Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s in

Bournbrook Bournbrook is an industrial and residential district in southwest Birmingham, England, in both the Selly Oak Council Ward and the Parliamentary District of Selly Oak. Prior to what is commonly termed the Greater Birmingham Act, which came in ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included

Val Page Valentine Page (1891–1978)Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970. Ariel made

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

s before making motorcycles, and also made cars. Car production began in 1902, moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in 1911 and ceased in 1925. The 'Ariel' name was reused in 1999 for the formation of Ariel Ltd, a sports car producer.

History

Bicycles and early motorised vehicles

The original company was established in 1870 by

James Starley James Starley (21 April 1830 – 17 June 1881) was an English inventor and father of the bicycle industry. He was one of the most innovative and successful builders of bicycles and tricycles. His inventions include the differential gear and t ...

and

William Hillman William Hillman (13 November 1848 – 4 February 1921) was a British bicycle and automobile manufacturer. In partnership with Louis Coatalen he founded the Hillman-Coatalen Company in 1907, later the Hillman Motor Company after Coatalen's defe ...

. They built wire-spoke wheels under the first British patent; this allowed them also to build a lighter "

penny farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...

" bicycle which they named 'Ariel' (the spirit of the air). They put the name on the factory where they made penny-farthing bicycles and sewing machines. In 1885 James Starley's nephew,

John Kemp Starley John Kemp Starley (24 December 1855 – 29 October 1901) was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover. Early life Born on 24 December 1855 Star ...

, invented the Rover

Safety Bicycle A safety bicycle (or simply a safety) is a type of bicycle that became very popular beginning in the late 1880s as an alternative to the penny-farthing ("ordinary") and is now the most common type of bicycle. Early bicycles of this style were know ...

- a bicycle with similarly sized wheels and

chain drive Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. ...

to the rear wheel, the design used on bicycles today. Ariel merged with Westwood Manufacturing in 1896 and made a powered

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

in 1898 with a 2.25 hp de Dion. Hillman left soon afterwards to found Premier Motorcycles. More tricycles were produced and motorised quadricycles were added in 1901 as Ariel moved into car production. (See also

List of motorized trikes List of motorized trikes is a list of motorized tricycles also called trikes, and sometimes considered cars. There are three typical configurations: motorized bicycle with sidecar; two wheels in the rear, one in the front (aka trike); and two in ...

and/or

Quadricycle Quadricycle refers to vehicles with four wheels. In 1896 Henry Ford named his first vehicle design the "Quadricycle". it ran on four bicycle wheels, with an engine driving the back wheels.Brinkley, David, ''Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His ...

)

Components Ltd.

In 1902, Ariel produced its first motorcycle, which had a Kerry engine with a magneto ignition and a float carburettor. That year, Ariel was taken over by Components Ltd, owned by

Charles Sangster Charles Sangster (July 16, 1822 – December 9, 1893) was a Canadian poet. He was the first poet to write poetry which was substantially about Canadian subjects. ''The Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' calls him "the best of the pre- confeder ...

. Sangster built a three-speed,

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

motorcycle sold as the "Arielette", but he stopped production on the outbreak of the first world war. In 1918, Sangster's son

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

began managing the Ariel division of Components Ltd and developed a successful motorcycle with a 4 hp White and Poppe engine. Jack increased the range of motorcycles to include 586 cc and 992 cc machines. A range of motorcycles was made until 1926 with engines bought in or assembled to others' designs, until a new designer, Val Page, joined Ariel from

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

. That year Page created a pair of new engines which used many existing motorcycle parts, then redesigned the motorcycle for 1927. These new models are known as Black Ariels (1926–1930) and were the basis on which all Ariel four-stroke singles were based until their demise in 1959 (except the LH Colt of the mid-1950s). During the Black Ariel period, the Ariel horse logo came into being, as did the slogan 'The Modern Motor Cycle'.

Ariel Motors

Components Ltd. suffered several financial crises including spells in receivership in 1911 and in the early 1930s. In 1932, Components Ltd went bankrupt, and Jack Sangster, Charles Sangster's son, bought the Ariel subsidiary from the receivers at a bargain price. The company was renamed Ariel Motors (J.S.) Ltd, and promptly resumed production. A new factory was set up at Selly Oak in

. One of their first bikes was the

Ariel Square Four The Square Four is a motorcycle produced by Ariel between 1931 and 1959, designed by Edward Turner, who devised the Square Four engine in 1928. At this time he was looking for work, showing drawings of his engine design to motorcycle manufactu ...

