any frame makers left out there

[baldrick]

harris just announced they wont be making any more frames

spondon -long gone, uunfortunately

gia - looks like theyre defunkt

martek- dont think so with his reputation

 

so whos left out there making frames? i cant think of any, but theres bound to be some surely?

Edited July 26 by baldrick

[R1guy]

Bakker

Edited July 26 by R1guy

[TLRS]

There's a guy in, i think, germany making frames in an artisan way.. krtframework.com

Certainly not many of them left..

[TLRS]

Oh and sntracing make xr69 reps I think.. not sure they do custom work. One of the guys made a rsv mille with hub centre steering, super clever dude.

[dupersunc]

John Hand racing does some nice bronze welded stuff. 

Classic team Suzuki can do xr69 frames via, Arch motors.

JL Mechanika in finland do some very cool stuff.

We done a few batches of Maco and Norton frames at work, but they aren't profitable.

[DAZ]

39 minutes ago, dupersunc said:

John Hand racing does some nice bronze welded stuff. 

Classic team Suzuki can do xr69 frames via, Arch motors.

JL Mechanika in finland do some very cool stuff.

We done a few batches of Maco and Norton frames at work, but they aren't profitable.

Last four words says it all , in the 70s and 80s there was a reasonable market that wanted those overly powerful 100hp jap bikes to handle plus those small firms were run by enthusiasts, now the market for 40/45 +year old engines in trick frame must honestly be miniscule , plus tbh i dont think it's ever been cheaper to go as fast as it is now on modern bikes £10k  buys you a lightly used gsxr1000  with as near as 200hp and pretty sorted handling and electronic safety nets .... Sad but no body can turn trick frames out at a loss for very long except as a hobby funded by other profitable business

[dupersunc]

8 minutes ago, DAZ said:

Last four words says it all , in the 70s and 80s there was a reasonable market that wanted those overly powerful 100hp jap bikes to handle plus those small firms were run by enthusiasts, now the market for 40/45 +year old engines in trick frame must honestly be miniscule , plus tbh i dont think it's ever been cheaper to go as fast as it is now on modern bikes £10k  buys you a lightly used gsxr1000  with as near as 200hp and pretty sorted handling and electronic safety nets .... Sad but no body can turn trick frames out at a loss for very long except as a hobby funded by other profitable business

There is more disposable cash around than there was 30-40 years ago, so it is possible. No shortage of £25k specials being built.

Our problem,  Was we made the frames too nice, so there more hours in them than the market would support, and we specialise in a market that will support our cost snd quality.

[BillyR]

Theres plenty grass roots ones, Raw steel choppers, Robbie robertson, Cobra valley, Ralfy customs...etc etc

Yes they primarily build chop frames, BUT id imagine they are more than capable of building other styles, and at a fraction of the cost.

[TLRS]

21 minutes ago, BillyR said:

Theres plenty grass roots ones, Raw steel choppers, Robbie robertson, Cobra valley, Ralfy customs...etc etc

Yes they primarily build chop frames, BUT id imagine they are more than capable of building other styles, and at a fraction of the cost.

Not sure about that.. there’s a big difference between frames for people that don’t really care much for performance or accuracy.. to frames that are tightly wrapped around engines with proper weight distribution, proper outputshaft position, anti squat properties, good suspension action..

Dunc is right about disposable though.. it’s insane. Also, for me personally, internet has reduced the exclusivity of many factory bikes. Great pictures, clips and sounds at the push of the button. You want something special.. custom is the way to go imo.

[BillyR]

19 minutes ago, TLRS said:

Not sure about that.. there’s a big difference between frames for people that don’t really care much for performance or accuracy.. to frames that are tightly wrapped around engines with proper weight distribution, proper outputshaft position, anti squat properties, good suspension action..

Dunc is right about disposable though.. it’s insane. Also, for me personally, internet has reduced the exclusivity of many factory bikes. Great pictures, clips and sounds at the push of the button. You want something special.. custom is the way to go imo.

You do have a point, but you'd be surprised at how little is in it sometimes.  Yonks ago i had a Harris with a 1260 ET lump in, after a year or so i got bored of it, someone wanted the roller so off it went, replaced with one of Ian Kilners softail frames, a short stumpy thing  that had the harris side rails but with a single top tube.  I then spent 3 years ragging it around the country, raced it at the bulldog etc etc...

Other than being a tiny bit lazier in the twisties due to a tad more rake i really couldnt tell any difference, think the weight was around the same too.


Now remember HUC cafe racer frames? A builder who had a terrible reputation in the custom scene, either for his bad workmanship or dubious business practices. Once the crashed sportbike brigade had jumped on the 'cafe racer' bandwagon he started knocking out those god awful 'cafe racer' frames.  Now plenty of people who had ridden sportsbikes, or Harris/spondon etc jumped on that bandwagon, got one of those frames and announced they handled just fine.  Ive seen one put on a jig by one of the builders i mentioned above, it was all over the place.

