I've been doing some maintenance on my 650 TA - usual things - plugs, coolant, air filter, tappets, chokes (thanks for the tips, Phil 
) etc, etc.
So I ordered a new air filter from David Silver's, which was a reproduction item as the originals are no longer available apparently. So, with the bike in bits I opened up the air filter housing and extracted the old filter (a little on the mucky side
) and offered up the new one. Hmmm, not very good fit this filter. In fact it's a very poor fit in the housing - so much so that you have to hold the housing closed whilst you do up the screws and this then pulls the housing out of shape. Had a good look at the filter and I wasn't that impressed.
There's a rather large gap around the hole in the filter plate that would very easily let unfiltered air past. Not only that, but there's no "boss" around the hole and the pleats in the filter paper are rather less than uniform.
So, I rang David Silver's and had a word with them and expressed my concerns over the poor fit of the filter. They were perfectly happy to take it back and agreed that I could send it back once I'd got hold of another filter. I then ordered a HiFLo filter from Wemoto. Cue waiting another week........
Finally, the HiFlo filter arrived and comparing the two filters side by side was rather revealing. For a start the filter sits better in the housing, there's no glaring gap around the hole in the filter plate, there's a substantial boss a round the hole and the filter paper pleats are much, much neater and more uniform -
Comparing the two filters side by side this is even more evident -
And the underside of the filters again shows the marked difference in quality of construction -
Given that the difference in price between the two filters is approximately £1.50 (the HiFlo being more expensive), the quality of the reproduction filter is clearly sub-standard and is not fit for purpose.
Now give David Silver's their due, they were perfectly happy to discuss my qualms about the reproduction filter and are happy to give a refund. I've posted it back to them today and included a letter detailing the failings of their filter and pointing out that they are not fit for purpose. If they've commissioned a stack of these things then I would hope that they get onto their supplier pronto and get this sorted. We'll see if they get back to me on this.
) etc, etc.So I ordered a new air filter from David Silver's, which was a reproduction item as the originals are no longer available apparently. So, with the bike in bits I opened up the air filter housing and extracted the old filter (a little on the mucky side
) and offered up the new one. Hmmm, not very good fit this filter. In fact it's a very poor fit in the housing - so much so that you have to hold the housing closed whilst you do up the screws and this then pulls the housing out of shape. Had a good look at the filter and I wasn't that impressed.There's a rather large gap around the hole in the filter plate that would very easily let unfiltered air past. Not only that, but there's no "boss" around the hole and the pleats in the filter paper are rather less than uniform.
So, I rang David Silver's and had a word with them and expressed my concerns over the poor fit of the filter. They were perfectly happy to take it back and agreed that I could send it back once I'd got hold of another filter. I then ordered a HiFLo filter from Wemoto. Cue waiting another week........
Finally, the HiFlo filter arrived and comparing the two filters side by side was rather revealing. For a start the filter sits better in the housing, there's no glaring gap around the hole in the filter plate, there's a substantial boss a round the hole and the filter paper pleats are much, much neater and more uniform -
Comparing the two filters side by side this is even more evident -
And the underside of the filters again shows the marked difference in quality of construction -
Given that the difference in price between the two filters is approximately £1.50 (the HiFlo being more expensive), the quality of the reproduction filter is clearly sub-standard and is not fit for purpose.
Now give David Silver's their due, they were perfectly happy to discuss my qualms about the reproduction filter and are happy to give a refund. I've posted it back to them today and included a letter detailing the failings of their filter and pointing out that they are not fit for purpose. If they've commissioned a stack of these things then I would hope that they get onto their supplier pronto and get this sorted. We'll see if they get back to me on this.
