Royal Enfiedl Question

Google not working tonight? lol

It is a motorised bicycle like these

It was a British Motorcycle company which is now being made in India. The company logo was "Built like a gun" after the Enfield rifle division of the group, it was also one of the most truthful logo's ever produced.

Some companies had "The fastest motorcycle " and "Handles like a dream" [ never mention if it was a wet dream ] but Enfields were very trueful in their description as if you were one of the unfortunate owners it was sure to go bang at some point.

As an aside under the Enfield badge on the tank were a number of patents held by the company one of these was the same patent number that the Torrey Canyon was built under, a not unsurprising revelation given that Enfields leaked oil where there were no joints.

John S.

That's what I thought - but my Dad insists it's where Prince Charles keeps 'is 'ens...

Hi Steve, Got ask, why are you asking. And to JohnS, seem to remember Enfields leaked a, because of hamfisted owners b, because of wet sumps (not wet dreams) c, because the owners made the mistake of starting their bikes and/or leaving them parked! T.W.

I suppose they never leaked oil on the drive while you had the engine in bits on the kitchen table ;-)

Regards, Tony

How true, transfered the oily mess to the kitchen. I am sure they were not called Royal Oilfield for nothing. Having poked fun at them, I saw a new Indian electric start model at the Chiltern Traction Rally yesterday that was 'dry', and it started first press of button and ticked over nicely. What are the Indians doing right that we Brits couldn't do? Any suggestions? T.W.

Quite simple really, they are applying the basics of god quality control. It's all clearly laid out in ISO 9000. You can follow the principles of the system that has been brought into disrepute by excessive paperwork. The basis is quite simple. Listen to what your customers say and act upon it. Put your problems right when the occur and make notes about it so it doesn't happen again. Sort your specifications out and work to them. Let people know clearly what is required of them. Make sure your suppliers supply what you want. Not too difficult really. All this was understood in the 60's in the UK but we as a manufacturing nation were too arrogant to follow it. Unions were too clever by half and management were too complacent by a similar margin.

Harrumph.

Where in Bullshit 9000 does it say "Listen to what your customers say and act upon it. "

The fact that in the last 40 years we have made many technically advances has nothing to do with it ? TW remarked that he saw one that started instantly on the touch of a button, in that case all we needed 40 years ago was to list the supplier who could supply batteries and starter motors that weighed less than 900 pounds and were reliable.

Fact is Bullshit 9000 does not document technical specifications and design, only the documenting and reporting of it.

John S.

Hi Steve, Got ask, why are you asking. And to JohnS, seem to remember Enfields leaked a, because of hamfisted owners b, because of wet sumps (not wet dreams) c, because the owners made the mistake of starting their bikes and/or leaving them parked! T.W.

I seem to remember that all British motorcycles leaked oil! My old Norton Dominator certainly did!

The reason Royal Enfield's were parked, was because they didn't have enough power to move. The ones sold here couldn't pull the skin off of a rice pudding!

Steve R.

How true, transfered the oily mess to the kitchen. I am sure they were not called Royal Oilfield for nothing. Having poked fun at them, I saw a new Indian electric start model at the Chiltern Traction Rally yesterday that was 'dry', and it started first press of button and ticked over nicely. What are the Indians doing right that we Brits couldn't do? Any suggestions? T.W.

Real gaskets? :)

Steve R.

Seriously, I agree! The British motorcycle industry was the instrument of it's own destruction.

Steve R.

They needed updated designs all round, that worked in the real world! The late great P.E. Irving himself stated that a 60 watt alternator was sufficient for a motorcycle. Never mind that in North America, 60/40 watt headlights were standard, and required by law in some jurisdictions. Those old 24 watt headlights were a very bad joke! It was only when the 12 volt electrical systems came out, the there was enough power to light a headlight, tail light, and a little to charge the battery. Even then it was marginal!

Steve R.

That may well be true but BS9000 would not have saved them.

I used to work for the first electronics research establishment to be granted ISO 9000 accreditation way back. Although we made not attempt to pull the wool over the assessors eyes, they had not the first idea about our business and the methods we adopted and so could not judge how appropriate our processes were. In essence we had a whole raft of documented processes with a top level document that said that the project manager could pick which were appropriate from one job to another. He then had to show throughout the work that they were adhered to. All it did was to mean more of the funding was spent on paperwork rather than useful research, we had to print all new stationery including notebooks with page numbers and we could no longer write in pencil in our these. This last change was the only recommendation that they made.

Complete waste of time.

Bob

It is, or was, a motorcycle, and I had the priviledge of owning one in the

instrument of

attempt to

ISO9000 and ISO9001 were renamed versions of BS5750 - I was involved in getting a service organisation through the hoops to become BS5750 accredited (as BT wouldn't continue to trade unless we did!!). In essence all that was needed was to document the process that you followed, then demonstrate that you followed it. There was absolutely no need to have a good process in the technical sense. Assessments consisted of checking all processes were documented, and that there was a audit trail that we did infact follow the documented process.

AWEM

Ah but think of the impact it makes in your company adverts! "We are an ISO 9001 company" At least that seems to have been the thinking with the marketing departments of many companies.

Henry

I went through two ISO 9000's in 1 year at different companies. The first time management failed to mention the smaller office 100 yards down the road so it just wasn't counted, the second time the ISO guy came to speak to two of us in the sales department, but as we were both on the phone he waited 45 minutes then got bored and left. Fortunately he didn't notice we were on the phone to each other.

so what is it .. ok youve explained what it is

but is iso9000 standard kept alive by some kwango company ..that you have to pay.........then if it is ......i see what it's all about .

all the best.markj

meant quangos .........some call themselves trade associations

look at this :-