Some time ago Trevor dropped one of his bombshells on jtan, by remarking that since Vincent sprockets were 3/16" out of line, redneck obsessing about chain alignment was a waste of time. Study of the factory drawings apparently showed that they'd all been MADE like that. Having by then learned that Trevor was seldom wrong, I stored the information away, and returned to reading jtan postings about Hitler, and how, if the US hadn't foolishly interfered, he could have saved the US from communism. Or not.
Having recently had to replace the timing side gearbox bearings, and having some time earlier, on a whim, bought a laser chain-alignment tool, the removal of the G50 plate allowed me to check on Trevor's remark.
HE'S WRONG!!!!!!!
It's no more than 5/32" out of line. The outside of the rear sprocket is a mere 5/32" outboard of the outside face of the gearbox sprocket, a difference of 1/32". So if as I did, one had purchased a 520 sprocket "centred" on the 530, and planned to purchase a similar 520-centred-on 530-rear, the error would be perpetuated. And as Trevor implied, it wouldn't matter a bugger. They're all like that. But if one were an obsessive, or even if one were a perfectly sane former MPH editor, and one thought as I do about Trevor, one could see where to go next...
The good news is that Hitler apologists and communists - in this context Barack Obama - both win. If the 520 sprocket profile is "moved right" on the gearbox sprocket blank, and "moved left" on the rear sprocket blank, the centrelines are much closer together.