2012-08-16 15.25.45

Something else I need to either make or find a reliable source for!

Have a good look at the picture…again! Open and close your eyes a few times to get it right…it’s the INSIDE of the main rear mudguard for the KSS, kindly loaned for measuring up by a good friend, Keith. This picture (got it right yet?) I took to make absolutely sure of the size and position of the strengthening ribs and struts that stop the guard from flying apart and cracking everywhere in use! Note the Strap on the inside of the ‘valance’ or chain-oil-guard, which also goes the full width of the end of the guard, too! The strap along the centre at the top of the picture, inside the top of the guard, is 20 inches long and nearly ⅞ of an inch wide! Riveted into the inside, the straps that are fixed to the stays are riveted to it and go over it. It reaches from about four inches aft of the frame-mounts, right to the end that attaches to the detachable end withe number-plate on it.

Here is the reinforcing side strip again, this time a bit closer:

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And above, the centre-strip again. This is the bit that is always missing or that you will need to make for yourself if you ever buy a ‘pattern’ part from a dealer or privately, so it’s worth noting. If you are going to put Alloy guards on any machine, I would recommend a similar treatment to stop them cracking prematurely or waving around in the wind.

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This is the same guard from the topside, the two holes are where it attaches to the lugs on the frame tube and are 260mm up from the bottom edge of the guard. The centre of the outside strap above it is 440mm from the bottom edge and the centre of the second, inside strap is located at 84cm. The whole thing is 10550mm to the step at the back, 1080mm in total.

I took the measurements in metric, as most people these days (unfortunately) are used to these units. Since I’ll be getting this made for the bike, by someone else, of course, I thought it wiser to measure in units that he is likely to work with… When I have tried them out, I will be having these made properly on a regular basis, and will be stocking them for those that might need to complete or freshen up their own project bike!

Note also that the valance is absolutely flat for the KSS, as the mudguard guard is only about 4½ inches wide…the MAC, MSS and KTS have much wider guards and so the valance has a definite ‘dent’ in it for the chain-guard: It’s mounted in the same place, of course, but as the mudguard is wider, that part of the valance AND mudguard have to be slimmer to fit over/to it – compare with the MAC pics on this site!

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Here it is in the side view with my flat feet in the picture, too. Gives a sense of proportion…the long side of the valance is 500mm…and at its deepest, it’s 170mm wide. the length of the straps is 220mm for the short ones and 280mm for the long one at the back (on the right of this picture). If you look at the valance, you will see that the chain must have been a bit loose – remember that this is a rigid frame, so no rear-wheel movement up-and-down (well, not relative to the frame, I hope, anyway!), so it must have been the chain slopping around: On acceleration the top run will tighten into pretty much a straight line tangential to the two sprockets, but once the throttle is closed…it all loosens on the top run and epicentric- and whatever other forces will swing it into an ‘S’-shape.

Also, don’t forget that these measurements will only be ‘true’ for a bike with the standard 20” rear wheel, if you want a good looking mudguard for a 19” wheel, some of the measurements could be slightly different. Putting a 19” wheel under a 20” mudguard does look OK, but I wouldn’t like the look of an 18” wheel, unless it had a very high aspect-ratio (the ratio between the width and the height of the tyre…the higher the ratio, the ‘taller’ the tyre sits on the rim – so it looks ‘fatter’ or thicker from the side) The smaller wheel would leave a lot of air-space under the guard and the ‘ends’ would ‘stick out’. If you are going to fit a 19” wheel, it’s best to remember to make a new guard AND stays, of course (more of that later), due to the smaller radius, and therefore distance from the centre of the wheel.

Next time, I’ll remember to take photos and all the measurements of the duck-tail, too, and will make a few comments about that, the number-plate bracket and the ‘correct’ tail-light for these bikes…which are indeed Miller items, but not the ‘STOP’ lights that we see being sold everywhere, which the Vincents and some others were fitted with.

© peter gouws 2012

Made on a mac