I am researching silencer options for my Scrambler - that is my Scrambler with Thruxton downpipes!
I have contacted feked.com after reading about their silencers here and seeing them listed on eBay UK.
So thanks for all the input here.
I am actually posting this because up until now I haven't read of anyone else having trouble with Norman Hyde classic silencers, nor of any issues with customer service at NH. Quite the reverse - even here on these forums people seem very happy with Norman Hyde products and service.
Thus, because I haven't read of any problems therein, I had begun to conclude that my experience with Norman Hyde must have been a one off. But perhaps it wasn't!
To be clear: I purchased a set of brand new NH Togas for my 2006 Scrambler about this time last year.
I LOVED the sound and look of these pipes - it was significantly better than the "blatty" sound of the TOR pipes and I also think the look is sleeker and easier on the eye - that is of course, just my opinion.
However, despite at least three or four really good coats of ACF-50 anti-corrosion treatment, including one very thorough going-over prior to fitting, I found that after just three months between December and February (yes I was riding the bike in all weathers, hence the ACF-50 activity) the pipes had started to rust/corrode.
It was in a similar place on both sides - near to where the silencers expand from the join side.
Also, one of the quite cheap plain screws that hold the baffles in place had come loose and a baffle had fallen out.
I say cheap and plain because it was literally just a single ordinary screw that screwed from the outside wall at the end of the silencer in to the baffle. Although this was on the inner wheel-side it was bit ugly and struck me as a bit poor for such pricey pipes!
I contacted NH and they agreed to take a look at them. So I sent them back.
To cut a long story shorter, Norman Hyde claimed that the corrosion I was referring to was just baked on dirt/tar and said they would clean them up and return them to me.
They did agree without argument, to fit a replacement baffle without charge.
Great, I thought, until they arrived with the same "dirt/tar" exactly where I had said they were corroding.
It was clearly NOT just dirt but rust and NH for whatever reason had chosen to either ignore it or simply didn't consider it a problem.
So I contacted them again and ended up having a pretty bad argument with someone at NH who basically said that these marks were to be expected and that I was expecting too much. Yes, that I was EXPECTING TOO MUCH of their products.
I asked NH to replace the Togas - assuming this was a one off problem, but although eventually agreeing to let me return them for a refund, Norman Hyde refused to send out a replacement set. They said this because it was likely that I would have similar problems in future and only cause more difficulties for them.
Yup, no word of a lie - three months after I fitted these pipes, they had started to rust and NH basically said I was being too fussy and that they could essentially do without me as a customer.
As I rode a 1998 Thunderbird Sport 20 miles per day, 5 days per week, through 4 years of London weather and sold the bike with 34000 miles on the clock with NO rust on the stock Triumph pipes - I know that it is not in any sense acceptable for a silencer to rust or indeed even tarnish after just three months.
Despite all of this, because I like the look and sound so much I had very recently been considering NH classic silencers for my modded Scrambler but this thread has reminded me what to expect of NH "quality" and at £345 or thereabouts, I think it is probably quality I should do without.
Anyway, all of this happened about a year ago and it is not my intention to cause un-due grief for a British company supplying parts for bikes that I really enjoy riding, but at the same time I think other potential customers should know about such experiences. Norman Hyde products are actually VERY expensive, I mean British-Customs STAINLESS pipes cost about the same as Norman Hyde chromed steel ones and are arguably a superior product by definition. I would buy the British Customs pipes immediately if they were only a bit more classic styled!
My experience with NH products AND customer service was awful and I guess I am not as alone as I had thought.