Got Questions? - Hopefully the information below will help.

What are your parts made from?

The short answer is that all my parts are made from "plastic rubber".Try to imagine a modern material that can replicate all the good characteristics of old fashion rubber, but which is more adaptable and relatively easy to work with.

More technically, I use "urethane elastomers". Unfortunately "urethane" means many different things to different people. Urethane is a relatively simple molecule containing various nitrogen, carbon oxygen and hydrogen atoms (-NH-CO-O-). The urethane molecule is incorporated with resins to produce a prepolymer. The prepolymer is combined with a curative to produce a polymer (polyurethane). The types and amounts of resins, curatives, plastisizers, fillers, antioxidants, stabilizers and catalysts used in mixing the prepolymers and curatives vary the final product. There are litterally thousands of combinations available, and millions that are theoretically possible. Which is why urethane is found in so many products and why it means so many things to so many people.

How hard or soft is it?

However you want it. Urethane Elastomers can mimic the whole range of rubber hardness, and then some. It can be wobbly soft (silly putty) to bone hard. I select prepolymers for your part that ensure the part is usable and durable and most importantly so that it replicate the characteristics the original manufacturers intended.

Is it OK with fuels and oils?

The range of prepolymers I use have very good resistance to commonly used fuels and oils. Used as intake boots and mainifolds it is durable and long lasting. Parts can be washed in fuel (not that that is a good idea for safety reasons) but if you chose to soak a urethane part in fuel or thinners the part will eventually swell and be damged (much the same as rubber).

How long will it last?

A bit of an open ended question.I reckon you will get a good life from all my parts. I use a prepolymer for the chain sliders and guides that has good abrasion resistance and some flexibility. The flexibility means that the slider doesn't rely on abrasion resistance alone, but can also "bounce" the chain away and will last longer. For airboots and general rubbers the beauty of these elastomers is that the flexibility is retained for a very long time.

Can you copy aluminium or metal parts?

The quick answer is YES! Things like magneto covers and swingarm bushes are some of the parts I have made. But obviously metals will always have their uses on old bikes. And urethanes will never shine like polished alloy!

How do you make the parts? Why do you need a NOS part?

The easiest way for me to replicate a part is to take a mould directly from an exsting part. Once I have selected the required characteristics for the part, I mix an appropriate polymer and pour or inject it into the mould. The polymer sets and cures. It can then be removed from the mould. It will require some trimming or sanding to remove dags.

You can probably now guess why I like NOS parts to copy! Every detail of the original part is transfered to the mould. So if I copy a used part, all the details like scratches and clamp marks are visible on the replica parts. Of course I can sometimes clean or polich the used parts but the result is never quite as good.

I can't find an original part. Can you still make me something?

Yes. Although it is more expensive. I can recreate parts or make moulds using a lathe and a mill. It is time consuming and from my point of view it should always be the last resort. Have a look at "Get a Part Made" for more information.