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I clamped a T150 swingarm onto the bench with blocks under the pivot tube, then hung a 31.4lb weight on the arm at the axle. It deflected 0.036". With 8" between arms that is a 0.25 deg. tilt in the wheel. Presumably the axle would add to the stiffness. An A75 swingarm is likely the same.
They should have dropped the top hat spacers and made the axle 3/4" but they likely had a lot of old spares to use up.

1/4 of a degree is not much so shock absorber mismatch although non preferred is not a major factor in handling-- at least not for normal road use.

Continuing with the project-----
With the swinging arm bushes replaced and the dry assembly into the frame successful the swinging arm was removed from the frame, the dust covers, thrust washers and spacer tube removed and the bare swinging arm put to one side for painting.

A few posts ago it was noted that in addition to replacing the swinging arm bushes it was also necessary to replace the Metalastic bushes in the top triple tree.
The rubber in the original bushes had deteriorated badly even to the naked eye--- perhaps not surprising after 52 years!
To remove the old bushes and install the new bushes I turned up a simple drift in my little lathe.
The inner metal sleeve ID takes a 3/8" diameter P clamp so I made the smaller diameter on the drift 3/8" diameter (see photos).
The OD of the Metalastic bushes is 3/4".
I needed the OD of the larger diameter of the drift to be slightly smaller than this so that clearance of the smaller diameter of the drift in the bush bore would not mean that the edge of the larger diameter of the drift "caught" on the edge of the triple tree when driving the old bushes out and the new bushes in.
So I turned the larger diameter of the drift to be 23/32".
I then pressed out the old bushes (cold) on my press.
They came out pretty easily.
I then inspected the bores of the holes in the triple tree, thoroughly cleaned them and made sure that the top edge of the hole had no sharp edges.
I then smeared a small amount of grease on the OD of the new bushes and then pressed the bushes into the bores of the triple tree.
I did this from the top--- nice and slowly-- so that I could judge by eye when the top edge of the bush was level with the top of the hole in the triple tree.
The bushes pressed in quite easily.
I rather cheated with the photos--- they show the top triple tree after the new bushes were installed.
I then washed off any surplus grease with solvent and-- hey presto-- the top triple tree was ready for painting!

I believe they kept the old style rear wheel on Slippery Sam, possibly for that reason?
Yes, mismatched Shocks happened a lot, some were different from the start and then one would develop a leak...
Strangely, the bikes seemed to handle better than most anyway, and it would take the Japanese another decade to catch up.

Anyway, Richard seems to be on a roll, looking forward to see how the painting goes.

SR

The Girling Shocks on the triples were supposed to be matched pairs.
MYTH?

I'd honestly put money on that they weren't. Every other component on the Brit bikes of the era were victim to the factories relentless pressure on prices. Like the cheap 6CA points along with their equally cheap AAUs and the pot metal Concentric carb slides. The magnetic speedo and tachs weren't too impressive either. Amazingly the Girlings were still considered superior to anything from Japan, though us "in the know" at the time, bought KONIs. A pair of Girlings would last maybe 10.000 miles, after when they would bleed out and die.

SR

I don't think that I ever saw evidence of the Girlings leaking, and I never replaced the original Shocks on my first Trident for 20 years.
But, what do I know? I have Emgo Shocks on both my Triumphs. The way I ride I don't know if I'd be able to tell the difference between those and 'good' Shocks. I can barely tell the difference between ATF and the real fork oil I use now.

It is now over a week since my last posting and I was at the point of having prepared everything to start painting.
So--- onto painting?---- oh no--- life got in the way.
Two interruptions to my A75RV project--- but neither could I not do.

Firstly my friend Fred Kraemer died last Christmas Day from pancreatic cancer aged only 50.
I have posted this previously on the R.I.P. board.
His memorial service was at the end of January and while there his widow and the family asked me to inventory Freds bikes and parts so that they could sell them.
I inventoried the complete bikes and rolling chassis in February.
I was due to go to inventory the parts a week last Saturday.
His house is located in Hamburg NJ-- about 75 minutes north of me.
I cried off that visit as they were forecast to have 8" of snow overnight on Friday night-- which they did.
So I went last Saturday and spent all day inventorying 122 separate items including labelling everything.
If you are interested I have made a outline listing on the Triumph National Rally posting under Events on Britbike as it is intended to sell the parts there.

An example of Freds work --- which he did during the Covid crisis--- is shown in the attached photo--- his Triton Covid Cafe Racer.

