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Cut two 2” lengths of 5/8” stainless.
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2” is too much. The othe bike pictures was an inch and a half, but that seems long. So 1” seems about right.
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This tubing has a slightly smaller OD, so I’m going to try to find something closer.
 
OK, here's my first thought.

Cut a corresponding plug out of stainless steel plate, cut the tubes at the appropriate angle and depth, weld the underside of the plugs to the tubes, then sand and polish smooth across the three surfaces.

Something like this:

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The Renaissance Man said:
OK, here's my first thought...
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I like that thought. It was my first thought as well until a traditional idea came through. I'm not against either. I think it will boil down to whether I can match the OD. If I can't that slight difference might look odd. I'll let you know.

Oh, and I may have misunderstood you, but I can't weld the fork legs to the top plate or else the fork will never leave the bike again. That couldn't have been what you meant so I'm sure I'm misunderstanding. What I took from your suggestion is getting a piece of solid 1/2" rod that will snugly fit into the 5/8" ID. Then weld those inserts to the top plate. Then cover up the rest of the hole with the top plate, smooth it out and polish it like it was one piece.

Or... I could remake the top plate without the holes so they are truly solid. But... how would I correctly weld the insert to it? The slightest goof and it won't fit.
hmmmmm....

Good food for thought! I'm working on it!
 
Pictures are easier than words.

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You would have to assemble all of the parts with bearings on the bike to determine the exact placement and tack weld the plugs before taking it back apart and fully welding them.
 
Not sure if I can adequately convey this via typing it out and with my rough sketching skills on my phone, but what if you took another plate and trimmed the head tube out of it, essentially making a C notch, and then aligned that underneath your existing top plate and welded them together. Basically doubling the thickness of your top plate yet still being able to be removable. Then that newly welded on lower plate Takes all of that torsional force from the top of your tubes

If you fully welded it and smooth it in from the front and the side, it will just visually be a thicker plate. Only from the bottom backside, would you be able to see where it’s notched out and the difference

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Or the more complex and mathematical version would be if you took your press brake and put a gull wing in your top plate and bent those two outside edges to a lower plane

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Getting your hole alignment would take some math skills or trial and error unfortunately. Unless you have someone that could draw it in CAD and then flatten out the model before you cut it on the laser or ran it through the press brake programming.
 
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Decided to hit the easy button with the forks. Rather than engineering a good looking plate cover with harness sockets, I decided to just extend the fork legs. It gives it a traditional look, which is always good in my book.

Used a 1/2” rod as a ‘jig’ of sorts.
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And got them both on straight.
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The fish eye lens of my welders phone really makes those pics look wonky!

We’ll add the fender brace before we do final weld smoothing. Then this stainless set will go to a professional polisher.
 
speaking of superfluous holes…
There are two in the bottom bracket shell and there are two extra under the down tube. I’m told they were there because of other models.
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So…
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I also made room for the tire. You can see the marks and the dimple tool.
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FLAME ON!!!
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And a nice rosebud
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And the result
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Pausing to get my other project built…
 
CRASH said:
And here's where I think that will end up: Scorched Orange candy. And we'll add some "pop" to it to bring it alive in the sun.

View attachment 278877
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Likes that orange & those bags. All I can say is more cowbell. Has a poor rear 3/4 view photo of a nearly completed orange truck-rod. After a few years, the truck surfaced elsewhere on the 'net & I read the fabulous paint was a transparent candy resembling your photo.
 
From outside lock nut to outside lock nut this hub was 100mm wide. So I removed a spacer under the actuating side’s lock nut, and for the none actuating side I replaced the 10mm spacer with a smaller space that I shaved down a bit making it 6mm. Now it fits in the fork.

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I’m not sure how I feel about that brake actuator sticking up if I put it on the left side. So I tried it on the right to see. I’m not sure. Sticking up on the left side, or pointing down on the right. I’ll have to settle on that.
I also have to decide how to cleanly mount the brace. I first thought I’d just tap a bolt into the leg, but with the rim laced on I can’t access it and that would be profoundly stupid. So probably a strap, which further pushes me to keeping that actuating side on the left.
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CRASH said:
I also have to decide how to cleanly mount the brace. I first thought I’d just tap a bolt into the leg, but with the rim laced on I can’t access it and that would be profoundly stupid.
Click to expand...
What about using a "T" nut inside of the slot of the brace? Run the bolt through the leg.

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Other bike is gone, so time to make up time. Got the freewheel in, so mounted the tire and stuffed in the wheel to see how it will clear.

I need to cut this tab and move it back by half.
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And I’m going to cut out this brace, replace it with a solid one, moving it up a few centimeters to better allow tire clearance under the hereto undecided rear fender.
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