Tires.

So, now that both wheels are ready, the time has come to pick some tires and get them on.
Provided you "keep it rubber-side down", tires are the point of contact with the road, a sort of frontier between you and the world, so an important feature. I don't need to tell you that modern tires on a classic bike are a faux pas. I also don't need to tell you that with so many classic tires to choose from it's easy to feel a little lost. Perhaps not surprisingly, people can get very vociferous when it comes to brand loyalty. The Metzeler fanatics have tattoos of the little elephant, certain folks have Pirelli tires with a Ferrari on top. Firestone, Carlisle, Michelin. Avon has an almost mystical, Arthurian ring to it and evokes a similar quasi-religious devotion. Then there is Dunlop who, much like Amal, is just content with making the best there is and just leave it at that. So, I'm a Dunlop guy.
I had originally thought of two possible options for this bike, think of them if you will as the beefy and the skinny.

Beefy:
Dunlop K81 4.10x19" front
Dunlop K81 4.25x18" rear

Skinny:
Avon Speedmaster 3.25x19" front
Avon Safety Mileage 4.00x18" rear

The beefy looks better on a standard OIF machine, especially if you shorten the forks a little bit to level out the frame. The skinny is cool for a chop and was my preferred option until last night. Then my dad went and did a bit of a re-shuffling with the Matchless and Norton tires, long story short we now have a brand new Dunlop K70 that needs a home. So, I started thinking, "new shit has come to light, man!" and being "privvy to all the new shit" I decided to go for this third option:

Dunlop K70 3.25x19" front
Dunlop K70 4.00x18" rear

Now, this would make it the same tires front and rear, the same kind of pattern with a decisively vintage flavour, pre-60s kinda stuff. Also, what I like about these is the idea of the "universal" tire, when you would fit them to a bike and really know that you could go anywhere. None of this overly purpose-built differentiation that happened later, effectively meaning that as motorcycles became more and more specialised and good at doing one thing, granted, it was only the one thing. You can't really do trials with an R1, and you can't really do fast road touring with a modern motocrosser. But what's wrong with doing everything with one bike? Sure, you won't break any records and you might not climb up trees but so what? What's the point spending a gazillion bucks for a fully kitted out "adventure" BMW or KTM if you're then going to use it for the commute from home to the office? Don't you think that's kinda silly? Same goes for any exaggeratedly performance-oriented bike.
But now think of this, a Triumph Tiger 650 with universal tires and you really are good-to-go. Simple transportation? Dry/wet? Check. A little dirt track to get to a country house? Check. A long trip across Europe? Check. 'round-the-world trip? Check. You see what I mean? And I say Triumph Tiger for the sake of argument, it could just as easily be any other British bike (a Thunderbolt, a Bullet, a G80, you name it).
So, I just need to get the rear tire, a couple of tubes and some rim tapes and we're ready to make a roller! Well, almost ready...

Score!

Part of riding a motorcycle from a bygone era is having to know how to fix it. From regular maintenance to emergency roadside repairs, if you don't know your motorcycle in and out, it will deteriorate over time if you don't look after it and eventually leave you stranded, sooner or later.
I think this should  be true with all motorcycles, regardless of their manufacturing date but, sadly, ever since the aggressive and pervasive arrival of electronics (beyond simple improvements such as ignition), maintenance has taken on a whole new meaning and, truth be told, there isn't much of it left that can by done by the owner. But I digress. Let's return to simpler times, when all you needed to fix your motorcycle could fit in a small toolbox. The tools you use become as much a part of the experience as actually riding and I think those who categorically refuse to explore this aspect of classic motorcycling inevitably miss out on something important. Knowing how to use these tools gives you a richer experience, it makes you feel closer to your motorcycle and, ultimately, it will make you feel more at ease when you're actually hauling ass, knowing that if something goes wrong you'll most likely be able to fix it and get to where you need to be.
When I decided "I" was going to build this motorcycle, I also wanted to put together a toolkit specific for this bike. I once read one of those "hints & tips" articles (update: found it again)that said something along these lines: any time you're working on your motorcycle, whether it's for a full service, going over all the nuts and bolts, changing the oil, nipping up something that's come loose, whatever, put all the tools you use into a box. The next time you need a tool for your motorcycle you'll know where to look and when you go on a trip you'll know that those are all the tools you need to carry (especially when travelling, the last thing you want is to cart around tools you don't even need or that don't fit your fasteners at all).
Now, while this might be counterintuitive in that you might be taking away tools from a complete set, tools that might be needed to work on other bikes or (god forbid) cars, I think it's at least a very good idea to figure out exactly what you need for one particular vehicle. You can then get duplicate tools to dedicate to that bike.
As I go along putting bits together, I'm making a list of all the tools I use for just that very reason. Once the bike is complete I'll no doubt have a pretty long list but I'm hoping that within that list there will be a lot of duplication, which should translate to an actual set of tools of reasonable size and weight.
As a head start, I'm pleased to show you my latest find, courtesy of whitworth spanners.

The first four are 1940s Triumph spanners, the other ones are BSA. All are Whitworth sizes.

I also got a 1955 canvas tool roll. Brand new.

The BSA spanner pictured below has a little trick up its sleeve in that it is a 4-way tool. By machining a step in the jaws, the result is two different sizes in the same opening, kinda like sticking two spanners on top of each other. This includes the all important 1/4 inch size. Pretty neat huh?

The other BSA tool is a ring spanner as used on the M20 and other older models:

The bird?

Everybody knows, about the bird.
My buddy Gianluca sent me this. It is much more functional than my BSA at the moment.

スプロケット!

50 tooth spuroketto mounted on the rear wheel, again, much easier than I would have anticipated. For example, I didn't have to re-drill every single hole, which is something. Clearly, the OIF cycle parts are superior quality and the right choice for this bike.

Another nice thing about the conical hub is that there are three different sprockets to choose from: 47, 50 and 53 tooth available to suit your needs!

Progress report: rear brake.

Check it out, the rear brake is assembled!

Not shown is the lewdly named grease nipple; that nut & bolt is there just to keep the trunnion in place until the assembly is fitted to the bike and the brake rod is put in place.

All the parts fitted together far more easily than I would have thought at first... and it appears to work!