So that has taken some time.
But--- it was not the only thing that prevented paint going on the A75RV-------

So--the second thing that delayed me from starting painting the A75RV-------
In the words of the old late British comedian Max Bygraves--- I will tell you a stttttory!

In this part of northern New jersey there is an old fashioned diner called Rutts Hut.
It was founded in 1928 and its speciality dish is a deep fried hot dog called the Rutts Ripper.
This is in the top ten of hot dogs in US.
It is old fashioned in that they do not accept checks or credit cards--- cash only.
Well on Wednesday evenings in the summer bikers meet at Rutts.
One evening in June some friends and I organize an "Old Bike Night"---for details see the Events board.
This has become pretty popular-- last year we had almost 100 entries with about 1000 spectators bikes and about 1500 people attending.
But--- I digress from my digression----
Going back at least as far as 2010 one of the guys who turned up always came in a beat up old Oldsmobile.
For the sake of the story let us call him Paul (mainly because his name is Paul).
Paul talked in terms of his classic car-- a Pontiac GTO and his garage of bikes including a nice BSA.
No one had ever seen either the car or the bikes.
Now Paul was getting on in years so I teased Paul about selling his BSA to me.
He always avoided a straight answer.
So one evening at Rutts I took out one of my motorcycle business cards (which says that I collect and restore British motorcycles including Triumph, Vincent, BSA ,Matchless etc etc) and gave it to him saying "If you change your mind call me-- the number is on the card".
We last saw Paul at Rutts in 2018.
In 2019 he did not show. One of the guys had a phone number for him and we tried to call him on numerous occasions -- but no answer.
We knew the town where he lived but did not have an address so-- a dead end.
Then came Covid and for 2020 and 2021 the Wednesday evening meets did not happen.
They recommenced last year but-- again-- no Paul.
We tried calling him again but -- again-- no replies.

Next thing that happened was that about two weeks ago I had a phone call out of the blue.
The caller was a female lawyer from a nearby town.
"Are you Richard Beard?" she asked. "Yes" I replied.
"Do you buy BSA motorcycles?" she asked. "Well-- it has been known" I replied.
Turned out that the law firm is representing a nursing home who are charged with disposing of Pauls possessions.
She had found my business card in Paul's stuff and not knowing how to go about selling old cars and bikes had decided to call me.
She told me the story.
In 2019 Paul had a massive heart attack. He survived it but they inserted 5 stents and two electronic devices in his chest.
During the heart attack his brain was starved of oxygen and his memory was wiped out.
He is totally unable to look after himself, can only walk with the aid of a walker and now lives in a nursing homewhere he will be for the rest of his days.
The lawyer said "we have to dispose of his apartment and his two cars and 5 bikes"--- "can you help?"
I said that I would help by taking an inventory of the vehicles and giving a valuation so that they could be sold.
The lawyer asked what fee I would charge to which I said "nothing--- to help a friend one does not think of money"
So I met with the lawyer at Pauls apartment which had a lock up garage in the parking lot.

In the parking lot were his two cars--the Pontiac GTO and the Oldsmobile.
A photo of the GTO is attached showing it tio be in very poor condition.
The Oldsmobile was in even worse condition and being 1980s vintage was not a classic just an old car in poor condition.
The GTO was sold to a local guy and on my advice the Olds was sold to the local scrapyard.
But what about the bikes? I hear you ask.
Well-- the other two photos show the garage and the sight that I saw when the garage door was opened------

But--- in the garage I counted only 4 bikes--- should not there be 5?
"Oh yes" said the lawyer---" the other one is on the grass by the parking lot"
I went over and -- there it was---it had apparently been parked there on its center stand over 4 years ago but the stand had dug into the soft grass and the bike had fallen over.
When?-- nobody knows but a long time ago.
The photos show the bike on the grass.

With the help of a couple of friends I lifted the bike on the grass upright and using a jack and a dolly we moved it into the garage.
It was a sorry sight with the gearbox, rear chain and rear wheel completely seized up.

I then inventoried the bikes.
They comprised:
Two 1977 Honda CB750Ks (one of them was the one on the grass)
One 1982 Honda CB900 Custom
One 1968 Honda CL77 Scrambler
One 1968 BSA Lightning

None of them had been touched for at least 4 years and probably much longer than that.
I wrote up the details with estimated values and gave the report to the lawyer thinking that that was the end of my part in the story.

