ID Cohline 2134 oil hose .... but this is actually a fuel hose, 2633 is their oil hose
If your intending to procure this, might be worth double checking

NortonMKIIA850 · Nov 16, 2018

Dommie Nator said:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/173642218584

I'm wondering if the seller has read this post and decided not to risk it?

The seller has stacks of stuff. Given the style of label, that's a pretty old part – parts still turn up with labels like that, and I don't know when AN stopped using them, but I last got one direct from AN more than 15 years ago. So it might be NOS-quality … Who knows what it'd be like, but it might be worth a punt if it's what you're looking for, and the price doesn't go beyond what you're prepared to pay.

NoLongerHere · Nov 16, 2018

NortonMKIIA850 said:
The seller has stacks of stuff.

Indeed... he's got one item less now though.

jimbo · Nov 16, 2018

Dommie Nator said:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/173642218584

I'm wondering if the seller has read this post and decided not to risk it?

The texture of that hose is different than the OEM ones I have( with the red stripe) I'll shoot some photos of them.
Its all a moot point if all you need is to move oil around , but for us restorers it is important .

B+Bogus · Nov 17, 2018

For those interested, the Wassells hose in 1/4", 3/8" and 7/16" retails at £93 for 5 ft.
3/16" x 4ft is £87

Triton Thrasher · Nov 17, 2018

I’ve been using the same pieces of petrol/gasoline injection hose for oil on the bike, for decades.

Do they even make hose that is proof against petrol but melts in engine oil? Must take some doing!

Deets55 · Nov 17, 2018

Triton Thrasher said:
I’ve been using the same pieces of petrol/gasoline injection hose for oil on the bike, for decades.

Do they even make hose that is proof against petrol but melts in engine oil? Must take some doing!

There must be something different about the materials/construction or the hoses wouldn’t carry different ratings. Mabe these engines don’t stress the hoses to a point of failure. FWIW I just buy the “proper” hose when I need it. Can’t cost much more when you just buy what you need and you get the right stuff.
Pete

Triton Thrasher · Nov 17, 2018

Deets55 said:
There must be something different about the materials/construction or the hoses wouldn’t carry different ratings.

Don’t know about “must be.”

jimbo · Nov 17, 2018

B+Bogus said:
For those interested, the Wassells hose in 1/4", 3/8" and 7/16" retails at £93 for 5 ft.
3/16" x 4ft is £87

Where are those available?

jimbo · Nov 17, 2018

here are some photos of a good original herringbone hose.

B+Bogus · Nov 18, 2018

jimbo said:
Where are those available?

jimbo · Nov 18, 2018

I checked into British Only and the hose they sell. Here is an comparison of original used and their new .

B+Bogus · Nov 19, 2018

jimbo said:
I checked into British Only and the hose they sell. Here is an comparison of original used and their new .

Doesn't look great, does it?

kommando · Nov 19, 2018

The dies may not be worn allegedly but if they are unworn then the machine is not setup correctly, either way I will stick to cloth covered ones I have been using for the last few years.