Ariel VH500 Front Wheel Hub and forks

[Dunkyc1963]

I have a 1954 VH500 that had worn out gaiters that had let a lot of dirt in and got onto well greased springs meaning a refurbishment on the forks. When taking the wheel off I noticed that the chrome has gone on the rim and decided that I may as well do the whole front end before the good weather arrives.

I have found a good wheel builder in Herne Bay and that is all in hand but the front half hub needs a refurbishment before it goes back to him for a wheel build. Question from the guy hub refurbishment work is how do the bearings come out. It looks like a normal bearing on the brake side and on the flanged side I presume it is a conical bearing. The wheel builder said it would need some heat to get the bearing out. Any advice or guidance would be welcome as would pointing at the bearings from Dragonfly to replace. I am trying something new Cerakote as finish on the hub and hoping this is going to be a better finish than powder coat with spoke holes, along with the stainless spokes will make it easier to look mint.

The front forks I think that I will need to get new stanchion legs as I expect they will be worn out due to the amount of rubbish floating around.Will BSA A10 fork stanchions work? Classic bike Cheshire have some OEM No 42-5027 that look like they would do the job and are chromed with brush set, as I understand that getting hold of Ariel ones is not that easy.

Hopefully someone on the forum will have words of wisdom, Many thanks Duncan

[will_curry]

Welcome to the forum.

A standard VH wouldn't have had gaiters, they had metal shrouds.

Are you sure your front wheel is actually Ariel? A photo would be a help here.
The bearings in an Ariel hub are both ball journals with the one on the brake
side having an internal sleeve. Both are available from Draganfly. The bearings
don't usually need heat to shift them.

I don't have a cross-reference for BSA fork legs so I can't comment.

[Roger Gwynn]

BSA and Ariel used the same stanchions from 1954 and these later ones will replace earlier in pairs. Ariel used an adapter in the top of the stanchion that can be difficult to remove from the old stanchions; use a fork top nut (bolt really) and a front wheel spindle nut to lock it in place as you would a stud. The 42-5027 stanchions are the chromed version intended for use on Gold Star etc with exposed stanchions, the reason they are supplied with bushes is that the std stanchions are chromed without an allowance for the plating so oversized bushes are supplied. The only Ariel stanchions that are not available are the 1946-49 type, but the later type fit although the later adapter has to purchased as well.
https://draganfly.co.uk/shop/82986/stan ... 602/#H5-54
Other fork parts - https://draganfly.co.uk/product-categor ... pic-forks/
What your wheel should look like - https://draganfly.co.uk/product-categor ... cast-iron/ If it doesn't, as Will says post some photos so it can be identified, heat should ne required to remove bearings from hub

[charles.bulloch]

Simply Bearings will supply bearings relatively cheaply.

[Dunkyc1963]

Picture p the forks along with a place that looks like it should hold a grub screw but nothing in there. Top nuts are off along with triple tree clamp pinch bolts. Before I use the mighty persuader assuming this is age holding it in place and nothing more?

These are pictures of the front hub as they are with the restorer so can’t get a picture. I think that either the retainer lock ring would be a two pronged workshop tool or most likely use a drift. All in need to know is left hand or right hand thread? Thank for all of the information Roger & Charles.

[simon.holyfield]

It looks like you have done all you need to allow the forks to come out.

Hub bearing retaining rings are normal RH threads. Draganfly have the tool to remove them - they are brass and quite soft - please don't use a drift!

I knocked up this tool (it's for a later hub) in a couple of hours:

It's just a bit of plate with a couple of pins in it.

[Dunkyc1963]

Thanks Simon I will get the Dragonfly tool and not use the drift. The forks are now off so it looks the afternoon browsing Dragonfly & buying some new seals as actually the part that gets used are in better shape than I expected the legs aren’t
Pitted seems grease on your springs catches and holds the muck, which I really didn’t expect to be the case, but not going to argue with the outcome.

[Simon.Gardiner]

For info, you've got the later fork yokes (1956-on) that go with the headlamp cowl and the two holes in the back of the lower yoke are for cowl screws.

SG

[Dunkyc1963]

Here is an update. The wheel should be off to the wheel builder on Friday. There front end was in need of some TLC, the steering wasn’t in the best condition, so I have stripped it all down cleaned and re-greased their steering. The forks had some interesting looking sliders on the bottom leg, different on each leg one was grooved as well as different circlips holding it all in. I even found what was left of a small tap in the bottom of the sludge in the forks. I went for new A10 legs and sliders everything is now all refreshed and it just needs oil adding and cable ties on the gaiters. I cleaned the old springs of all the grease and went for a double dry coat of AF10 which should stop any rust whilst avoiding the risk of picking up dirt although the new gaiters should stop that. Any idea how may cc or ml goes in each leg or 5/8 of a pint per leg?

[Roger Gwynn]

Bush without grooves is pattern, the one with grooves is a Draganfly copy of the original. Correct spec as per the owner's guide is 29" from the top yoke or 1/3 pint of sae 30