But--no!-- there was more.
A few days later on a Wednesday I had an urgent text from the lawyer.
"We have sold the apartment and the sale completes this weekend so we have to have everything cleared by then. Do you have any ideas of how we can clear everything out?--- we don't have time to advertise etc".

I had realized that maximising the sale values of the vehicles would not help Paul.
In US (as in UK) a person in a nursing home has the fees paid by Medicare/Medicaid but only when their own assets have been used to pay the nursing home fees and have been reduced to a very low level.
So extra money from the bikes would not change Paul's situation-- it would only extend slightly the time when Medicare took over payment.
So I did some quick internet research on the Hondas (I am a Triumph/BSA guy so Hondas are foreign territory to me).
I circulated the bikes details to some close friends and asked if anyone was interested in any of the bikes.
One of my friends indicated interest in one of the Honda 750s (not the one on the grass).
My research showed that the CL77 scrambler was quite rare and valuable.
So on the Thursday morning I tabled an offer for the Honda 750 my friend was interested in, the Honda CL77 scrambler and the BSA.
I made it a nice round number and said if accepted within 24 hours I would remove the bikes before the weekend.
A couple of hours later I received a text--- my offer had been accepted!
On Friday morning I went to the lawyers office with a Bill of Sale that I had prepared and a check.
Late Friday morning I hurriedly dewinterized my enclosed trailer and that afternoon with the help of two friends went to the garage, loaded up the three bikes, dropped off the Honda 750 at my friends house and took the other two bikes home.
So-- what did I buy?

To be continued

One of the two bikes I bought was a 1968 Honda CL77 Scrambler (excuse the fact that it is not a Brit bike).
Apparently this was the last year for this model (powered by the inclined twin 305 engine).
Stuck at the back of the garage (first photo) it did not look up to much.
However in the open air and with a quick wash down it looked much more attractive (second and third photos).
Even had the original tool kit in the tool box! (last photo).
A very good friend of mine is very interested and has first dibs so I dont think that I will own it for very long-------

Loved that bike in college! Indestructible. This is a nice one... looks to have original tank badges (rare if real, weirdly says Honda 300) and original muffler (usually immediately discarded for Snuf-or-nots). Of course I was guilty of disposing of both, along with the front fender.

And has the tool kit... probably was my largest collection of tools back then.

This may be the only 305 Scrambler I've ever seen with crash bars.

I assembled those beauties back then for my cousin's shop at $3.00 each. The sad reason so few 305 Scramblers remain intact is that so many have been cafe'd (like so many Brit bikes).

Yes--- a scrambler with crash bars!!!!
It has the tank badges which indeed say Honda 300.
The speedo says 33000 miles so with the crash bars, muffler and luggage carrier I strongly suspect that it was used on the road rather than as a scrambler or trail bike. And that probably explains why it is pretty original.

So--- to the second of the two bikes I bought------

I had the chance to bid on a 175 Honda at a local auction. But, I already had an online bid in on a Yamaha SR500. Of course, the Yamaha went on the block late in the day after all the others had already been bought. I got outbid and went home with nothing.

Continuing my digression------onto the second bike that I bought-----
The first photo shows the initial view in the garage when the door was opened.
The second photo shows a view of the bike in the garage in a bit more detail.
Yes!-- a 1968 BSA Lightning.
Matching numbers and pretty much complete and original.
I think Paul was part way through putting on higher rise handlebars because they look too high to me even for standard US bars.
Certainly the throttle cables and clutch cable and the electrical wires to the switches look stretched and the front brake cable has lost its brake lever nipple.
The mufflers are non standard cocktail shakers and the primary side side cover has I think been damaged in an "off".
The paint color does not match the gas tank and the other side cover, the decal is missing and the paint finish is like orange peel.
And-- not surprisingly there is no battery----and the battery tray shows no corrosion whatsoever.
Having got the bike home it was apparent that there were many spiders around and that the chrome was on the verge of pitting.
So I washed it down and then cleaned all of the chrome with Solvol and elbow grease.
I have yet to polish the paint work or the aluminum castings.
But it seemed to come up really well-- see the third photo.
So I am very pleased with my acquisition which I intend to keep.

But--- enough of digressions-- now I must get back to painting the 1971 BSA A75RV----------

Well, except for the "silencers". Those are typical of the period aftermarket. JC Whitney used to sell them.

Nice story TM.

In the throes of trying to divest my self of some CL77 'treasure' at the moment.

