1957 B31 Maroon colour scheme

Matchymarty · 19 February, 2018, 04:04:58

Hi all,
I've just acquired a '57 B31 with my father in law and have stripped it ready to repair some crash damage to frame and then build back up again.

Strangely, it seems to be an 'odd' colour scheme that I can't seem to find any information on or, pictures online of original ones like it.

It seems to be basically maroon, but, with a plain maroon tank (no chrome panel), fenders, tool box and oil tank, fork, head light and headlight covers.
It has chrome engine plates, plate covers, and fender stays front and rear, and fork lowers are chrome. Has a black frame.

Is the the '37' colour code bike?
All the B31's I've ever seen are ALL maroon with a chrome panel in the tank. I've never seen one like this, but seems odd that someone would go to the trouble of 'customising' the bike with the chrome parts as listed above.

I'll be getting the paint work done and fuel tank repaired and painted soon, so would be nice to know more about this puzzle!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Marty

AWJDThumper · 19 February, 2018, 08:13:19

It sounds custom. Definitely never come across chromed lower sliders before and I'm sure this would definitely not have been something BSA would have offered back in 1957!

JulianS · 19 February, 2018, 09:05:49

The usual finish for a 1957 B31 - EA7 frame with Ariel type hubs - would be all painted parts maroon, including frame and forks. Chromed tank panels. Alternative colour available black.

Many bikes, over the past 60 years, have undergone owners preferred cosmetic changes.

Photo from 1957 catalogue.

Mike Farmer · 19 February, 2018, 09:10:37

Hi Julian.

Brilliant phrase "Owner prefferred cosmetic changes" Bril

Mike

JulianS · 19 February, 2018, 09:21:55

Done a few of those over the years!!

Matchymarty · 19 February, 2018, 10:09:47

Spare parts manuals on page 3, refer to /36 suffix being for 'Maroon with chrome panel and gold lined' and /37 suffix, being 'Maroon'. This leads me to think there was a 'plain' Maroon version of the B31...

Any other clues guys and gals?

Matchymarty · 19 February, 2018, 10:21:15

This is the bike we have.

JulianS · 19 February, 2018, 10:31:30

I expect you will find chrome under the tank paint - look under the badges or around the neck of the filler.

AWJDThumper · 19 February, 2018, 10:48:47

You might even find chrome under the mudguard outer paint layers!

Daniel · 19 February, 2018, 16:32:55

Hello,

As this maroon was widely used by Bsa over years, I wonder if anyone has the color code for it matching the modern colors we can buy today. Such as 123AXY from BMW or so?

Cheers Daniel

AWJDThumper · 19 February, 2018, 19:03:10

Daniel. There are no universal paint colour codes - each paint matching system uses its own set of codes and needs a copy of the original colour to match against. I'm sure there are quite a number of auto paint suppliers who already have a paint code for this BSA Maroon colour - RS Paints is one of them who can supply authentic paint colours for most BSA motorcycles.

Matchymarty · 19 February, 2018, 22:34:25

Quote from: Daniel on 19 February, 2018, 16:32:55
Hello,

As this maroon was widely used by Bsa over years, I wonder if anyone has the color code for it matching the modern colors we can buy today. Such as 123AXY from BMW or so?

Cheers Daniel

Daniel, I found this from googling old forum threads.
"A modern day equivalent is "Ford Imperial Maroon (Code AZ)" for Europe or "Ditzler #2979" for our American friends. "

Daniel · 20 February, 2018, 20:30:29

Dear Matchymarty,

Thank you for this information, I had the hope someone had looked for it already.

Cheers Daniel