Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

I've been restoring MZ's and Honda's for over 30 years .. 16 bikes "oily rag" restored from wrecks to MOT'd bikes on the road and ridden ....
Back in the 80's i briefly rode an Ariel Red Hunter to work before swapping it for yet another MZ ....
Tomorrow i'm off from Sheffield to Portsmouth to pick up the next oily rag project .... 1959 Ariel Red Hunter VH 500. Well thats what i've bought ... let's see what it actually is .....

Welcome to the Forum.

That's quite a challenge you've acquired here. It looks to me like an early '50s 500 engine and front forks
along with a mid-50s petrol tank all lodged in and on a post 1955 frame and rear wheel. The frame
and engine numbers will be informative as will the registration and plenty of pictures too,

The gearbox will have a number and letter sequence on it to help date it, something like 'D54' for
April 1953. There will also be a plate on the drive end of the magdyno with date information on it.

My first concern would be the age of the gearbox. Later frames like this one had a gearbox with a
longer mainshaft than the gearbox to suit the engine you have. You could have alignment issues
with the primary drive.

If haven't already done so do join the owner's club. It will give you easy access to much useful
information and parts.

Quite a mix of bits but at least the frame seems to still have most of the things that are often cut off (eg pillion rests/silencer hanger extension).
If there are any odd things lying around when you go to pick it up (like that missing inlet push-rod and cover, rear brake plate stay and maybe a gear lever) make sure to gather them up!
Good luck!!

SG

Thanks guys .... I'll get it home then start putting a BOM together ,,,
Any commonality between the NH and VH engines ... i've got push rod covers for a NH ??

The other side .....

There is some commonality - crankcases and timing chest and contents spring to mind
but the top half and the crankshafts differ as do the pushrods and tubes.

That frame will take any of the singles except the Colt and, with different engine
plates and primary chain cases, any of the 4-stroke twins.

As simon says the frame seems not to have suffered too much from the hacksaw.
The only part which may have been removed is the centre bolt mounting for the
proper, later petrol tank.

I've joined ... worth every penny all ready ...

Ariel Red Hunter 1959 ... alledgley .... loots like a bitsa to me....
Registration; XJJ 457
Engine Number CAM B 1891
Gearbox Number GB40 A59
D18 .. ?

Do these make sense, Is there a Type / Dating page I should be going to ?

And frame numbers;
Head Stock ...E9/3180
Top Tube Rear ... E9 3191
Left Down Tube ... 6ARR14258

Interesting.

XJJ is a London registraion but it may be an age-related issue.

The engine number is from a 1958 VH and the gearbox is also from a VH and
'A59' would be January 1959.

It looks as though someone has put an earlier top end on a later pair of
crank cases. Is there a stud hole between the push rod tube holes in
the top of the crank case?

Hi Will,
There is a hole between the pushrods ( push rod tube required, swap for a NH one ) .. It has a screw in it.