Summer Update 2022

Summer has gone, but the weather is still with us, warm days for riding (avoiding a few showers) and long evenings for spending quality time in the garage or workshop, keeping out of trouble!

It’s been a while since the last communication, much has changed at Stainless Classics with an update of the website recently, new buying options (PayPal / Credit Cards via Stripe) and 100’s, yes 100’s of new products for your classics previously only available at autojumbles now online.

These bulletins will be a frequent way to communicate what’s happening, share product news, interesting re-build stories, historical items, and stories.

Let’s get the not so good news out of the way.  At Stainless Classics we don’t cut corners and take pride in delivering high quality products you can rely upon; this will never change.  Material prices however have doubled in the last year, other production costs too, and so prices have had to increase.

Now the good news.

Triumph Motorcycles

Newly available, Triumph 12-point cylinder base nuts, used on T140 and BSA/Triumph triples, with 3/8”-UNF threads.  Also, by popular demand, 3/8”-26tpi (CEI) version has been introduced in the same body.  The CEI version requested by specials builders fits earlier engines, even going back to pre-unit twins.

T140 fork cap nuts, either fully polished, or with a recess, as original, to enable the stickers to be fitted.  The label is then surrounded by the polished stainless edge of the nut.

We are increasing stock levels of all the Triumph fork top nuts, and steering column centre nuts, made exactly to the original dimensions, and these will cover all Meriden models from 1946 until the end of production.

Returning to the T140 and TR7 theme, rear spindles and nuts have returned.  The Top Hat style as they were known first appeared on many BSA/Triumph models which came out with the new conical hubs, about 1972.  Used on Singles, Twins and Triples, three lengths of spindles cover all models.  Triumph braking systems back then where somewhat underwhelming, compared to those that came before, so they were sometimes known as comical hubs.

Conical or comical, we have spindles and nuts to suit.

BSA Motorcycles

The BSA and Triumph single cylinder models, which grew out of the C15, B40 and Victor off-road developments seem to have had a resurgence recently, many returning from far off USA, kickstarting new restorations.  This is a theme that we plan to keep returning too as we like to see restorations using our parts like Mr Crump and his family who restored their T25’s recently.

The resulting models include the B25, B44, TR25, TR5T and TR500.

Norton Motorcycles

The Norton motorcycles brand has received substantial motorcycle media attention in recent years, for good, and not so good reasons.  A recent turnaround with the business ownership and focus will hopefully see the business get back to its historic roots and start to deliver great motorcycles like it did in past decades.

If you’re a Norton owner, admirer or just like to read about British motorcycle history, you will know that it was the great Norton rider Harold Daniel who coined the name Featherbed after trying out a Featherbed Manx, at a test session at Silverstone.  He had won TT races from the 1930`s on the earlier machines, and continued to excel at the TT on a bike built with this wonderful frame and cycle parts. After his retirement from being a works rider at Norton, he opened a motorcycle shop in South London where I would go to buy parts for my own Featherbed Norton.  It was always a pleasure to talk to this great man, no glamor, just a gentle giant of a man interested in his bikes, and of course yours.

Harold Daniell

Like any successful TT rider of his time, he was a man of few words, and one not needing to shout about his achievements. Here are a few links to him from around the web.

http://500race.org/people/harold-daniell/

https://www.ttracepics.com/galleries/harold-daniell

https://www.iomtt.com/tt-database/competitors?ride_id=745

Hundreds of those Norton’s will have parts from the shop in South London, and there must also be 100’s still firmly held together with our own Stainless Classics parts I started manufacturing and selling in my spare time prior to 1990. Today, we can actually supply all that you need to put together any of the Dominator range of models, in appropriate stainless steel replacement parts, some Commandos too.  Take a look at the range now available via the website, with more to come.

That’s it for this bulletin, keep riding, restoring and of course out of trouble.  Stainless Classics will be at the next Kempton Autojumble, 24^th of September, come along and pick up your parts there or in-advance on the website, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.