, designed by Edward Turner, followed by the

Ariel Red Hunter The Ariel Red Hunter was the name used for a range of Ariel single-cylinder and twin-cylinder motorcycles. They were designed by the firm's chief designer Val Page in 1932 around an overhead-valve single-cylinder engine he developed six years e ...

. The Red Hunter was a success, and enabled Ariel to purchase

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

The Ariel Square Four with a 500 cc engine designed by Edward Turner first appeared for the 1931 season. Around this time the company went into receivership and then a new company was formed. The Square Four displacement was increased to 600cc. Throughout their history, the Square Fours had overheating problems with the rear cylinders which resulted in distorted heads. A redesign in 1937 resulted in a 995 cc OHV version designated the 4G. In 1939, Anstey-link plunger rear suspension was an option. It was still available when production restarted in 1946, with telescopic forks replacing the girder forks. During the Second World War, the Ariel factory was turned over to military production, including the

Ariel W/NG 350 The Ariel W/NG 350 is a motorcycle based on the well-proven Ariel Red Hunter singles built by Ariel Motorcycles for the British military, and designed by the firm's chief designer Val Page in 1932 around an engine he had developed six years ea ...

army motorcycle based on the Red Hunter but with higher ground clearance. In 1949, the Mark 1 Square Four had cast aluminium barrels and heads instead of cast iron. With the lower weight the bike was a 90 mph plus machine.

BSA

In 1951, Jack Sangster sold Ariel and Triumph (bought in 1936) to the

Birmingham Small Arms Company The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and ...

group (BSA) and joined their board. Ariel began making the 500 cc KH model and the 650 cc Huntmaster, which had an engine based on the BSA A10

parallel twin A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

. Reliable and capable of , the Huntmaster proved popular with sidecar enthusiasts. By 1956, Sangster was voted in as the new Chairman, defeating incumbent Sir Bernard Docker 6 to 3. Sangster promptly made Edward Turner head of the automotive division, which then included Ariel, Triumph, and BSA motorcycles, as well as Daimler and

Carbodies The London Taxi Company was a taxi design and manufacturing company based in Coventry, England. It formerly traded as London Taxis International and Carbodies. It operated a coachbuilding business on Holyhead Road, Coventry. After half a ...

(the manufacturer of London Taxicabs). In 1953, the Mark 2 Square Four had a redesigned cylinder head, and was capable of 100 mph. The Red Hunter formed the basis for

Sammy Miller Samuel Hamilton Miller, MBE (born 11 November 1933) is a Northern Irish championship winning motorcycle racer, in both road racing and trials. He was appointed an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2013, Miller was named an FIM Legend for ...

's 1955 trials motorcycle which proved very successful in competition.

Two-strokes and demise

In 1959, Ariel dropped its four-stroke engines and produced the Ariel Leader, a fully enclosed 250 cc two-stroke with a fully faired body from the headlamp aft. The Leader aimed to combine the benefits of the motorcycle with the advantages of a scooter. Ariel also made the Arrow, a more open version of the Leader which kept the Leader's enclosed chain case and deep mudguards. Both models were an unsuccessful attempt to compete with new Japanese imports. BSA closed the Ariel factory at Selly Oak in 1962 and moved production of the Leader and the Arrow to the BSA factory at

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

. Production of the 50 cc Pixie began in 1963. In 1965, Ariel produced its last motorcycle, the Arrow 200 with capacity reduced to 200 cc introduced earlier during 1964 to qualify for lower UK rider insurance. Ariel motorcycles ceased production in 1967.

Later use of the Ariel name

In 1970, parent company BSA produced the Ariel 3, a 49 cc automatic tricycle with a coupling between the front and rear frame sections allowing banking when cornering. The front half was hinged to the rear and could tilt into corners while keeping all three wheels on the ground. The design was licensed from George Wallis, of G.L.Wallis & Son, who had patented it in 1966. A small museum dedicated to the trike has been established in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, England. Following the failure of the Ariel 3, the design was licensed to Honda which produced it as the

Honda Gyro The Honda Gyro is a family of small, three-wheeled motorcycles sold primarily in Japan, and often used for delivery or express service. These vehicles are tilting three-wheelers. They combine a tricycle's stopped & low-speed stability with a lean ...

. In 1999 a new company was formed using the old 'Ariel' name. Initially, the

Ariel Motor Company Ariel Motor Company Ltd is a British, low-volume performance motor vehicle manufacturing company in Crewkerne, in Somerset, England. History Founded by Simon Saunders in 1991 as Solocrest Ltd., the name was changed in 1999 to Ariel Motor Com ...

made only one model, the

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, a ...

