I had the best golden arrow supersport in Worcester it was fitted with a full Avon fairing I purchased it from bladders in Sudbury second hand the previous owner was female my 3 mates had arrows but none could keep up with mine it was the best and it was fast I put that down to the fairing it was easy to work on and so reliable and safe like everyone who owned one I wish I still had it for its time it was so modern and so different from all the old British bikes.great days great memories
I had a Golden Arrow in the mid 60s , great fun in the day , you could bank them over really low , they would handle great but the front brake was weedy , very comfortable to ride as well , the one you own is Awesome looking bike , well done , take me back , thanks for the memories 😀
As a kid I used to take old motor bikes and cars to bits to see how they worked, many of us in those days were self taught and did our best to keep our bikes running ourselves, something the kids lack in todays world. I think the Japanese bikes finished the likes of Ariel off. The small japanese bikes of the 60s were so amaziing, fast, reliable, reasonably priced with such a high specification. I remember my first Honda CB72, wonderful bike with self starter and 12 volt reliable electrics !
I remember cutting off the bottom off the scavange ports on the pistons and barrels, did actually make it rev harder. Loved the way you could completely dismantle the whole engine while still in the frame.
That’s only because the swinging arm bolts to the back of the engine so to get the engine out you have to take half the bike to bits the rear end. Worse bike I have had the misfortune to work on 😱🤮
use to have the leader got it second hand,every weekend when not on guard duty in catterick came down the a1 a59 to wigan in all weathers great bike and great sound.the year was 1966
It's been a while since I've seen and heard an Arrow. I crashed mine in 1965, just after I'd finished paying off my dad's loan. Total write-off. The pressed steel banana which everything hung off collapsed when the bike somersaulted at about 60mph and the front wheel and forks wrapped round the engine, breaking the fins on the head. The whole bike ended up about 4ft long minus bars, seat, dummy tank. These bikes actually handled quite well although they were far too low and the suspension much too soft even solo. I still love the sound of a two-stroke twin, with those curls of smoke from the exhausts. We used to add a little Castrol R in the mix to get that lovely race-track smell. I'f only I 'd known then even half of what I know now - the perennial and entirely useless lesson of old age...
We oldies all wished we had kept all our old motor bikes and cars, hindsight is a wonderful thing !! I never owned a Golden Arrow but a few of my mates had the standard Arrow and also the Leader. I recall them as being a bit of a revolutionary bike, pressed steel frame and if I recall properly, did it have a dummy fuel tank on the Leader ? Unlike the modern two strokes you had to mix the oil with the petrol in those days on two stroke engines, about a 20/1 mixture was about right.
My hubby had a Golden Arrow, bought it new (£206) and couldn't keep up the hire purchase (that dates me) payments. He paid a friend to pinch it and claimed on the insurance. Then bought a Morris Minor for £40, nowhere near as exciting but it kept our romance warm!
Back in the 1970s I had a Francis Barnett Fulmar. After a while, I got used to people saying "I never knew Ariel made a single cylinder Arrow! A few weeks ago, I saw a Fulmar for sale at 1,300 pounds. That's robbery with violence!
BTW your Bros Ariel looks and sounds great !! good to see they still leave a smoke screen, well they did when ridden hard.. but again it looks great !!
I owned a golden arrow in the 60,s and had it stolen from Raleigh rail stn Essex while working in London -- could be somewhat dificult to tune due to 2 sets of contact breakers but I loved that little bike
I had one just like this, never let me down... pressed steel construction was forward thinking at the time, I read somewhere the factory made some specials fitted with larger engines but they were killed off --- so what's new.
Ah Comerfords of Thames Ditton, purchased a Yamaha RD400 from them, in the 70`s, red tank job, along with a ( now deceased ) friend on consecutive number plates, wish I had kept that as well...
Very nice looking example; Looks original spec 62 onwards minus the fly screen. Whenever I see one nowadays I think how small they were in comparison with todays bikes, not like I remember. I had a new sports Arrow in 1961 (light blue) and still have the HP agreement, £6 15/- a month.....oh I wish
Love it! I had two Leaders followed by a Golden Arrow and then a racing leader with twin carbs. I crashed the arrow, rebuilt it then seized it and then changed the offending standard barrel for a 30 thou over one and a 40 thou over piston filed to fit and ran it for another year-LOL!. Wish I had it now. RMX 868 F where are you?
