I didn’t read thru every post on this thread but it’s common for collectors to take the pedals off to save space especially when moved around from place to place or when bikes change owners- those pedals may not even be from this bike. I’ve seen collections with no pedals on the bikes. They get stashed somewhere later to hopefully be mated with the correct bike. I think the pics of the tank reveal that your bike is a very preserved original.
Nice bike !