1951 New Hudson Silver Arrow

 

The New Hudson Silver arrow project is finished for the time being. I won't have a chance to test it out until the riding season starts in the spring. It also will need some light cosmetic work, but for the most part, this one is done. 

 

The Silver Arrow was a mid-level offering from New Hudson / BSA. The bike has Reynolds 531 main tubes on the frame. It has club bike style equipment, but a laid back frame similar to a roadster bike. 

The wheels are 26 x 1-1/4 (ISO 597mm) club types. The rims are Dunlop "lightweight" steel endricks. The front hub is a basic steel hourglass with oiler port, and the rear hub is a Sturmey Archer AW 40 hole from the 1950s. This is a 23 inch frame riding on 26 in wheels, a size I particularly like.

 

This bike is built with North Road type bars rather than the stock drop bars because the North Road is more comfortable for me. 

The bike has peculiar, proprietary BSA/New Hudson brakes with pad holders that sleeve onto the caliper arms perpendicular to the rim surface. The pad holders take John Bull style brake pads. I was able to buy reproduction pads that fit the pad holders. The cables are double-ended proprietary types, similar to Raleigh cables, but with somewhat different cable ends on them.

 

The original Bluemels New Hudson celluloid fenders were destroyed when the bike was shipped to me. I used the claim money to buy a very nice set of replacement Bluemels and added a New Hudson decal from H. Lloyd's in England. 

 

This bike is the third in a series of "sporty roadsters" I did over the course of about a year. The first was a 1953 Raleigh Lenton, the second was a 1949 Raleigh Clubman, and the third is this New Hudson Silver Arrow. The concept was to put blend light roadster ergonomics with sporting or club bike style frames and equipment. This is a style of bike that had somewhat of a following in the 1940s and 50s, but which eventually fell out of favor.

And now comes the wait until spring to see how this one will ride...