Gorgeous bike, I have had one for years but unfortunately never got round to restoring her and may never get the time between work/kids etc etc so toying with the idea of selling her for space, she is in boxes and comes with the perfect reg plate, if anyone is interested don't hesitate to drop me a pm
Like most comments on here ,I had one too ,'64 version great acceleration and leanability but top speed was poor . Someone told me it was to do with the silencer baffles but it struggled to get above 70 . Same stroke and bore as a Yam yds 5 but as for revs ? 🤔
A nice bike, I have the identical Arrow supersport, it's a 1964 and almost concours. The engine on your brothers bike sounds very good, what's more he is riding it like a 2stroke should be riden. How long did it take you to get it to the condition it is now? thanks for the post, mitch.
I owned one of these, purchased new from Arthur Wheelers in Epsom Surrey for just under £200, it looked awesome, with its white wall tires..wish to god I hadn`t sold it to Elite Motors in Tooting, London for £48 when Ariel motors went under !! why Oh Why did the stupid U.K motorcycle industry live in the past .. so sad , so sad..
Cigarette? No thanks, I’m smoking an Ariel! This one was smoking pretty badly, I saw. Why don’t we have all-weather bikes like the Leader any more? We don’t all want to get wet and cold and we don’t all want a scooter with small wheels.
Worse bike I have ever had the misfortune to work on 🤮Dummy tank off coils plug leads wheels etc only good thing is the engine but Val Page pinch that i dear from the Adla MB 250 54x54 German 🇩🇪
I had the best golden arrow supersport in Worcester it was fitted with a full Avon fairing I purchased it from bladders in Sudbury second hand the previous owner was female my 3 mates had arrows but none could keep up with mine it was the best and it was fast I put that down to the fairing it was easy to work on and so reliable and safe like everyone who owned one I wish I still had it for its time it was so modern and so different from all the old British bikes.great days great memories
I had a Golden Arrow in the mid 60s , great fun in the day , you could bank them over really low , they would handle great but the front brake was weedy , very comfortable to ride as well , the one you own is Awesome looking bike , well done , take me back , thanks for the memories 😀
As a kid I used to take old motor bikes and cars to bits to see how they worked, many of us in those days were self taught and did our best to keep our bikes running ourselves, something the kids lack in todays world. I think the Japanese bikes finished the likes of Ariel off. The small japanese bikes of the 60s were so amaziing, fast, reliable, reasonably priced with such a high specification. I remember my first Honda CB72, wonderful bike with self starter and 12 volt reliable electrics !
I remember cutting off the bottom off the scavange ports on the pistons and barrels, did actually make it rev harder. Loved the way you could completely dismantle the whole engine while still in the frame.
That’s only because the swinging arm bolts to the back of the engine so to get the engine out you have to take half the bike to bits the rear end. Worse bike I have had the misfortune to work on 😱🤮
had one of these in 1964 loved it dont see many now.great bit of film.lovely bike
use to have the leader got it second hand,every weekend when not on guard duty in catterick came down the a1 a59 to wigan in all weathers great bike and great sound.the year was 1966
It's been a while since I've seen and heard an Arrow. I crashed mine in 1965, just after I'd finished paying off my dad's loan. Total write-off. The pressed steel banana which everything hung off collapsed when the bike somersaulted at about 60mph and the front wheel and forks wrapped round the engine, breaking the fins on the head. The whole bike ended up about 4ft long minus bars, seat, dummy tank. These bikes actually handled quite well although they were far too low and the suspension much too soft even solo. I still love the sound of a two-stroke twin, with those curls of smoke from the exhausts. We used to add a little Castrol R in the mix to get that lovely race-track smell. I'f only I 'd known then even half of what I know now - the perennial and entirely useless lesson of old age...
