1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Bikes or not. Whatever
Post Reply
Les Carter
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:18 am
Contact:

1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Post by Les Carter »

Just got my 1951 KH500 fully dismantled for restoration and found that beneath the black paint on parts appear to be a deep blue colour such as the ammeter/light switch casing, wheel rims and brake lever. Is this likely to be original or done by past owners? I thought this machine which I am told came out the factory on 19/11/1951 was all black apart from the tank and centres of the wheel rims. Any ideas if this is correct?
Les Carter
1960 Arrow, 1951 KH500, 1935 VA, 1951 LE Velocette, 1957 BSA A10 with Monza Sidecar, 1954 BSA C11G, 1966 Norton ES2 Special, 1977 MZ TS250, 1999 Honda VFR 800, 1969 MG Midget.
User avatar
paul.jameson
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Posts: 2933
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:04 pm
Location: Herefordshire
Contact:

Re: 1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Post by paul.jameson »

The blue will almost certainly be the work of a previous owner. Ariel didn't use blue between the late 1920s and 1953. 1953 saw the use of Wedgewood Blue for the coronation year but the colour is nothing like the blue colour of Wedgewood crockery. It is much more like battleship grey so cannot be described as a deep blue.
If your bike had been painted blue by special request to the factory, this would be noted in the factory Despatch Book. If you PM the engine and frame numbers to me I can check for you.
Paul Jameson
35 LG (project), 37 RH500, 52 ex ISDT KHA, 54 KH(A), 75 Healey 1000/4.
Former Machine Registrar & Archivist, General Secretary and Single Spares Organiser (over a 25 year period).
Now Archivist (but not Machine Registrar), Gauges and Clocks Spares Organiser.
Simon.Gardiner
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Posts: 1670
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:37 pm
Location: South West (Bristol-ish)
Contact:

Re: 1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Post by Simon.Gardiner »

Errrrmmm...

If it was a non-standard colour when it left the factory I think that might have already been remarked on? ;)
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13170

SG
Web admin (webmaster@arielownersmcc.com)

'55 Huntmaster, '56 VH, ' 51 VH, '62 Arrow, '80 R100RT, '00 Sprint ST (now with a new Arrow project, and just now those 4-stroke Ariel parts can't even make one running bike...)
User avatar
Roger Gwynn
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Holder of a Golden Anorak
Posts: 1113
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 11:34 am
Location: Norwich, UK
Contact:

Re: 1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Post by Roger Gwynn »

1952 models did not have chrome on the tank, which was dropped in February 1951, supposedly due to the lack of nickle caused by the Korean war which was, what would now be called false news. There is no mention of colour in the despatch books, looks like a Dulux colour!
Roger Gwynn, Membership Secretary, curator of the Machine Register and the works drawings. Director of Draganfly Motorcycles, Craven Equipment and Supreme Motorcycles mostly retired.
Les Carter
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:18 am
Contact:

Re: 1951 KH 500 Refurbishment

Post by Les Carter »

Would the rims have been chrome or painted black? They are black painted at present, I scraped a bit back and came to a grey primer colour, no sign of chrome.
Les Carter
1960 Arrow, 1951 KH500, 1935 VA, 1951 LE Velocette, 1957 BSA A10 with Monza Sidecar, 1954 BSA C11G, 1966 Norton ES2 Special, 1977 MZ TS250, 1999 Honda VFR 800, 1969 MG Midget.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 3 guests