Prop, centre and rear stands

For front stands click here; for rear stand brackets click here.

All rigid and plunger models, except the 1929 and the 1939 plunger model, which had centre stands, were fitted with rear stands and all models had a front stand, that doubled as a mudguard stay, to assist with the removal of the front wheel. The swinging arm models used a centre stand but not a rear stand. The rear stand spring was always painted on the early models and cadmium plated from around 1950, they were never in chrome.

A side stand was available from 1933, which was fitted through the front engine plates, and swung out on the right hand side, this was standard fitment on Square Fours but optional on the other models, these stands are rather rare and not very functional. A new side stand was introduced in 1948 that could be fitted to a lug on the left below the clutch dome; again this would appear to have been standard on Square Fours and possibly Red Hunters as well but still not a great design. In 1953, the side stand was redesigned and moved nearer the front, it now became a standard fitting except for at least the 1953 VB. There were 4 versions of this stand and we do not know all of the differences. The one that we offer is the 1957 type with the extension so that it can be easily operated by foot instead of grovelling on your hands and knees trying to find it, a problem encountered by owners of Ariels with a left hand exhaust pipe and the earlier stand. This one does work well!

Ariel Factoid – In Australia, what we call a side or prop stand is known as a ‘jiffy’ stand, presumably because it can be used when stopping for a jiffy or a short period of time. A jiffy is the time taken for light to travel 1/2 inch in a vacuum, about 33 trillionths of a second. Boy those Aussies are quick!

STRUGGLING to fit your new spring or rear stand assembly? Watch our useful instructional video HERE