what makes it a red hunter

[JohnnyBeckett]

HI All what makes a Ariel 350 NH a red hunter is it because it all red or what is different from a 350 NH

[will_curry]

Johnny,

https://www.draganfly.co.uk/data/pdf/not_all_ariel.pdf is not a bad place to start.

[adrie.degraaff]

Basicly a flowed head, bigger carb, the best lined frame and the total finish.

[alan.moore]

My 1939 VH Red Hunter was originally Black i.e. black panal tank and wheel rim centres..

As Will said, the article on Drags covers it pretty well. Basically the H suffix i.e NH, VH, OH signifys that it is a Red Hunter model

[nevhunter]

No mention at all of the Polished STEEL flywheels and conrods that only came out on SOME hunters. To me that's one of the most significant features especially if you are interested in competition. (other than trials where a heavier flywheel might be advantageous). Better finished ports and maybe the cams profile used. Some were "guaranteed" to do certain speeds and maybe the finish was better . Nev

[will_curry]

By 1954 which is when Johnny's was manufactured there had only been the NH for a few
years the NG having disappeared in 1950 and in 1954 the NH got the new cast iron wheel
to suit the new PRF frame.

I had a 1954 350 for a number of years and it was a very nice machine to ride too. I think the
1954/55 singles and twins look better than the later ones.

Did the 1954-on bikes get advertised as 'Red Hunters'? Time to browse the Knowledge Base
.

[Keith.owen]

Hi,
I thought that the major difference apart from colour scheme was:
Hunters have a steel flywheel not a cast one
The head was flowed
Different carb spec
The front wheel is bigger (not 19")
Also VG had a valenced front mudguard

At least post war, that is.

But could be wrong.

They are all nice, anyway!

Keith

[alan.moore]

The sales brochures for the single Hunter models up to 1953 state : Specially bench tested or Specially bench tested and tuned . I have seen reference to the bench test lasting for up to 2 hours but not found where this is 'officially' recorded.

So does this mean that every VH, NH, OH engine was setup with carb, exhausts etc and run ? Did they measure the HP as well? Be interested if anyone has any knowledge, hopefully with written references to this begin carried out.

Cheers
Alan

[will_curry]

An interesting browse of the Knowledge Base. The 1954 sales brochure uses the term 'Hunter' not 'Red Hunter'
but in the 1955 brochure the models have become 'Red Hunter' once again.

Neither of them mention bench testing but both the 1954 and 1955 Competitions brochures mention a certificate
of performance and bench testing for the HS but not the HT. The illustrations in the 1954 brochure clearly
show 'VCH' on both the HS and the HT engines - a last-minute decision to change the names perhaps?

[JohnnyBeckett]

the one i am asking about is a 1953 with a swinging arm it was registered on the 19-12-1953 and the logbook says red hunter