The swingarm needs exstending to give the bike more of 60's bobber chop stance. I cut the swingarm half way up each side. Having the swingarm out also showed what was going on with one of the MOT failures - a massive rust hole in the bracing by the swingarm pivot end, which I cleaned up and plated over with a piece of sheet metel.

I made up some spacers on the lathe from some round bar I had. I cut smaller diameter section at each end of the spacer to fit snugly in the swingarm tube. This aids fit and allows for a nice big weld without danger of blowing through the tube. I exstended the swingarm a bit over 1.5". I would've gone for a bit more but the swingarm would've been so wide at the axle plates that I would've needed a longer wheel spindle.

I could've made a jig to hold everything in place while I welded it up but I opted for just being careful, welding slowly and measuring many times instead. It was slow going but after much swearing and hammer action I got it weled up nice and straight.