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Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Lex just sent me this link... We knew they were bad, but this video tells it all...

email (option): wd.register@gmail.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Yes, what can I say...I've made my views plain in previous discussions on this topic...

Firstly, before that comment gets posted here....'They haven't broken yet so they must be alright' is not a valid argument in engineering terms...These forks are CRAP, potentially dangerous IMO and are best avoided completely.
The M20 set I examined shared some of the defects described in the video and a few others as well...

Furthermore, there is still the question of material specifications, the heat treatment of springs, The quality of the casting, brazing and welding methods used etc.

The Indians getting involved in the manufacture of highly stressed frame components and engine parts will one day cost someone dear...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

There are without doubt some very serious issues raised in this video and it would be interesting to know what could be or is being done about preventing such products entering the market besides nothing.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Wow! Frightening to think that there are people riding bikes fitted with that crap. It's one thing to be told about the problem but seeing it brings it home.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

When he says castings shouldn't that be forgings, as the lugs, handle bar arms/clamps were originally forgings, in the early eighties I worked a few years in a drop forgings factory in Cradley, hot forgings went into the press with a top and bottom die and then passed down to the clipper where the excess metal was clipped off, the parts were then sent away to the heat treaters, on some of the handle bar arms/clamps fitted to wartime Webb girder forks you can still see the clipping marks as they were never ground off.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

If he's not going to send them back and cut them up, wouldn't be best to cut the castings in half to see whats inside them, and how easy it is to saw through the stem and fork tubes to see what gauge and type of steel tube they're made from.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Steve I expect he'll think about returning them for a refund rather than cut them up. Cutting one set up as a form of protest is a bit pointless to my mind. It's obvious from what some of us have seen and spoken about over the years that the "forgings" are nothing more than poor quality sand castings.

It's very strange that certain items require approval (Kite Mark) like a kids Teddy Bear for instance, and yet something as detrimental as a structural part of a motorcycle frame is allowed to be sold in this condition. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

['It's very strange that certain items require approval (Kite Mark) like a kids Teddy Bear for instance, and yet something as detrimental as a structural part of a motorcycle frame is allowed to be sold in this condition...']

Maybe normal procedure can be circumvented if the parts are sold directly to the customer by a foreign producer?...

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

['When he says castings shouldn't that be forgings?...']

I understood frame lugs and fork lugs were malleable iron castings...(as opposed to grey cast iron)...Forging dies would have been overly expensive for that type of work I'd have thought...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Why on earth anyone buys bike stuff made in India I have no idea.

I learnt that lesson back in 1980 with so called replacement carb slid that looked as if it had been made on a foot operated wood lathe and finished of with a file.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Can somebody please explain to me how these Indian sellers all have between 98 and 100% positive feedback...? (Norton 16H rear numberplates by the way, just in case if you wouldn't recognise the part...)

s-l1600-11
s-l1600-13
s-l1600-12
s-l500

email (option): wd.register@gmail.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Jan....What your forgetting is the filler hasn't been put on yet...Once that's done those number plates will be better than original....:laughing: ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

I also see the movie..what do the suppliers thinking to deliver such crap...everything they make is crap.
But a licenseplateholder or taillight is not dangerous to buy and put on your bike...only when they fall of and the pedestrian behind you get it in his face or something like that.
Recently i got a replica lwd mct1a in my hand ....it looks so awefull and realy nothing is correct on it.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

I never understood, if the people in India go trough so much work to make a front fork, why not do the extra bit and do it right....

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

I dread to think how many restored classic bikes have already been fitted with these ........