Im not even sure of what my point is, but as a journo and tog for 30+ years i rode all kinds of frames and my top 2 -  Revolution + Spondon, while coming from opposite ends of the spectrum both had faultless build quality, craftsmanship and handling for the price.   Im pretty sure there where a few other primarily custom builders who made some pretty spot on 'special' style frames, Cougar was another. 

[TLRS]

11 minutes ago, BillyR said:

You do have a point, but you'd be surprised at how little is in it sometimes.

Maybe sometimes it's about how well people can ride around 'problems'. When people enjoy their bike on the street.. ultimate race proven x% extra performance probably doesn't mean so much?

Got any pictures of yesteryear? sounds like you seen a thing or two..

[BillyR]

37 minutes ago, TLRS said:

Maybe sometimes it's about how well people can ride around 'problems'. When people enjoy their bike on the street.. ultimate race proven x% extra performance probably doesn't mean so much?

Got any pictures of yesteryear? sounds like you seen a thing or two..

Oh for sure its about the rider, ultimate track use is a whole new ball game! 

I'll try and dig some out, sadly i lost 99% of my photos in a garage fire in 2001. My workshop next door neighbour got his old beetle running after 20 years, brittle fuel lines, went into his house to make a cup of tea... you can guess the rest. 

[DAZ]

4 hours ago, dupersunc said:

There is more disposable cash around than there was 30-40 years ago, so it is possible. No shortage of £25k specials being built.

Our problem,  Was we made the frames too nice, so there more hours in them than the market would support, and we specialise in a market that will support our cost snd quality.

I agree that there is much,much more fun money about , but a lot of folk don't necessarily have the nostalgia for old skool air and oil cooled stuff that we grew up on , plenty of late model superbikes with specialist suspension , brakes , titanium or carbon everything custom paint etc but the frames are stock (ish), they're not the twisting ,bucking bronko , hinged in the middle flexy flyers of our (my) youth ,and tbh most riders me included can't find the limits of modern bikes+tyres on the road , I am certain if there was a demand for  aftermarket frames there would be firms filling the void 

[Dezza]

When GIA recently went tits up this was due to (at least) one employee's dishonesty not a lack of orders. The boss man told me directly that the person in question did a bunk with the deposits for 8 or 9 frame kits after having these funds paid into his personal account rather than the company account. And they had a load of other jobs too.

[clivegto]

40 minutes ago, Dezza said:

When GIA recently went tits up this was due to (at least) one employee's dishonesty not a lack of orders. The boss man told me directly that the person in question did a bunk with the deposits for 8 or 9 frame kits after having these funds paid into his personal account rather than the company account. And they had a load of other jobs too.

Been told to while we were at Donington that there still in business. 

[Stumpy]

8 hours ago, clivegto said:

Been told to while we were at Donington that there still in business. 

Havent they one of the new units at the Great Northern Classics site in derby, we was up there 2 weeks ago and im sure thats what the owner told us

[Wee Man]

@yantoshof Blunt Force Trauma makes one off frames now and again. 

Edited July 28 by Wee Man

[Dezza]

17 hours ago, clivegto said:

Been told to while we were at Donington that there still in business. 

Hope so

[Dezza]

I just called Harris to order some bits and they don't even pick up the phone . Not good.

[clivegto]

On 7/29/2024 at 11:49 AM, Dezza said:

I just called Harris to order some bits and they don't even pick up the phone . Not good.

Royal Enfield have moved everything to there new proto type facility at Bruntingthorpe. 

Edited July 30 by clivegto

[Dezza]

1 hour ago, clivegto said:

Royal Enfield have moved everything to there new proto type facility at Bruntingthorpe. 

Their website still has the Hertford number and the system answers as Harris Performance, and then simply rings, and rings, and..... If it's being diverted to Brunters, then someone should still get off their arse and answer it (I know this is possible even for a different area code cos I used to work for BT).

[Toecutter]

Royal Enfield have all the frame jigs from Harris now. Only plan on carrying out repairs apparently. George Martin is back at it but only fabbing cbx frames. String at  Raw steel choppers is good as mentioned earlier. He has recently built a moto martin replica for a customer. Not a lot of choice out there at the mo.

[clivegto]

42 minutes ago, Toecutter said:

String at  Raw steel choppers is good as mentioned earlier. He has recently built a moto martin replica for a customer. Not a lot of choice out there at the mo.

 That's very interesting, any idea what he charged ? 

[Toecutter]

I'm not sure. I could ask him and find out. Think it was for a gs1000 build from memory.

[Gsxrsam]

Ya can still get steel or alloy frames in Yorkshire....

Plus tanks, seats etc.....