Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

don't do much business of this type there any more. I can rely on japanese and Taiwanese firms to produce what I need on time and to approved quality. Price isn't such a key factor in this market, but they can beallhe Brits on that too. Don'tget me wrong-I'm oneofthe biggest Anglophiles around, .else I wouldn't be in tl1is business. It depresses me that B ltish companies still seem to think they can pass off inferior pans like pauern' exhausts that line up two inches out and are so thinly chromed tHey rust in the wrappings, at exorbitant prices to overseas buyers, and get away with it." ,'Quality control is a fetish of Domiracer's policy, and the result of that is some well-made parts from surprising sources. Like japanese-made Triumph silencers that sell for SlIO, with replaceable fiberglass inserts and thicker chrome than the originals. (Schanz keeps at least one example of the original factory part for com pariso,. with his pauern products.) Hardto-.get Commando silencers come from the same source; they're made from t1ikker metal than the originals, but 111,1 longer as a result. . apan supplies not only exhausts, ~dt also valves, rings, pistons, cables, I ers, grips, ammeters, coils, recti£( rs, lenses and cables, while from T:iiwan come pistons, baueries (the Id black Exide type, indistinguishi6l'e from the real thing), oil filters, fd;)tpeg rubbers, lights, rocker covers, condensers, points and assorted ·tches. Italy is a good source for lica pans, such as rims, clutches, m'dguards and every type of lever vailable to pattern, while from the (j' ited Kingdom come seats, seaters, handlebars, gearbox parts and (orth. "I do get some parts like sprockets a 1:I chainguards made in India," id Schanz, "bu.t you have to inspect ~l:tl individual item closely-at least 15%of whatthey send is no good. But .th everyone, the secret is to find a f /fdOd supplier and then make sure he knows exactly what you want. I've f6Und most of the ones I need." XWhy not use the original manufacui'iers, if they're still in business? S'Ehanz roared with laughter at the question. "I went to joe Lucas with a vast list of obsolete parts for which w' had people literally begging us to supply them. I had patterns for almost everything. They were only interested in rsupplying us with what they had in'stock-and at prices which were literally three times what the japanese wanted to charge for identical copies which worked better and were more reliable. I thought I'd be doing them a favor by relieving them of old stock they'll probably junk rather · ~ than sell. They didn't see it like that." He also warns that if the Lucas wholesale price of an item goes up suddenly, buy it while you can, as it's an advance warning that it's likely to be remaindered soon. The vast majority of Domiracerl Accessory Man stock is listed on the firm's own IBM computer, and in turn appears in two enormous catalogs updated annually by one of the 16 employees. One book covers the vintage and classic pans up to 1970 or so, the other lists more recent parts, and both can be purchased at a cost of $IOeachplusa$3shippingcharge(Write: Accessory Mart, P.O. Box 261 16, Cin- cinnati, OH 45226-0116). Reading them is like leafing through the pros-' pectus of Ali Baba's cave. How about complete girder forks for thirties BSAs at$16O, Norton 16H and ES2c1utches for $45, I,.yceu saddles for $100 complete, or "a replacement cover fitting the original frame, but of rather poor quality" for just $IO? Schanz claims over 30,000 part numbers, and he appears to have succeeded in his aim to "be the first place people look when they want something." judging by the quantity of mail they received the day I was there, Domiracer has achieved a worldwide reputation. "We haven't advertised much, but the word seems to have got around. Our business used to be 90% wholesale, ,but we're geuing a lot more retail customers writing to us from everywhere you can imagine. We had a couple of orders from Finland recently I couldn't believe." The firm's principal business is still to supply the 700 or so British bike dealers in the United States, as well as another 300 worldwide, especially in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Selling coals to Newcastle has become an increasingly expanding business, with enthusiasts in England particularly keen on the otherwise unobtainable parts. "I sold all my Amal bits to Ken Gardner (a Gold Star specialist in ·England). Where someone reputable wants to specialize in a particular area, I'll help him all I can," said Schanz. Domiracer's 30,000 square [eet of space also houses a burgeoning business in selling complete vintage and classic bikes. Some of them are built up from spares, like the 1954-type TRW Triumph and a 1951-model TR5 I saw there during my visit. But out of the constantly-changing stock of around 200 machines (many o[ which are pictured in the Accessory Man catalog), there are some real prizes: at,one time Schanz had two of the only three desmo 125 Ducati twins ever made. ''I'm a Ducati [reak. I have 18 singles back at the house, and if it wasn't that we've enough on our plate right now taking care o[ British bikes, I'd get into spares for them too. Maybe soon!" said Shanz. He likes Zundapp 601 twins too, hence the couple [or sale which he restored himself, plus no less than ten Ariel Square Fours, including two of the rare ohc 6OOs; Domiracer stocks Italian-made piston sets [or the 1000cc version, by the way. Schanz secures his complete bike stock-prices for which seem very reasonable-from all over the world, including the United Kingdom which he visits on a buying trip at least once a year. He showed me an Excelsior Manxman racer from Lancashire snuggled next to a two-stroke Velocette GTP he had purchased from a British. enthusiast, with a brace of Matchless Silver Hawks found in South America siuing alongside. Ali Baba's cave had nothing on this! A batch o[ 60 ex-Dutch Army Matchless singles had been obtained last year and only a few remain. "In this particular case we were able to ':"" """"';';';";"';"" offer a better spares back-up than most new bike manufacturers can today," joked Schani. Schanz has no plans to diversify into early Japanese bike spares. "Someone else should do that, and I'll wish them well and give them every help," said Schanz. When, as sometimes occurs, he gets offered a consignment o[ Japanese bike parts, he passes them on to other dealers. "We're dropping everything except European and 90% British parts," he said. He plans to start producing workshop manuals and owners' handbooks [or vintage and classic machines, to ensure people know how to work on the bikes and use them. Meantime, in a masterly piece of auention-grabbing, each year he sends out to the many thousands on his mailing list a facsimile color poster from the classic period. Last yea,' it was a superb 1953 Matchless Earl's Court Show version celebrating the coming of the 'second Elizabethan age' (the Queen was crowned that year) by standing Sir Francis Drake next to a 500 Clubman's single in glorious Technicolor black! In 1981 the poster was the 1960 Isle o[ Man Tourist Board one [or the TT. On the reverse of the posters is a list of'goodies from the DomiracerI Accessory Mart catalogs at special sale prices. Bob Schanz dou btless has his detractors, people that are either jealous of the energetic growth of his enterprise, or those who mysteriously believe that the multi-million dollar commitment he's made to the vintage and classic movement in someway acts against the interests of its enthusiasts. Schanz shrugs off such criticism lightly. "If I hadn't got aU this stuff together, it would have stayed hidden away in some old warehouse, likely as not in a third world country, until it got junked. And as for remanu[acturing pauern parts, I can't see how that's anything but a valuable service to old bike enthusiasts. Perhaps someone else would like to tie up ten grand on having a batch o[ Norton pistons made that might sit on the shelf [or anything up to five years or more? We aim to be able to supply any part you may reasonably need for a classic British bike off the shelf, and that takes the two Cscapital and commitment. All we ask in return is the support of dealers and enthusiasts to help us help them keep British bikes on the road." • 7 iii_'"

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