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

i just received a set of lever assemblies and i had pretty low expectations but OMG i cant believe the shite they sent, they must have taken the most worn out knackered original ones they could find and copied them exactly, the space between the lever and the mount was double and the holes that the bolt went through was way too big and oval....pre worn lol, they were only $40 bucks so no worries but i am amazed that they have the skill to reproduce these forks,tanks etc but just cant get then right, i would gladly pay 2 to 3 times more if it was quality parts, maybe they think the world wants cheap parts or?
i need a tank for my 50 Sq4 but they dont make that one as its a one year only, i contacted them and sent all the photos and dimensions but they wanted me to send my tank as a template for them and i would get a free new tank and my old one back.....ha ha not on your life

email (option): taybrig@shaw.ca

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

They work for almost nothing, they do not care if the end product is junk, they will have your hard currency and that is the prime objective.

As long as people demand cheap parts for expensive machines this will go on.C
I have a dim hope that this Covid business will make people think twice about buying from the far east, we are quite capable of making this sort of thing ourselves, but as long as there are those out there wanting cheap stuff for expensive machines......

Keep your money supporting skilled workers at home.

I have long advocated that much of the stuff being restored from what is basically piles of junk should have been broken for spares instead.

Perhaps the old bike movement has gotten too big for its own good?

When any of my bikes needs to resort to far eastern spares to keep it going it will go to a museum.


As for the 100% feedback that will be the seller writing his own, they are very clever with hacking games, thats why so many money scams come from there.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

ken
They work for almost nothing, they do not care if the end product is junk, they will have your hard currency and that is the prime objective.

As long as people demand cheap parts for expensive machines this will go on.C
I have a dim hope that this Covid business will make people think twice about buying from the far east, we are quite capable of making this sort of thing ourselves, but as long as there are those out there wanting cheap stuff for expensive machines......

Keep your money supporting skilled workers at home.

I have long advocated that much of the stuff being restored from what is basically piles of junk should have been broken for spares instead.

Perhaps the old bike movement has gotten too big for its own good?

When any of my bikes needs to resort to far eastern spares to keep it going it will go to a museum.


As for the 100% feedback that will be the seller writing his own, they are very clever with hacking games, thats why so many money scams come from there.
Very true Ken, i agree with every thing you have said, i recon quite a few of these eBay bikes will have these forks fitted.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

I've had levers, mudguards chainguards, toolboxes and tanks from India. The levers were pretty good but everything else required fettling to fit it correctly.

My expectations were low along with the price. I'd have gladly have paid more for something made correctly, which didnt require so much work but it either wasnt available or the wait would run to over a year (or more)
It's these factors which keep these sellers going ...

I wouldn't trust electrical or mechanical parts from India, but sometimes its hard to know the origin of everything.

email (option): Madoc500@hotmail.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Jan, those "Norton" number plates don't even look like the originals! it's pure awfull junk!

Cheers,

Lex

email (option): welbike@welb**e.net

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Any experience with the Indian DU142 Lucas headlamps? I keep thinking of ordering one but the pricing from different vendors is all over the place for what appears to be the same part? Are some Indian headlamps better than others?

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

They keep making them so someone must be buying them, Caveat emptor ,let the buyer beware !!!
Dave

email (option): jamfam@dragnet.com.au

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

are these headlamps sold bij phoenixtraders UK, for instance ?
Anyone ever tried one, were they any good ?

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

When I acquired my Triumph 5SW, it came with an Indian 8" headlamp. I replaced the switch/ammeter with Genuine WD parts and an original rim and a a repro glass from Dave Tann. Following on from positive comments from other guys, I bought another Indian 8" flat glass headlamp (£85) for my RE WD/G and did exactly the same fit up. My experience of the Indian made DU42 and DU142 is that they are very good....As though they have the original tooling to make them?? Ron
DSCF2993
DSCF2996

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Perhaps surprisingly, their M20/21 and B31/33 rigid petrol tanks are fairly good as well...No doubt there are multiple manufacturers and some have got it right...:man_with_turban: .Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

The petrol tanks I have bought have been good as has been the Headlamps. But the carrier I bought was so bad I had to knock it. apart and re-weld it.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

