HI all,
A year ago or so I purchased a front and rear fender (mudguard) from the NOC for my '57 model 77, both were quite heavy duty & looked correct. On the rear fender there are 2 captured nuts for the shock bolts thatunfortunatelywere not the correct threads, they were metric & after many hours of trying to get the fender to fit, I was told by another member that the rear fender will fit several models & in some cases (like mine) the fender would need to be trimmed off at the front side. On one hand I am glad that the club is trying to get some of the hard to find parts made & have bought other items with nothing but praise for all involved, but I wish if someone would have told me when I bought it, that I would need to cut 2" off the front of my fender & notch for the chain guard . I dont mind the extra work, but wasn't happy with the days of wasted time I could have spent on the rest of the bike project. With all the suppliers of early English nuts & bolts o the market I am not sure why after spending hours making a fine rear fender, someone would put the wrong threaded nut in?
The front fender also looks nice & heavy, has the correct looking vee at the front edge,& sides are relieved nicely for the shocks. Boy am I glad I fitted it before painting it. It has the wrong curve (radius?). It's a shame really. The fender is supposed to be the same distance from the rim all along the fenders edge. My fender has the correct gap at the fender stay, but both ends come in way too close to the wheel. Its as if the fender were made for a 17" wheel instead on for a 19" wheel. My guess is the fabricator may have been given a bad fender to copy, as the workmanship isexcellent.
I am not bringing these issues up tocondemnthe club, the spares scheme, or the fabricator, I just think that
A) the club may want to fix the errors on any existing stock & let the fabricator know so the next batch are corrected, or
B) at least put a note on the spares page to let people know what they can expect with these 2 items
I live in the USA & it cost a small fortune to ship these items over & it is cheaper for me to have my local metal working shop "fix" the problems, than to ship them back.
Conversely I bought a 600cc early (dynamo model) cylinder barrel from the NOC & everyone involved was awesome! It cost me twice as much for shipping than the part cost (not the NOC's fault) but I was happy to pay to get the right item! I expected to have to rebore the cylinder, as I bought a used item, but was shocked to find that the cylinders looked freshly honed, resleeved back to standard bore! Doesent get any better than that ! Well, maybe if I found a pair of new Hepolite pistons & ring inside the bores as a free gift, that would have been a treat!
Thanks ,
Skip Brolund (proud NOC menber)
