Let The Fun Begin!

[morris]

Front wheel ready. All went extremely well. Got a maximum runout of 0,15 mm all around 
As terryg mentioned, the weld behaved a bit weird. Apart from that, no problem.
Now for the rear...

[WozzA]

I was in at Modak today & noticed Dave was building up a wheel in his 60's Japanese jig..

[morris]

Well well, my my...
Some shots from after it's maidentrip.
Have a feeling there's bags of fun to come...
Many thanks for all help and encouraging words 

[Greybeard]

Fabulous bike!

When my fuel tank came back from the platers it was soooo lovely that I was very tempted to leave it unpainted like yours but by that time I had decided that I wanted originality.

Sorry to be a PIB but your front brake needs attention; the operating lever is already well past 90° before it is operated. I found with mine that you can put the lever on with either side facing outwards. If I remember correctly the shaft has four flats and the lever has eight, (might be other way round) but reversing the lever gives another set of positions, (bit like a vernier coupling)  This appears to be a design feature to allow a wider range of locations.

[WozzA]

   She looks lovely Morris..  you should be very proud of a job well done..   

[Topdad]

Morris , what a clever devil you are !! she's a real credit to you and I hope you have many miles/years of enjoyment . I take it the BSA smile is well set on your moniker after just 1 ride  *wink2*Best of luck Bob.

[duTch]

 Nice one Morris- of it goes as good as it looks, you'll be a "million miles away" in no time and probably go hoarse singin' ....First ride after my rebuild, I went up the road- and a bit more- and a bit more. .... Next thing I realized I'd done a forty mile blockie...

[a10gf]

Great looking. Congrats.

[madsens]

 
look absolutely great!

rgds
Joergen

[morris]

Thanks lads, you're making me blush...
Just got back from a 50 mile round trip. It's such a pleasure to ride. It's got a completely different feel compared to the SA. Much more relaxed. I'm a bit reluctant to say this, but I think I'm gonna prefer the plunger over the SA...
Regarding the fuel tank, I'll have it painted after summer. Want to get some miles on it first. Also haven't decided about the pattern yet.
I had a bit of an issue with the seller (it's an Indian tank I got from ebay) which made that I got it later than expected. Wrong tank, ok my fault, sent it back, then the seller said it came back damaged which he wanted me to pay for, I refused etc, etc... 
In the end I got the right tank, but I'm not so happy with the quality. The lugs seem to be welded on by a 5 year old and are badly aligned so had a lot of grinding and fettling to do to make it sit straight. Chrome seems to be good though.
I also noticed the angle of the front brake lever, tried some different positions but couldn't get a better one so decided to leave it for the time being. Braking is good, so I'll wait until I need to change the shoes to tackle that.

[duTch]

but I think I'm gonna prefer the plunger over the SA...

  ssssshh...they'll all want one...! 

[Topdad]

Hi Morris, re the brake lever angle. I had the same , good braking but wrong angle  ,after checking the linings were ok I had a new cable made up approx. 1and qtr inch longer this allowed me to drop the brake arm and with handlebar and brake adjuster improved the braking no end. Now 4 yrs later getting to the point where new linings are required. Enjoy the bike ,Bob

[Greybeard]

Hi Morris, re the brake lever angle. I had the same , good braking but wrong angle  ,after checking the linings were ok I had a new cable made up approx. 1and qtr inch longer this allowed me to drop the brake arm and with handlebar and brake adjuster improved the braking no end. Now 4 yrs later getting to the point where new linings are required. Enjoy the bike ,Bob

In case it's not obvious, making a cable with both outer and inner longer will make no difference to the range of movement. You need to make a longer or shorter inner or a longer or shorter outer to change the range of movement. I know this from many years of bicycle maintenance. 

[Topdad]

Hi Morris and GB , yes you are correct I'd forgotten that ,Dave the guy who did this for me, used the original outer and lengthened the inner but it's still a cracking front brake ,cheers Bob.

[nimrod650]

Mounted the light unit and speedo (what a bugga to get the speedo in the rubber... )

When I rebuilt my '55 plunger machine, (with the cowpat style headlamp cowl) I damaged my new speedo rubber while struggling to get the speedo in. Someone here wrote up the best way to do this and I've recently renewed the rubber following their advice and found it quite easy. I lubricated the rubber with a suitable grease, (bought from a bicycle shop), put the rubber in the headlamp cowl and then pushed the speedo into the rubber up to the bezel. I made a tool by grinding the sharpness off the tip of a small screwdriver and bent the last 1/4" to 90° so the flat part is horizontal, when the tool is vertical. Lightly press the speedo down against the rubber and using the 'L' shaped tool carefully work around the rubber easing it up over the bezel lip.
If you've greased the rubber you can rotate the speedo if it's not quite straight. I hope this makes sense.

washing up liquid works fine