We oldies all wished we had kept all our old motor bikes and cars, hindsight is a wonderful thing !! I never owned a Golden Arrow but a few of my mates had the standard Arrow and also the Leader. I recall them as being a bit of a revolutionary bike, pressed steel frame and if I recall properly, did it have a dummy fuel tank on the Leader ? Unlike the modern two strokes you had to mix the oil with the petrol in those days on two stroke engines, about a 20/1 mixture was about right.
My hubby had a Golden Arrow, bought it new (£206) and couldn't keep up the hire purchase (that dates me) payments. He paid a friend to pinch it and claimed on the insurance. Then bought a Morris Minor for £40, nowhere near as exciting but it kept our romance warm!
Leanne Matthews lol
Back in the 1970s I had a Francis Barnett Fulmar. After a while, I got used to people saying "I never knew Ariel made a single cylinder Arrow!
A few weeks ago, I saw a Fulmar for sale at 1,300 pounds. That's robbery with violence!
BTW your Bros Ariel looks and sounds great !! good to see they still leave a smoke screen, well they did when ridden hard.. but again it looks great !!
Beautiful Bike !
+BarryCroucher Yes indeed. Unfortunately the foot pegs wore out pretty fast from constant grounding.
I owned a golden arrow in the 60,s and had it stolen from Raleigh rail stn Essex while working in London -- could be somewhat dificult to tune due to 2 sets of contact breakers but I loved that little bike
Niiiiiiiiiiice one guys
I had one just like this, never let me down... pressed steel construction was forward thinking at the time, I read somewhere the factory made some specials fitted with larger engines but they were killed off --- so what's new.
Ah Comerfords of Thames Ditton, purchased a Yamaha RD400 from them, in the 70`s, red tank job, along with a ( now deceased ) friend on consecutive number plates, wish I had kept that as well...
Very nice looking example; Looks original spec 62 onwards minus the fly screen. Whenever I see one nowadays I think how small they were in comparison with todays bikes, not like I remember. I had a new sports Arrow in 1961 (light blue) and still have the HP agreement, £6 15/- a month.....oh I wish
I ground through the centre stand and it fell over when I parked . Mel Tilke.
Alawys had a soft spot for these.
Love it! I had two Leaders followed by a Golden Arrow and then a racing leader with twin carbs. I crashed the arrow, rebuilt it then seized it and then changed the offending standard barrel for a 30 thou over one and a 40 thou over piston filed to fit and ran it for another year-LOL!. Wish I had it now. RMX 868 F where are you?
they used to sound great with the cones taken off the silencers!
Gorgeous bike, I have had one for years but unfortunately never got round to restoring her and may never get the time between work/kids etc etc so toying with the idea of selling her for space, she is in boxes and comes with the perfect reg plate, if anyone is interested don't hesitate to drop me a pm
What’s your front BRAKE LIKE MINE CPAP 😱
Like most comments on here ,I had one too ,'64 version great acceleration and leanability but top speed was poor . Someone told me it was to do with the silencer baffles but it struggled to get above 70 . Same stroke and bore as a Yam yds 5 but as for revs ? 🤔
A nice bike, I have the identical Arrow supersport, it's a 1964 and almost concours.
The engine on your brothers bike sounds very good, what's more he is riding it like a 2stroke should be riden.
How long did it take you to get it to the condition it is now? thanks for the post, mitch.
I owned one of these, purchased new from Arthur Wheelers in Epsom Surrey for just under £200, it looked awesome, with its white wall tires..wish to god I hadn`t sold it to Elite Motors in Tooting, London for £48 when Ariel motors went under !! why Oh Why did the stupid U.K motorcycle industry live in the past .. so sad , so sad..
Cigarette? No thanks, I’m smoking an Ariel! This one was smoking pretty badly, I saw.
Why don’t we have all-weather bikes like the Leader any more? We don’t all want to get wet and cold and we don’t all want a scooter with small wheels.
A wretched motorcycle.
+Paul Fabrique You speak from experience?
Worse bike I have ever had the misfortune to work on 🤮Dummy tank off coils plug leads wheels etc only good thing is the engine but Val Page pinch that i dear from the Adla MB 250 54x54 German 🇩🇪
Slow down