In exactly the same way as all of those IT marketers can make your business appear at the top of a search page.
Then there are the clowns who leave + feedback the second that the sale is made well before the product arrives.
In a lot of cases by the time the goods arrive it is too late for you to leave feedback of any kind.
Then there are the whimps who are scared to leave - feedback.
I do it regularly when stuff arrives that is not up to scratch.
Then the vendor gets back to me asking I change it usually offering to replace the product post paid if the reversion of the feedback is done within a couple of days.
I always decline this but most would accept the offer and by the time the replacement arrives it is too late to go back & change your feedback


As to how dangerous and illegal products are allowed to be sold, it is because EVILPAY is not a retail outlet it is an auction house and as such there is no obligation for anything sold there to comply with any standard in any country.
And until the governments change the auction laws it will remain so.

I repair small engines and as of July 1 this years all small engines must be tier II pollution compliant.
Basically nothing new can e sold that runs on any mix richer than 50:1.
However can still go to ebay & buy a 25:1 chainsaw, pick it up from an Australian warehouse.
IF the warehouse was a retail outlet they would be subject to a $ 10,000 fine fo each & every unit sold but because they are the pick up point for an "Auction sale" they are pollution law exempt .

The real problem with those girders is they will be bought by a "custom motorcycle builder " fitted to a frame with a 90Hp Bonnie motor installed, sold to an idiot as a "period modified classic" thus be MOT exempt and he will go screaming down the M5 till the second time he hits the brakes.
Then the inquest will point to the inherit unsafe nature of the bike and the whole veteran / Vintage & Classic bike scheme will get cancelled & you will be back to trying to get 60 year old bikes to comply with current safety regulations.

email (option): bsansw1@tpg.com.au

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Wise words Trevor.

You overlook the tax revenue created by the likes of ebay and paypal though, vast amounts of VAT income cancel out a lot.

Money talks, very loudly.

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

At least when you send those poor Indians money, they send you girders, even if poorly made.

When you send cash to some famous British artisan, all you get is a request for more cash, false promises and good luck hoping to receive your supposed perfect set of girders!

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Amen to THAT, Henri!

email (option): btcoop77069@aol.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

The video in the link is of my bike Craig is building for me.....We knew the indian girders were shoddy but wanted to actually see for real!.
Happy to say we were eventually re-funded, and an original pair of BSA girders were found.

Also in reply to other comments in this thread....Yep, Indian Lucas replica lamps are very good!....we have an 8" DU142 going on the bike.....but lots are commenting its too big so may swap it out for the 6"

Also the tank is an Indian replica Enfield tank, Model G apparently but close enough as the bike is one of Craigs Custom Royal Enfield Bobbers styled with a 'nod' to My Grandad Arthurs WDC in WW2 (RASC dispatch rider) hence the girders, tank, lamp etc.

Dont go watching if you are expecting a WW2 replica as this is not that (I have a WDC frame, thanks to talks with Jan that I intend the actually replica to be done with)

But if you are interested in the build, here is the chronological playlist thus far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MelY73rtlLw&list=PLyiUIc4b5MzXTpkO2L2gCCdvT4fzTDfNg

Cheers

Dan





Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

I've come across several of those video's on youtube and watched with interest Dan. Please feel free to post updated episodes, I'd like to see the finished result. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

An interesting series of videos and the end result looks pretty good...However, with my toolmaking/machinist background I can't say I share his enthusiasm for disc grinders and disc sanders...I hope he rebuilds his engines somewhere else!....

Lot's of nice detail touches though and a lot of thought put into the general layout and design of the parts....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Cheers Ron! Ill get Craig to add the last couple of latest vids to the playlist and post the link again.
You can also click 'subscribe' on the youtube channel for update notifications! ;)

email (option): dansalter@hotmail.com

Re: Indian made girder forks... Caveat emptor...

Thanks Ian! I was expecting to get shot down and boo'd off this thread ha ha.

Rest assured any engine work is done in much cleaner conditions once the rest of the bike has gone off to powder and paint (which is coming very soon!)

email (option): dansalter@hotmail.com

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