Here it is, my 1953 M33. I've put the footrests and gear lever back on now, and I managed to get a hundred miles or so in over the weekend. I made a two piece torque arm for the front brake and a wire stay to stop the cable from rubbing on the mudguard. The stay is made from an old tent peg. The new torque arm is shorter so that the nut on the brake drum isn't now behind the front mudguard brace and the cable inner doesn't rub on the lug on the bottom of the fork leg. The old torque arm pushed the mudguard out of true; this one doesn't. It's even easier now to get the front wheel out. A result all round.
Nice bike , excellent job
Great looking bike, the plungers have so much character and reliability.
Thanks ceeferboy and B Murphy, though I must admit that all I've done is some fettling and fabrication. I'm still please with it, though.
thanks for the comment about my M21. Interesting your experience with the side stand as mine won't take the weight unless it's clamped extremely tight. You like the foot lever on my centre stand? It broke and fell off a couple of days ago!! Thankfully, the metal is easy to weld with an arc welder and even with my amateur skills I cleaned up the metal and put the lever back on successfully. I really like your M33, very similar to my M21. Is it easy to start? What sort of speeds is it happy with?
My side stand is made for a 1" tube, but the frame is only 7/8". The bit of metal used to fill the gap didn't work, partly because the clamp had been done up much too tight and is badly distorted. I took the stand off the bike. The centre stand is not the right one and is too short; on level ground the bike doesn't fall over, but both tyres are on the ground. It's also hard to get the bike on and off the stand. I'm planning to make it longer and to weld a foot lever for it, made from the remains of the old stand that the previous owner gave me. Good stands make so much difference.
Thanks for the kind words about my M33. It was easy to start, but has become more difficult over the past 250-300 miles. I shall look at it again this weekend. It is very happy at 50 mph, but doesn't mind 55 mph on main roads.
What I did to my B33 that had a worn centre stand is cut some pieces from a large bolt. Something about 1/2 inch dia. File a flat on the bits then put the bike on its stand tilt to one side and place piece under leg then tilt other way place piece under leg then weld them in place. You now have a stand that will lift bike by 1/2 inch more.
I never thought of using a large bolt! I have experimented with bits of wood under the stand and I reckon an inch and a quarter of lift at the stand equals about the same at the back wheel. Some of that lift will come from adjusting the angle of the stand, when in use. 20 degrees from vertical is too much; the worn stand on my other bike is at 15 degrees, and though it's a hundredweight heavier, it is far easier to put on the stand.
The flat part of the bolt go against the stand leg leaving the round part on the ground. the advantage of this is easier to use of the stand.
Of course! I would have thought it was an easier to make and stronger joint, too.