piston confusion, which kind?

[coater87]

 I am looking for a +20 set of 7.25 CR pistons.

 My confusion lies in everyones opinions. Some people say buy GPM, others say to try and find original Hepolites (almost impossible). Now I understand Wassel has bought the Hepolite name, and turned them into Wassel quality goods. Now every mention of Hepolite on the internet comes with "genuine Hepolite" branded with it- a Wassel gimmick. So finding real ones it out of the question.

 Are there other brands that are good? I have heard mention of JP pistons, but know nothing about them.

 And maybe someone can clear up my confusion with a site that I see all over called "fekked"- they seem to have many parts, too many. Is this just a clearing house or what is "Fekked" exactly?

[edboy]

i ve just bought some very old stock +30  flat top hepolites from dragonfly. try them first.

[Peter Gee]

JP are fine for your model, in fact they do not sell the later 8.5:1 A7SS and A10 SR ones at all.

I have seen Hepolite fail, any piston is fallible. If you don't intend to flog your bike open throttle and plan on easy riding, any number of pistons will do. If you are going for very serious competition or high speed riding, then  try Draganfly and pay the price.

Personally I have gone for a pair of Taiwanese psitons for My A7SS with the luck that I have some 1950's rings from Hepolite, so I will use those instead.

GPM used to be rubbish when they first came out but have been an established brand for years now. I have them in my Vincent and caned it quite gard with no bad results.

Cheers

Peter in Africa

[beezermacc]

I have used the Wassell / Hepolite  pistons and they have proved to be fine (std ones in my Golden flash), and Wassells have sold hundreds of them, maybe thousands of them. I have sold a number of sets and had no complaints. Most of the retailers have sold out of the popular sizes (+40 / +60) and there are none left at Wassells. The GPM's are made in Italy - I am told the rings aren't very good? This may or may not be true. JP pistons are also available - I am told these are too heavy? This may or may not be true. The problem is that these rumours start from heaven knows where (often people who like to present themselves as experts) and we fall victim to Chinese Whispers rather than any proper scientific evidence.

[KiwiGF]

There's some info piston weights in this post of mine link below (sorry for the shameless plug) JP pistons are certainly not the heaviest and so far I've done 4000 miles on them without issue, but I also know some people do not rate them.....

http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=6086.msg41598#msg41598

Odd thing is I bought them from dragonfly as that was cheaper than buying them from Aus where they are made, even though I live in New Zealand......I pointed this out to JP who were quite rude about their pricing policy 

[beezermacc]

Very useful information, KiwiGF. Thanks.

[coater87]

 OK guys,

 It sounds like it does not matter what kind I get, JP, GMP, Wassel- they are all about the same I guess.

 I think I will just buy a set of OMEGAs' (Taiwan I believe), because I can get them over here.

 I thought there was a time when you could buy Wiseco for A10, but I see nothing on there site. Thats too bad, because that

 is quality stuff.

 

[Butch (cb)]

Roger at Cake St had a whole stock of Wiseco squirreled away. You could try him, but I don't suppose he will be cheap.

http://www.totalbikebits.com/product_locator/dealerdetails.php?id=9

[terryg]

Caught sight of this...  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BSA-A10-NEW-HEPOLITE-7-25-1-STD-20-40-60-PISTONS-FOR-1950-TO-1962-MODELS-/271314158198?hash=item3f2b958276#ht_1240wt_817, which might be of interest.

I've made no further enquiries and have no affiliation etc.

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
Hmmm!!! UK made  I dont think so 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Golden-Flash-pre-unit-Piston-Set-BSA-A10-020-over-pistons-UK-Made-20-over-/201328906920?hash=item2ee02352a8&vxp=mtr

John

[Rocket Racer]

Pistons another area (like oil) that has many opinions coming to the fore.
My own is I avoid JP's like the plague (I've had horrible issues with several sets) only resolved by fitting taiwanese pistons which were far better.
In terms of new pistons I'd have no issue with the Hepolites.
I cannot comment on GPM (never tried them).
The Wiseco's are also an excellent piston.
I always keep my eyes open for NOS and where possible use those.

Rings are another topic on their own! one piece oil rings typically need a lot of breaking in and of variable quality. 3 or 4 piece oil rings the go.

[Rocket Racer]

I am looking for a +20 set of 7.25 CR pistons.

 

I have over time collected several bare sets of genuine nos 8.25 & 9 :1 in +20 on the shelf. I could spare one of those sets
The 8.25 are genuine BSA and would be happy in a cooking thin flange small journal motor.
PM me if interested

If you want Wiseco's you'll need to contact Cake Street Classics directly

[RichardL]

Hi All,
Hmmm!!! UK made  I dont think so 

Not sure what it is about the Wassell pistons John doesn't like, but they are definatley different from those he pointed to, which seem to have an additional groove below the oil scraper. The seller of the former was forthcoming about the Wassell name and the source as JCC in Taiwan. I can't actually say anything about the quality of the JCC pistons, but I sure was impressed by what I saw on their website in terms of products, facilities and apparent business mentality. i really liked the giant piston on the roof of their building.

Richard L.

[chaterlea25]

Hi Richard,
The point I was trying to make was,
The vendor states, UK Made
Where as you state they are from Taiwan,  = False advertising

I used a set of these a couple of years ago when they came in plain unmarked boxes,
The pistons were fine but the rings had huge end gaps, the supplier replaced the rings without question

I got sent a set of "Hepolite" rings for a Triumph I was rebuilding, they were crap (same issue)
again replaced without question,

I am told that the Wassel Hepolites now have Hastings rings fitted? but have not needed a set since

I have Wiseco's for my RGS project 9:1
My SR has done a lot of miles on GPM's on tighter than standard BSA clearance and has not given a problem
The A10 on the bench for far too long has original AE Hepolites fitted

Regards
John

[coater87]

 I settled on a set of the "genuine  " hepolites at 7.25, no idea if they have the hastings rings or not, will just have to measure the gaps.

 On to the other question for this post, does anyone know who or what "fekked" is? Like I say, I see their ads for BSA parts all over the internet.

 Are they like a J.C. Whitney (theres a blast from the past) or are they an actual brick and mortar store?