Model A - front stand

 Whilst working on the forks I made a little side project out of the front stand. Whilst I have the forks in bits I want to make sure that the mudguard and it's stays are all in the correct places, which of course includes the front stand and it's fixings. Sorting that out will also allow me to trim the front mudguard to the right length

We have the original front stand with the Model A, but unfortunately it's rotted out. I always seem to end up welding these stands for one reason or another, and this one is no exception - the stand retaining clip is missing as well.

I've had some suitable heavy wall tube knocking around since the FH project which needed its front stand extending by about an inch. It's a blessing that Ariel didn't change their design every 5 minutes and the stand material used here is the same as is used on all my other bikes - consequently there's about three feet of suitable tube in the material bin that I can use to fix this stand.

I use the Rothenberger Superfire 2 blow torch to make freehand bends using the old stand as a pattern and eventually end up with a complete bottom section that I could weld to the old arms

The linisher is very useful for squaring up joints in tube work which in turn makes a very straightforward autogenous butt weld:

Before we go any further, we need to make the clip at the back of the stand to position it in the right place to get the arms the right length and in the right orientation. This is the clip on the W/NG:

I've made this out of a piece of 16 gauge steel sheet cut to a strip around 1 in wide and I've drilled a 1/2 inch hole in the strip to receive the annular part of the special nut which is used to retain these stands. I folded the strip in half and cut a slot to clear the 5/16 inch bolt to which the stand is fastened.

I made a few of these special nuts on the lathe some while ago, probably for the WNG. The Model A was in the pipeline at the time and I knew I would need a few:

I've used this electronic level and some pictures provided by fellow club members to set the stand in the right place to determine the position of the hole for the clip:

With the hole marked and drilled, and the mudguard cut to the right length, I fixed the new stand section in place with the new clip:

With the bottom section in the right place, I can measure the length of the arms and tack them in place:

It's a very straightforward job which finishes this area ready for paint.

FH - Forks and mudguard

 With the arrival of the excellent seal holders from Draganfly Motorcycles, I can assemble the forks:

This is followed rapidly by the front mudguard stay, front stand and finally the mudguard blade itself. 

I had to check the parts book to be sure, but I now know I'm missing the damper spring and the washers for the fork top nuts:

FH Dry Build - Front Stand

Amidst various domestic and railway activities, the FH Dry Build marches forever onward - and I am beginning to run out of jobs. Did I really say that out loud?

I took a series of pictures for the dating certificate and this one reveals graphically that the front stand is wrong - it's either not Ariel, or perhaps is for a bike with a smaller wheel, though I can't see that somehow. The FH has a 19" front rim and none of the bikes I am aware of use a smaller rim than that, apart from the Leader & Arrow neither of which use a front stand.

Anyhow, it has the right fitting at the rear and is the right shape, so I am going to use it.

Removing the stand in the safety of the workshop reveals it is about 3/4" too short:

What I have done is cut both legs as square as I can and trimmed them up on the linisher. Then, I've taken a piece of 5/8" x 16 swg tube and cut two 3/4" sections on the lathe; I've also cut two pieces out of a scrap footrest bar (which was bent) to support the spacers and keep everything aligned:

I've set it all up on the bench, and cleaned the areas to be welded on the wire wheel. There's a bit of 5/16" bar through both ends to keep them aligned while I tack it together:

Two autogenous butt welds on each side, 40A:

And there we go, problem solved.

All we need now are a couple of Thackeray washers and I can make the pivot bolt spacers on the lathe. 

Here they are now, 5/16" ID, 3/8" OD and 7/16" long 303 stainless:

Bolts are 5/16" CEI x 1". This is how they fit:

The stand pivots around the spacer and the Thackeray washer prevents it all rattling. You can drop the stand by loosening the single nut at the back of the mudguard.

Model A - Front Mudguard

Since the FH is going to need some floor space pretty soon, I will need to move the Model A. I may even move the A onto the bench - we will see. I have had a front mudguard standing in its place for a while, which falls off every time i move the bike, so I really need to get that fixed.

I've had some black mild steel flat bar knocking about which I bought to make mudguard brackets like this and a dose of bending around various bits of scrap (a 6" length of scaffold pole is very useful in the workshop) had it more or less in shape.

The target shape was defined by various AOMCC members, notably Stan, providing pictures of original brackets.

I fitted the front stay first and let that dictate the mudguard's relationship to the wheel rim. I used an electronic level to establish the correct position of the stay, by measuring the angle from pictures of other bikes

The rolled edge of the guard needs to be flattened where the stay fits, in order to accommodate the width of this original stay:

Once I was convinced the guard was in the right place, I drilled the mounting holes to the forks:

Some time on the linisher had the ends rounded off and looking tidy:

In amongst the pile of bits that came with the Model A were both of the original number plate mounts and the number plate.

I placed these using a couple of reference pictures that I got from members of the AOMCC.

False Alarm

Well, thankfully the dribble of oil, grease or other shiny substance appearing at the edge of my brake drum appears to be tiny, and dry.

Pulling the brake apart took me fifteen minutes, thanks to the front stand, a wonderful invention - not only because it lifts the wheel off the ground, but also because it stops the headstock swinging about.

So easy to use...

This is the leading shoe, a little high in the middle - maybe about 60-70% contact:

Leading shoe wear

And this is the trailing shoe, wearing as you would expect - a little more than 50% contact:

Trailing shoe wear

So, we have something like 60% contact overall. A little relief on the high spots should help tremendously, which I can do with some 60 grit paper and a file.

As for the grease, just a little dribble. We will clean that up tomorrow.

And there is a lucky eBay find on the way!

For those fortunate enough to be less geeky than me, this is an original Ariel brake fulcrum spanner. Very rare. Here it is in action:

In response to a query...

In response to a comment on the blog, here is a photograph of the front stand bracket:

And some dimensions:

Front Mudguard & Stands

Here she is in all her slightly less moth-eaten-than-last-month glory...

Front mudguard, first trial fit - looks fine. That stay is slightly bent though, and the front stand bolts (to the fork leg) are also wrong. They shouldn't be plain machine screws as fitted at the moment. Or should they?

Rear view. Looking good. Front stay bolt hole looks stretched/bodged.

Side stand, first trial fit. Needs the primary case to locate the short end of the spring, but coming on. Not sure I would want to use it though, looks rather wobbly.

Here's my triumphant shot of the rear stand spring - all working now. I have scraped up the huge pile of pennies from the shed floor, released from the spring when I used it the first time.