Oh my, they have everything...

[coater87]

 I filled out an order to a well known Canadian parts dealer, lots and lots of parts. I had to think 2 or three times before placing that order because of the total. I think I had ordered 98% of all the parts I needed and then waited for the truck to come.

 A month later I got a box, a small box, and a large refund. They dont let you know if they have the parts or not, and everything they sent me was easy to source things, nuts mostly. But I still paid a hefty shipping cost. If they would have let me know I would have just canceled the whole order- I paid a lot for a few nuts because of the shipping involved.

 That kind of deflated my bubble for a while. A long while.

 Now I had another look at Draganfly in the UK, and I wish I lived there. Can anyone recommend this place for their pattern parts? Are they good to deal with? I would like to place one or 2 large orders instead of 20 small ones because of shipping costs.

 Anyone have any idea what shipping actually is across the big pond? They even have the hard chrome stanchions I want...

 Thanks for the advice.

[orabanda]

Draganfly are great to deal with.
Very organised, advise you of any items out of stock, place them on back-order, and only bill you for back-ordered items when they dispatch to you.

Richard

[Tomcat]

Draganfly are great to deal with.
Very organised, advise you of any items out of stock, place them on back-order, and only bill you for back-ordered items when they dispatch to you.

Richard

9/10  for Draganfly. They have a no questions asked policy on returns, but the cost of postage (X3) needs to be considered.
 No VAT or GST with an order under $1K AU, which dealers pay and pass on to us. They have most of the parts we need too. I really like the online order system, and have been a customer for over 10 years
Cheers TC

[Peter in Aus]

Yes I go along with that, been dealing with Darganfly for a few years now and found them very good, they seem to be able to keep the shipping cost to a minimum  compared to some and haven't had a wrong part yet.
Peter

[Greybeard]

I used Draganfly for most of my parts; found them to be excellent to deal with. There were a couple of issues* but soon sorted out. After I had the bike finished I took back about £200 worth of stuff and met the boss man; very friendly chap.

* Surprisingly some of the cylinder head bolts had the wrong thread. I ordered a second set and they also were wrong.

[edboy]

unfortunately dragonfly can not supply everything as the cost i imagine of leaving stock lying on shelves unsold.what we really need is a spares scheme backed by the bsa owners club to commission those hard to find[ usually tinware] parts. the norton o.c. has a similar scheme and its a big help especially to those abroad.also they commission exact replicas not dodgy indian look alikes. when or if the bsa o. c. starts in this direction i ll rejoin.

[a101960]

what we really need is a spares scheme backed by the bsa owners club to commission those hard to find[ usually tinware] parts. the norton o.c. has a similar scheme and its a big help especially to those abroad.also they commission exact replicas not dodgy indian look alikes. when or if the bsa o. c. starts in this direction i ll rejoin.

edboy, I could not agree more. I think that the BSAOC are quite possibly one of the few owners clubs that have no spares scheme, and it is for this reason that I too have let my membership lapse. The membership fee is far to high for what amounts to just a monthly magazine. I once asked why there was no spares scheme, and the reply I got was that it was because of product liability issues. Not a very convincing argument I thought, especially so when The Douglas,  AJS/Matchless, Norton, and Vincent clubs to name just a few, for example are quite happy to provide a spares scheme for their members.
John

[bsa-bill]

well I agree Draganfly are good and also Lyford , C&D and quite a few others I have dealt with , we are possibly blessed with more suppliers than other marques
which also maybe explains why they have club parts schemes.
I would ask for a degree of caution on this (be careful what you wish for), I would not want to do anything that endangered the supply of bits we have from our regular dealers, aright some bits are not as good as we'd wish would they be any better supplied through a club, only I think if the club was ready and willing to finance the production of the parts and the organisation of dealership.

Perhaps a better way would be to identify parts needed and work with an established dealer or dealers to subsidise production and supply

[a101960]

Bill, I agree that BSAs are quite well provided for as far as spare parts are concerned, but I do think that the owners club could get a bit more involved in spare part availability. There are, as you rightly state some really good, and helpful spares suppliers out there. Dealers, however mostly stock and sell relatively high turn over parts. They are after all running businesses and are limited in what they offer by commercial constraints, and this is where the BSAOC could make a contribution by identifying items in short supply. As an ex Douglas owner, and member of the Douglas owners club I know that is how they operate. Where something is in short supply the club researches the practicalities of getting things made. Of course cost is an important factor, and this why dealers do not stock items that have perhaps a limited demand. Tin ware is a good example of parts scarcity  (RGS and Goldies being the exception to the rule). However the Indians have identified and exploited a gap in the market for various items of tin ware. Petrol tanks, oil tanks, and tool boxes for example, and even mudguards for C12s! The quality varies enormously, and this where the owners club could get involved by negotiating with these people on behalf of club members by advising on and assisting in setting out dimensional parameters. As it stands right now many of the items produced leave much to be desired. The fit is often not very good, and petrol tanks are often supplied that leak. You see countless complaints by people that are unhappy about the quality of the items that they have bought, but crucially the situation does not improve because the disgruntled buyer will say what rubbish the part supplied is, but that person as an individual has very little clout in practical terms. I must say that I do agree with you that most parts suppliers that I have done business with have been fine. C&D Autos I have found to be exceptionally helpful. When I renewed  my petrol pipes they even lent me their ferule crimping tool to do the job, and did not ask for a deposit. All done on trust. Great service!
John

[bsa-bill]

Fair comment John, kinda off what I meant with my last comment 

[Clive54bsa]

coater87, I see you are located in the US, I have bought parts from both Draganfly and C & D Autos and have been completely satisfied with both, but have you tried Rabers in San Jose California 408-998-4495. They are a bit pricey but the parts are correct and fit properly, 1st time. Their online service isn't as good as it could be, but if you call them with all the part numbers, I'm confident that you'll get what you need for your project, providing you're not looking for NOS sheet metal work.
Clive

[edboy]

the norton o.c. spares scheme has commissioned exact replicas of featherbed mudguards and chainguards for years and kept the quality of the originals.also it takes certain committed members to help along with sales etc not scared of the odd complaint. i joined the bsa o.c. in the 90,s as i was seeking cycle parts and i met lots of others also looking for parts. yes the parts situation is good at the moment, better than the 90,s , but not always the quality.there are lots of indian copy bsa parts on the internet but i have no idea if they are any good or a waste of money.

[terryg]

In my engineering days, parts procurement started and ended with the drawing pack for a product.  Parts were procured and inspected to drawings (that were the end results of long design and test exercises).  I often wonder how many pattern BSA parts are manufactured now with any reference to a drawing, let alone a properly authorised one.
In an ideal world we should be able to assemble the entire drawing pack for the many variations of the A7/A10; setting the standard for parts that are form, fit and function compatible with our machines - including acceptable materials, wear rates and therefore lifetimes.

Sounds like a pipe dream - doesn't it?  Or does it?

[edboy]

one of the last a10 frames bsa produced as stock was a universal frame i believe where you could fit either swinging arm type and brake. i saw one once years ago and it did look confusing. for tinware you only need pilot holes but the norton chainguard i bought from the owners club was spot on.

[Topdad]

When I was a member of the BSAOC I asked the same question on the members forum and the reply was basically the cost issue and liability both of which I thought spurious , I'm afraid that I found this to be a mind set for a lot of the members ie we ain't done it before so it can't be needed . Don't get me wrong I found some incredibly nice people there but once I found this forum my interest in the club waned and just used parts suppliers recommended by people here or that I'd found myself, Bob .