Arrow Frame

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Stu.B
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Arrow Frame

Post by Stu.B »

Having been caught with buying a arrow sports in boxes only to find out I had a Leader engine and Frame but a lot of Arrow part. So I did not give up and now own a complete 1961 Sports arrow which runs but needs a repaint and new silencers. All good so far I have a V5 with the same engine and chassis numbers T21314/G. Just started to take it apart only to find the frame looks like the leader one I have! The paintwork looks original and overall the bike is in good condition. So can anyone tell me if its correct or have again been done! See attached Photo
Stu
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will_curry
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by will_curry »

Mmm. I've never seen a VIN plate quite like that before, nor have I seen one
positioned where that one seems to be.

The one obvious difference I'm aware of between Leader and Arrow frames is that
there is a bracket on the front of the Leader frame by the headset which isn't present
on the Arrow.
bh.sprint
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by bh.sprint »

Hi,
There are some copies of the despatch records around , one person who has a copy is on this forum and may see your post. Brian H.
will_curry
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by will_curry »

For what it's worth attached should be a photo of an Arrow frame.
DSCF2118.JPG
There are some obvious differences around the mountings for the dummy
tank and some extra fixings on yours and not on mine.

Another though is that given the frame and engine number the bike would
have had the later front forks with the parallelogram brake linkage and not
the earlier ones which yours appear to be.
Stu.B
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by Stu.B »

It’s 1961 and had 6 former keepers. I have no history so its not surprising its been messed with over the 62 years. The condition is very good and I intend to restore it so it should be good for another 60! I find it strange that DVLA don’t appear to list these as a Arrow or Super sports (golden) which sell for more. Good news the frame is straight with no damage. Its a bit of a culture shock having restored German Italian and Japanese bikes in the past. Any thoughts on what colour I should paint it ?
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Roger James
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by Roger James »

Stu, The frame in the picture you have posted is a Leader frame part converted to make it useable as an Arrow frame, the horn bracket at the front has been removed so the headlamp can be fitted, the bracket gets in the way otherwise, the give away that its a Leader frame are the lugs sticking out down the side, on the Leader these are for the side panel screws, I see the lug at the rear has been removed leaving a bit of a jagged hole, on the Arrow frame a grommet is fitted to this hole both sides. You will also find looking inside the frame smaller lugs down the side , on the outside you just see the holes, these are for bolts to hold in place the Leader bodyshell. You can easily remove all the lugs creating a more convincing Arrow frame however please note, the frame might be bent under the headstock looking at how close the back section of the lower front mudguard is to the cylinder heads, there should be a gap of at least 2 inches between the mudguard and heads. I could be wrong, sown to just the angle of the shot taken, a full on side shot with the forks straight ahead would show how much of a gap there is. I've checked the Ariel Factory Despatch Records, T21314G confirmed it left the factory as a Super Sports Arrow in Gold and Light Admiralty Grey on 21 2 61 and went to the Dealer E A Boult of Stone in Staffordshire. Jess
Stu.B
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by Stu.B »

Jess
Thanks for your reply this is what I thought a bit fed up but trusted the V5 and vin numbers also the paint does look original so I assume Leaders were also finished in Admiralty Grey. It would be interesting to know the history of when and why the frame was changed, the Vin plate looks like its been there for some years and not a recent addition so all this may be 40 plus years ago!The photo gives a distorted view of the mudguard I have a good 2 inch gap but noticed a small crack on the Engine mounting lug of the frame which I will have a closer look at when I strip it down. At leased the engine looks original with a Amal 376 carb. And the chain guard is good. I would like to get it back as original as possible and unless I find another frame consider modifying the existing one.
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Roger Gwynn
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Re: Arrow Frame

Post by Roger Gwynn »

The VIN plate is definitely home made

Excerpt from Draganfly paper catalogue that doesn't seem to have made its way onto the web site.
A feature of the Ariel two strokes was that they were produced in a 2 tone colour scheme, which was very fashionable at the time. As noted in the introduction, the ‘base’ colour changed from Admiralty Grey to Ivory at the start of the 1962 model year. The parts listed below were painted in the secondary colour; all other parts were in the base colour apart from hidden items such as the petrol tank, which were painted in a grey primer. If the motorcycle does not have its original paint the original colour can frequently be found behind panels etc., where it may well have escaped being repainted, failing that it may well be found by rubbing through the later paint with ‘Wet or Dry’ paper in ever decreasing circles thus exposing some of the bike’s history. Alternatively obtain a Dating Certificate, see the notes at the beginning.

SECONDARY COLOURS
Leader Body shell, Headlamp cowl, tail section and instrument panel.
Arrow Dummy tank, engine cover, tool box lid, number plate and fork cover plates for 1959-61 (S models)
Sports Arrow Dummy tank and rear number plate. The engine cover, tool box lid and fork cover plates were chromed
200 Arrow Dummy tank, engine cover, tool box lid, rear chaincase.

N.B. The exception to the above notes is that the wheel hubs on Admiralty Grey models were painted in Admiralty Grey but on Ivory models they were black. The exception to the exception is the aluminium alloy hubs, which were not painted.
YEAR MODEL CODE BASE COLOUR SECONDARY COLOUR
1958-61 Leader A Admiralty Grey Cherokee Red or Seal Grey or Oriental Blue
1961-65 Leader B Ivory Cherokee Red or Seal Grey or Oriental Blue or Black
1965 Leader B Ivory Rocket Red or Nutley Blue with Ivory handlebar cover, USA only?
1960-61 Arrow S Admiralty Grey Cherokee Red or Seal Grey or Oriental Blue
1961-63 Arrow T Ivory Cherokee Red or Seal Grey or Oriental Blue or Black
1964-65 Arrow T Ivory Cherokee Red or Black
1961 Sports Arrow G Admiralty Grey Gold
1961-65 Sports Arrow G Ivory Gold
1964-65 200cc Arrow H Ivory Cherokee Red British Racing Green or Aircraft Blue


COLOUR EQUIVALENTS
These colour equivalents have mainly come from recommendations given to us by our customers. Some information has been supplied by ICI Autocolour via Ariel Atzori, president of the Ariel Club, for which we are grateful. The best or definite recommendations are in italics.

Admiralty Grey British Standard 381C range ‘Light Admiralty Grey’ ICI 0501, Rover‘Mist Grey’ is the same or Light Admiralty Grey BSC697 by PRC-DeSoto International of Shildon Co Durham +44 (0)1388 772 541
Ivory Toyota ‘White 073’; Rover ‘White 30-3738; Ford ‘Diamond White’ (Ketts code 691
Cherokee Red Ford ‘Dragoon Red’; Rootes ‘Signal Red’; Jensen ‘Carmine’ 30614
Seal Grey Rootes ‘Corinth Blue’ or Standard ‘Gun Metal or current (2002) RAF colour
Oriental Blue Fiat ‘Green 376’; Renault ‘Laguna Turquoise’
Rocket Red B.S.A. colour, see Bri-Tie motorcycles
Nutley Blue B.S.A. colour, see Bri-Tie motorcycles
Gold ICI ref D738B (matched to a sample) VW ‘Hellas Gold’ code L98A
British Racing Green
Aircraft Blue VW ‘Sapphire Blue’
Roger Gwynn, Membership Secretary, curator of the Machine Register and the works drawings. Director of Draganfly Motorcycles, Craven Equipment and Supreme Motorcycles mostly retired.
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