1963 Ariel Arrow SS. Will it run and ride?

Comments · 132

• BR

  @brianperry · 3 years ago

  In the mid sixties myself and a friend turned our rather 'tired' Arrows into Cafe Racers. we junked the tank and seat  assembly for a new fibreglass racing type seat/tank unit, a new set of handlebars called Stearwell conversions which gave clip on adjustability ..Motorcycle Mechanics described how to ''tune'' the engine, which l wont go into, suffice to say it involved  expansion chambers of UNBELIEVABLE  volume, plus we put a little Castrol R in the fuel... ....The volume attracted police like flies on you know what!...(l was eighteen years old and rebellious ).. soon after finishing  and riding for a few months l joined the Merchant Navy so never rode it again....Forty years later that same friend bought  a good condition Golden Arrow... When l rode it l realised l'd forgotten  just how smooth running it was, albeit with a vortex of trailing smoke.... by todays standards its quite primitive but with a bit of good spanner work and tuning the Arrow runs very well.. Enjoy your new purchase...

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• AL

  @alandavies55 · 3 years ago

  Best handling bike I ever rode. Shame about the front brake.

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• TH

  @thra5herxb12s · 3 years ago

  I know a few guys that ride these and love them to bits. They sorted all the factory issues years ago and have no problems riding them in modern traffic.

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• FR

  @frankkemble2103 · 3 years ago

  Lots of great memories as I had a golden arrow in the early seventies. I also had a racerized Leader with twin carburettors which had neccessitated removing the engine mount that the engine hangs off and fabricating a support.  Also on the Leader I cut the bottom loop of the scavenge ports on pistons and barrels and the bike was noticably quicker. These motors aren't rubber mounted by the way.  Mine used to loosen the exhaust clamps which is usually what sprayed oil onto the mudguard.  What I loved about these bikes was that you could rebuild the engine entirely in situ as the crank halves could be separated. I remember an article where someone had added an extra crankcase half and crank half making a three cylinder 375 cc Ariel.  They used two left hand cylinder heads on left and centre which looked a bit odd but the bike was very quick. Great times and thanks for the video.

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• LA

  @LarryBees · 3 years ago

  good work .. nice bike.. I remember Airfix had a kit of it when I was a kid !

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• RO

  @RobsSierraCosworth · 3 years ago

  On my 16th birthday, I had a Golden Arrow as my first bike in 1967, I had no problems until coming home from Basingstoke teck the engine locked up. Thinking the engine had seized up and needed transport my Dad bought me a  250cc Honda CB 72, after a month or 2 the Honda blow a piston not good. I bought a leader as a doner for the Golden Arrow, on striping down the Golden Arrow engine I found the problem was the alternator had overheated and locked up, easy fix parts from the leader. I passed my bike test on that Golden Arrow, Honda parts were a nightmare in the 1960s, but when the Honda was fixed I sold the Golden Arrow to a friend. :yougotthis:

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• TO

  @tonythedwvyer · 1 year ago

  I had a 1964 Arrow SS back in the 1960s. Loved it.<br>That sound brought back some memory. The engine doesn&apos;t sound bad at all :)

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• SC

  @schorch-n2z · 3 years ago

  Back in 1975 &nbsp;I was working in a bike workshop. And next door we had an old garage to store &quot;scrap&quot;. One day a scrapdealer came to clear the garage out. We loaded three Ariel Arrows onto the back of the truck. They were in perfect condition, but no one wanted them.😭

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• JO

  @johnmarsh2078 · 2 years ago

  This is the only mototcycle in my experience where I had to do welding repairs to the chassis for it to pass the MOT. Super bicycle, only the front brake failed to impress.

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• DA

  @davedear929 · 3 years ago

  Bought a brand new Leader in 1962. It was the only one up the local coffee bar. Wasn&apos;t really &nbsp;accepted amongst the Triumphs and BSAs but I loved it. Everywhere you went you left clouds of blue smoke. I loved it my only complaint was the front brake was useless. Thanks for the memories.

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• PE

  @peterreece6547 · 3 years ago

  The advantage of old type of 2 strokes , so easy to pull apart and sort out.

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• DO

  @douglassmith2562 · 3 years ago

  Had a friend who had one back in the sixties, one day whilst riding a silencer separated from the exhaust pipe and being supported at the end dropped down and dug into the road and bent the rear mudguard and frame up. Woth watching out for if you own one!

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