So--- back to the painting of the 1971 BSA A75RV------
When we left for two lengthy digressions--- just to recap all the parts had had the paint stripped, were degreased and coated with a phosphating solution to prevent rusting.
Well—the good news--- the phosphating worked—there was no sign of corrosion on any of the parts.
So—how big is the task?
I counted 51 separate parts that needed to end up painted in dove grey.
This includes from the biggest part—the frame--- to the smallest part--- the collets at the top of the suspension units.
So—how to paint them?
I think there are basically three options:
a) Powder coat
b) Spray.
c) Brush

So here are my views on the options.
And before I start let me say that these are my personal views which I guess are not shared by many people--- in fact probably not shared by anybody else (not that that matters to me).

Firstly powder coating.
This can be done two ways--- either sub contract or DIY.
Sub contract means to not being in control of the process. I imagine a trainee coming into work first thing in the morning and being told” Powder coat that frame and that box of parts” He is probably hung over from last nights drinking session and his mind is on what he is going to do with his girl friend that evening rather than concentrating on doing a good job on my parts. And will I get all 51 parts back?—meaning that as well as lack of control I lose a grip on quality control.
DIY powder coating?----I don’t have the space in my shop for spraying and curing powder coated parts so that is a non starter.
Additionally I can’t see how powder coating gets to the nooks and crannies--- for example within the headstock on the frame, the gas tank mount on the frame top tube and the gap between the gussets and the frame at the bottom rear of the main frame loop.

Secondly spraying
Again this can be done on a sub contract basis or on a DIY basis.
On a sub contract basis my comments reference quality and quality control for powder coating also apply to spraying.
As do my comments about getting paint into the nooks and crannies.
DIY?--- well I have read with respect and admiration the spray booth build project by Magnetoman in his Vincent restoration thread. However I do not have either the space or the inclination to build a spray booth in or near my shop.
No inclination?
No—because my personal view is that both powder coating and spray painting for a motorcycle restoration are philosophically wrong.
Spraying on a large flat surface such as a car body is fine.
However spraying a collection of tubes you lose more with overspray than you cover the part.
So what?—you may ask.
Well—personal upbringing I guess.
Being born in England in 1945 and living for the first 9 years of my life where everything (food, candy, gas, clothing, furniture etc) was rationed I am ingrained with the concept of “waste not, want not”
So my personal view is that powder coating and paint spraying are wasteful and ill suited to painting a motorcycle.
So we are left with the third option of brush painting ---the method that I have chosen.
Of which more to follow----

I am fairly sure that when powder coating they electrically charge the frame and gun so the powder will evenly coat the frame. As the powder builds up less powder is attracted.

So, pretty much like the guy who did the original paint at the factory?
I've worked in factories which powder coated parts. Pretty much like paint lines, the parts go in on hangers and go through coating and baking to come out at the other end for us to inspect.
I've only had the pleasure of painting one frame with the engine out. I used brush paint to get a good thick base coat and used spray cans to get a smoother surface. For small parts I use my air brush, less overspray and more control.

Apart from not being born in England in 45, but in Norway in 57, it sums up my upbringing too, and it reflects my outlook on things. The great war took a toll on what was an upcoming economy in a then relatively poor country. It wasn't until the 70s wages really started to pick up again here, and I always seem to land on the such decisions as brush painting frames. I have a hard time throwing anything away, which is what spray painting frame tubes really does.

SR

I've spray painted (black appliance paint) with cans, spray painted with gun and compressor (lacquer, my color mix) but that had to be clear coated with 2K spray. Frames seem to always need a bit of touch-up by brush. Powder actually is supposed to have very little waste and coat nooks and crannies well as the electrostatic charge pulls the powder to the part. I disagree with those that say it is tougher. More chemical resistant (darn near impossible to chemical strip as it never was in solution), Yes, but chips just as easily as the others. My ptreference is Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy (actually a one-part but very tough) spray cans. I just wish their spray valves were not so hard to press.

What I have learned to never attempt again is brush-painting anything except solid colors. My brush-painted MG Maroon GL1000 engine came out beautifully. Another GL1000 brush painted silver/aluminum was streaky and was not repainted only because so much of it was covered by the fun four CV carbs, linkage, plenum, and water lines.

It takes more solvent for me to clean brushes than my spray guns. My problem with either brush or spray is to get a coat wet enough to level well (avoiding brush marks and orange peel) while not developing sags or runs. I paint so seldom that it is always an adventure.

pidjones, I recently stripped fresh powder coat off a bike frame using furniture stripper from the hardware store. Brushed it on, let it sit for a time and it did the job just fine.