Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board Premature Gaiter Failures

Does anyone make quality gaiters anymore? The gaiters on my 68 Triumph Bonneville T120R failed about two years ago. I replaced them with new gaiters from a well-known British parts supplier about two years ago. These have now failed. It is a bother to replace them so I'm wondering if anyone actually still makes good ones.

Don’t buy ones specified for “vintage” or British bikes.

Buy them by measurements, from EBay.

i mounted motocross gaiters on my 72 stock forks to get rid of the scrapers. the two diameters fit my bikes tubes and sliders perfectly and they have been good for well over 30 years

ok what is measurement for 72 T120 and source of good boots?

i bought mine at a local generic motorcyclre dhop. im assuming you jave a dry frame? if so mine wont help you, because it is an OIF machine with an exposed fork tube and internal springs.

the boots i bought were around 32mm at the top, and 40 mm at the bottom, with 10 inches of travel. i hold the top with a zip tie and the bottom with a hose clamp

that fits an open-tube OIF, but not an earlier machine withi wide top and bottom diameters. i suggest going to an off-road truck or dirt track racing shop, and asking about what boots they can come up with for steering dampers, shock absorbers, or rack and pinion set-ups. they may have just what you need, and maybe in weird color choices too.

i dont know why brit bike gaiters have such difficulties. there are high quality gaiters available, but the problem is that they cost more, and people wont buy them. because of that, suppliers cant stock them. try CBS. they are good people and offer a quality solution to this problem with a realistic price.

https://www.classicbritishspares.co...nty?_pos=10&_sid=a307d6c90&_ss=r

thanks kevin for your civil and informative answer

When you think about what you have to do to replace bad gaiters, buying cheap, flimsy ones that won't last just because they cost LESS, is just stupid.

Is what we used to say about Harley owners now becoming the norm for us, too? ''"The cheapest thing on a Harley is the rider."

As someone else said, the cheapo gaiters end up as heap of "O" rings.

For OIF, Andover Norton gaiters have worked well for me. The purchase cost is immaterial compared with the time and aggravation of the spannering required to fit

The original 39 year old ones on my 70 T120R were in very good to excellent condition when I bought the bike in 2009 except one was torn by accidental damage. I still have the one good one and an eye out for another OEM one. The new pair I got from British Only have held up well but they don’t look as good as the original. The material is thicker and the surface is slightly rough and not smooth like the originals. From a distance they look ok.

I agree with Henry, I got the "ten year" boots from BO and it's obvious they will last longer but are a tiny bit puffier. I'm sure they are generic boots or boots for another bike that they found through trial and error, which could take some time. $40 I think. If you knew what bike they were intended for probably half that or less. But I appreciate their time in finding a solution.

Goods ones are either like the Andover Norton ones and are plastic looking or look like the original rubber are covered with a white powdery residue. This white powdery residue is excess anti aging additives.

Other good quality gaiters are made by Ariete which I use for specials, finish is similar to Andover Norton, so they may make them for AN.

https://www.ariete.com/product/ariete-fork-gaiters/

...I think would be good to support a vendor like CBS that is young and seems that always want to have (like in this case that he managed to send to fabricate) the good parts at a fair price even more for the guys that live in USA due to the free fast shipping (that I do not know how he does in the middle of the desert...)
Kevin is showing the link and those gaiters look good.
Their webpage is easy to ride and looks modern; most shops have a very difficult to locate items and no price in their antique webpages

Those Ariete could be good too.
I have new ones that look pretty good but I bought about 10 years ago that I installed but never used that fork until now. I will see if actually are good enough.

My 1965 TR6SR fork gaiters turned into O-rings after a Blue Ridge Parkway trip. I replaced them with the no crack gaiters from CBS and they still look like new. Yes, they cost more than most of the others, but they look fine and there is not the the aggravation of having to replace them. There is enough other crap to deal with on a 57 year old bike, so why not eliminate what you can.

We started offering a 10-year warranty on some our gaiters about 5 or 6 years ago

I have sold plenty of these fork boots with no returns

In fact, the first set I sold is in Japan, still looks as good as the day he installed them

https://www.classicbritishspares.co...iumph-bsa-front-fork-boots-with-warranty

Yes I am located in the desert, I have a full machine and parts shop

https://www.instagram.com/classicbritishspares/

I've decided to go with the CBS gaiters with the 10 year warranty, but I do have a question. I have a 1968 T120R Bonneville, but CBS has two different part numbers listed for 1968.
Years 1964 - 1968 - P/N 97-1645/H1645
Years 1968 - 1970 - P/N 97-3635/H3635
I was ready to place an order, but was unsure what to order. What are the differences? Is one better than the other, assuming both would fit my Bonneville? My VIN is T120RDU66686 if that makes any difference.

I'd call him. He knows best.

You have an early 1968 which should use 97-1645

Mid to late 1968 switched to 97-3635

You can tell which boot you need but the abutment you have installed

Abutment groove use late boots, no groove use early boots

I have a 1968 TR6 68689 - stock is 97-1645

Thanks! I'm ordering today.

Thank you!