8 replies to this topic

[ERIC63]

Took this photo at the Classic TT parade a couple of years ago.

[knickerbrook]

I'm guessing it's the 4-cylinder Ariel Arrow that I saw at the 2013 Cassic TT?

(V-four wasn't it?).

[ERIC63]

That's the one.I know that John Rimmer who's pictured and John Foy have raced Arrows over the last few years in classic races.Was this ever raced at any time,do you know?

[tonyed]

It was I believe sidecar racer Bill Boddice who first used two Arrow engines to produce a 4 cylinder 500. His configuration was a straight four but I believe problems with the coupling of he two curtailed his use, but it may of been sprinted later on by George Brown of Vincent 'Gunga Din' fame.

I remember seeing a three cylinder Arrow at Mallory Park during the sixties.

 

I've retained a soft spot (just at the back of my skull) for Arrows as it was on a tuned Arrow I made my road racing debut at Brands March 1969. Our Arrow sported an ex-Mike O'Rourke rear wheel, a Norton Dominator front, an engine tuned to 'Motorcycle Mechanics make you Arrow do 100mph spec' a semi close ratio gearbox and later twin 'Wal Phillips' fuel injectors which we then replaced by twin Amal Concentric Mk 1s.

 

Along with the BSA Bandit the Arrow was the last hope for the British Motorcycle Industry at the time but was abandoned in favour of the Ariel 3 moped, the rest is ancient history.

 

It would be nice to see a shot of the four pictured less clothing.

 

If you 'Google' Ariel Arrow and look at 'Images' there are several of a straight four and also of a Bantam framed square four which is well documented on NATS http://2stroker.crea...g500-t7085.html  

[fastfitter]

Not racing I know but I spotted this up the Ponderosa last year ....

 

Errrr, I can see the pics in the edit panel but not in the final post?

 

 

Edited by fastfitter, 25 February 2015 - 07:43.

[fastfitter]

Curiouser and curiouser - you'll have to click

 

 

 

http://img.photobuck...zps1e487935.jpg

 

 

 

http://img.photobuck...zps6e409ee7.jpg

Edited by fastfitter, 25 February 2015 - 07:46.

[ERIC63]

I've just googled John Rimmer Ariel Arrow and found a thread on there from the CMRC forum from 2013."Another rare bike for racing"

[Paul Collins]

Slightly off topic but i'm sure I once saw a 4 cylinder engine using home made cases and something like NSU Quickly barrels to make a 4 cylinder 200cc engine, can anyone else remember seeing it?

[Paul Collins]

In answer to my own question, just found this  Fruin 200 4 Cylinder

 

"The engine of this extraordinary motorcycle is the work of independent engineer H L 'Bert' Fruin of Hillingdon, Middlesex, who constructed a series of technically interesting 'specials' in the 1950s and 1960s, including a DOHC 125cc twin-cylinder racer and a modular V4/V8 engine. Proprietor of H L Fruin Motorcycles in Hillingdon, Bert began competing on his Italian Demm-based 50cc two-stroke Dartela racers in the late 1950s and rode them at the Isle of Man TT in 1962 and 1963, retiring on both occasions. The first Fruin-built 200cc Four was featured in The Motor Cycle magazine (3rd May 1962 edition, copy on file), which also revealed his plans for future multi-cylinder 'strokers' "

"Designed to accommodate Demm top-ends and later NSU Quickly components, Bert's four-cylinder engine was sold in kit form as a crankcase and set of crankshaft blueprints at a cost in 1961 of £16. The engine of the machine offered here was built by engineer Mike Smith of Waltham Abbey, Essex around 1965 and uses NSU cylinders and heads. It was fitted with Wal Philips fuel injectors initially and then Dell'Orto carburettors. Smith housed the Fruin engine in an MV Agusta rolling chassis fitted with Royal Enfield forks and Gilera hubs. Power reached the ground via a Villiers four-speed close-ratio gearbox. Motor Cycling magazine featured Smith's Fruin Four in its 24th July 1965 edition (copy available). The Fruin proved un-competitive in 250 class so Smith used it mainly for sprinting"

 

Offered for sale by Bonham's in April this year.