I have two front mudguard stays (see attached pictures); the grey painted one is from my current 1972 Fastback, while the rusty chrome one was removed, 40+ years ago, from the 1971 Fastback that I owned back then.
As can be seen, they differ in profile at the crown, but this does not appear to affect attachment to the mudguard.
The next pair of pictures show the stays offered up in situ on the current machine.
Given that both items are known to have been fitted to Commandos, the mystery is why the chrome stay is here evidently not long enough to clear the tyre (whereas the painted one does so easily) but was useable on my former machine.
The most obvious possibility is that back in the '70s I was using 3.60 section TT100s on the front wheel, rather than today's 4.10 Roadrunner.
A longer shot is that the '72 machine has the oval section sliders introduced for the Norton Lockheed disc brake, whereas the '71 bike had the round sliders associated with the drum brake, and that there is some subtle difference in the lugs for the stays.
Does anyone have any better ideas?
At some point the front…
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John's point would account…
John's point would account for the difference in profile at the mudguard end.
Stan's point is interesting, but the chrome stay was definitely in use as a rear stay when removed. I didn't measure the difference but will do so when next in the garage. From memory, however, it is more than 10mm.
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Re Mudguard stays
The first stay in your picture was fitted to 1970 and earlier Commando's with the 300x19 [or 360x19] tyre the other stay with the squiggles was used on the 1971 and later when they went to the 410x19 tyre.
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My '69 Fastback , gone long…
My '69 Fastback , gone long ago , had a narrower front tyre fitted as standard (recall it was 3.60) than the 4.10 x 19 fitted to later Commandos, as per Alan's comment above. Looks like your old Fastback stay was from a bike with the narrower front tyre fitted.
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Bacon says 3.00x19 front…
Bacon says 3.00x19 front until it changed for 1972 model year. Just like the Dommies.
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Study in stays
There are 3 stays
Narrow, but full height, for early FB "R" 70 roadster and maybe 71
The shorter stay is for the "S" as the fender had a short bridge as well. The fender would hit the pipes on depression with a taller fender.
I'm in need of one more short stay for my "S". They are rare here.
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More pictures
Today I had an opportunity to measure and re-photograph my stays. This, plus the further info from various contributors and especially Alan Hesslewood's photos, appears to confirm the hypothesis that the stay from my old '71 is the early version to suit 3.00/3.60 front tyres and the four-inch mudguard.
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yes as I tried to say…
yes as I tried to say previously- been there done that.
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At some point the front mudguard when from 4" to 4 3/8" wide, there must have been a stay change at the same time.