1951 Bianchi Stelvio - making unobtainable parts.

Published on 11 August 2023 at 12:23

It was obvious from the start that obtaining parts for a 70 year old motorcycle that was only made in small numbers was going to be interesting. It's a real pain when doing a restoration as sometimes everything gets held up because of 1 part being elusive, such was the case with the handlebar clamps on my Stelvio. It had been fitted with trial bike handle bars that were a million miles from the right shape, somebody had made some aluminium blocks that would have put the bars right in the way of the steering damper adjuster - another part I will need to find.

I trawled all the usual places and looked for alternatives but I couldn't find anything that was either correct or near enough to adapt. I decided that going in to make mode was my best option, if a pair of originals turn up I can always retro fit them but at least this would enable me to make up all the cables to the correct length and operate the carb and ignition settings so I can get it running better when warm.

I had some ally bar that I figured I could use for the purpose, just as well I had plenty of it as I messed the first one up - no idea how but I drilled a hole about 1.5mm out so the bars would have not sat square -- oh well.

 

making handlebar mount braackets for a 1951 bianchi stelvio 250

I set to work on my 1953 Henry Milnes DF4 lathe, what a wonderful machine it is with it's power feed, power cross feed and built in gearbox - no messing about with belts etc. It's very rigid so great for intermittent cuts, it came with loads of tools, 2 chucks a faceplate and all sorts of other useful bits.

I made them so they had 100mm between the centers of the 20mm hole for the bar on the upper yoke and 22mm for the handlebars. They split on to two, each part will have material removed from the meeting faces so they clamp everything tightly.

Here's a comparison between old and new.

 

replacement handlebar brackets for my 1951 bianchi stelvio 250

The next photo shows where they fit on the bike, I can finish fir them yet as I don't have the 20mm drill required, the holes are undersized at the moment. They will definitely work and they look similar to the originals but any expert on this marque will spot the non originality pretty quickly. I shall keep looking, one day the originaals will turn up, whether they will be at a price I can afford is another matter......

 

bianchi stelvio 250 handlebar bracket test fit.

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