Hi guys - is it absolutely essential to remove the centre stand and spring to remove the gearbox? I had an awful job refitting the stand and spring and am not looking forward to repeating it. Same applies to the rear chain guard. Does that really have to come off? Bike is a '55 ES2 - laydown box and swing arm pre-featherbed. Thanks for any help. George
Hi George, which version o…
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Good to bear from you, Ian…
Good to bear from you, Ian. Hope you're keeping well. Without dashing out to look I'm sure my type has a centrally located ( very strong) spring hooking over a " Spud". As to " prop" stand that's what I call the side stand but maybe it got called " prop" to differentiate it from the rear stand on the 16H.Cheers George.
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For some reason Norton cal…
For some reason Norton called the centre stand on the plunger frame a "prop" stand but I don't know why as mine lifts even my oversized 4.00 rear tyre off the ground.
Like George, I always called the side stand the prop stand.
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I can barely get my 3.50 o…
I can barely get my 3.50 off the deck so there would be no chance I could heave 4.00 onto the stand!
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The 4.00 may be easier as…
The 4.00 may be easier as you will not have to lift so far, but it might be less stable on uneven ground.
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Oops! You're quite right,…
Oops! You're quite right, Ian. I should know that cos after I damaged my ribs/ collar bone I used to run the rear wheel on to a plank to give an extra bit of lift. That was before I renewed the side (prop!) stand. George
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Hi George, which version of the centre stand do you have on the '55 bike?
On plunger frames the centre stand spring is outboard of the stand and attaches to an extension of the right hand end of the lower gearbox bolt, in which case yes the spring would have to be removed.
I suspect that your stand is similar to my '56 model where the spring is central and attaches to a 'spud' on the brace between the swingarm pivots. The brace also has forward projections that link to the gearbox plates. They project over the box. This could limit how far you can lift the box to clear the lower frame rails. If there is enough clearance you won't have to remove either the cross brace or the stand spring. Neither of my maintenance manuals ('56 & '57/'58) mention removing the cross brace as part of the gearbox removal process so you may be OK. The '56 manual does mention removing the prop (=centre?) stand spring from the right hand end of the lower gearbox bolt but I think that is a line that has been accidentally carried over from an earlier plunger frame instruction.
Cheers, Ian McD