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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

PRECEIVED QUALITY

                                    
 
It’s hard to see in this late night garage photo but I’m sure you’ll think of or have in your garage examples just like this.  Honda has always been perceived as manufacturing a very high quality and mechanically sophisticated motorcycle.  While generally that is true there are small things which don’t measure up to that quality reputation.  Since I’m working on cleaning up and modifying Honda hubs for the Privateer I noticed a few things. 

This is a view of the cooling ribs in the hub center.  I found that at three places around the hub the casting flash from the mold hadn’t been removed.  As you can hopefully see it really isn’t a lot of flash.  However I can see it and it just seems sloppy to me.  This is the front hub I’m re-lacing with a Boranni.  I also have found what seems to be, just like the rear hub, casting slag that was never cleaned up at the factory.

Yes I understand the whole concept of supply and demand, build to a price point in this ever expanding consumptive economic structure.  However I can’t believe that the myth of Honda quality was created based on product fit and finish like I’m finding.  I suppose I’m being overly sensitive and critical.

But this is my one and only Privateer so I’m still going to pay attention and try to do things on this build which I believe fit my idea of quality.  But you know in the end I could be full of shit and your mileage may vary!



                                      

So out came the die grinder and I went after the flashing left from the casting process.  I still have more clean up to do on the hub before lacing to the used rim.  But I also have work to do on the brake plate and the hub for cooling vents and just general racer holy work.  I guess I can understand not wheeling off the flash from the casting joints but what was left from machining the spoke holes on the inside of the hub flange was pretty careless.  Around each spoke hole are the remains of the flash left after the bit finished the hole.  Because the flash is on the inside it appears the process was to machine the holes from the outside in and the bottom of the flange apparently was never inspected.

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