, a high performance, minimalistic 2-seat road-legal sports car, followed by a large-capacity motorcycle named

Ariel Ace The Ariel Ace is a 2014 sports motorcycle that is manufactured by the British Ariel Motor Company in Crewkerne, Somerset, England. It uses the V4 engine from the Honda VFR1200. It is the Ariel marque's first new motorcycle in more than 50 ...

Gallery

File:Ariel M2F 350cc 1931.jpg, 1931 Ariel M2F 350 cc File:Ariel Red Hunter 1932.jpg, 1932 Ariel Red Hunter File:Ariel Golden Arrow.jpg, Ariel Golden Arrow File:Dalios Motorcycle Sales Co., 1509 E. Lancaster, on Hi-way 80, Ft. Worth, Texas.jpg, Ariel and Triumph dealer in Texas, ca. 1930-1945 File:Ariel Leader right side.JPG, Leader with optional panniers and indicators File:Ariel Ace.jpg, 2014 Ariel Ace

Famous models

*Models A - G *VCH *KHA *Cyclone (model owned by Buddy Holly) *Trials HT5 *Trials HT3 *Scrambles HS (Mk1,11,111)

Cars

Cars were produced over two periods: from 1902 to 1915, and again from 1922 to 1925. The first proper Ariel car was a twin-cylinder car produced in 1902. Culshaw & Horrobin, ''The Complete Catalogue of British Cars 1895–1975'', p. 44 In 1903 its first

four-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

was a 15/19 model."15/19" meant 15

RAC horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

, about actually being delivered Both these vehicles had a leather cone clutch that was entirely separate from the

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, as ...

. In 1904 the 15HP car had the distinction of being the first motor car to ascend Snowdon, albeit using the mountain railway trackbed which has long stretches of 1 in 5 gradient.Climbing Snowdon by Motor Car, The Automotor Journal, 4 Jun 1904, p687 In early 1904, Ariel began production of a

six-cylinder The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...

model Culshaw & Horrobin, ''The Complete Catalogue of British Cars 1895–1975'', p. 45 built on a seemingly inadequate tubular steel

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

. An entirely new range was announced at the end of 1905; called the 'Ariel-Simplex', these cars were Mercedes-inspired four-cylinder designs of 15 hp and 25/30 hp and a six of 35/40 hp. In 1907–1908 the company began production of their 50/60 hp six, which offered a 15.9-litre engine for a

price of £950. In 1907 Ariel sold its Birmingham factory to the French

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (known as ''De Dietr ...

company, who wanted to enter the British market; Ariel cars were thereafter assembled at the

Coventry Ordnance Works Coventry Ordnance Works was a British manufacturer of heavy guns particularly naval artillery jointly owned by Cammell Laird & Co of Sheffield and Birkenhead, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Glasgow and John Brown & Comp ...

, a branch of

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

. The arrangement with Lorraine-Dietrich was cancelled in 1910. Production of a 1.3-litre

light car The term light car is used in Great Britain since the early part of the 20th century for an automobile less than 1.5 litres engine capacity. In modern car classification this term would be roughly equivalent to a subcompact car. There are numero ...

ended with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Ariel resumed making motor cars in 1922 when it launched the Ariel Nine light car. The Nine had a 997 cc water-cooled

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

flat twin engine A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same t ...

with "square" dimensions of 85 mm bore and 85 mm stroke made by A Harper Sons & Bean, Ltd of

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

. The Nine was designed by Jack Sangster, the son of Ariel's owner, who had designed the similar, but air-cooled, twin-cylinder

Rover 8 The Rover 8 was a small single-cylinder 8 hp 1327 cc car made by the British Rover car company. It was Rover's first production car. It was remarkable for being supported by a backbone chassis rather than a conventional ladder frame. Th ...

when he worked for

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

. The Nine was capable of 55 mph and about 700 were made. However, the engine was vibratory and noisy, so in 1924 Ariel discontinued the model and replaced it with the 10 hp (RAC) car.By this time, RAC horsepower was a tax formula and was unrelated to the output of the engine. The "Ten" had a 1097 cc four-cylinder Q-Type engine Culshaw & Horrobin, ''The Complete Catalogue of British Cars 1895–1975'', p. 46 made by the

Swift Motor Company The Swift Motor Company made Swift Cars in Coventry, England from 1900 until 1931. It grew progressively from James Starley's Coventry Sewing Machine Company, via bicycle and motorised cycle manufacture. The cars ranged from a single-cylinder ca ...

. Unlike the Nine it was a long-stroke engine, with a bore of only 60 mm and stroke of 97 mm. The Ten had a gearbox combined with the rear axle. The car was advertised at £180 for the chassis, and about 250 were made. In 1925 Ariel discontinued car production to concentrate on motorcycles.

Notes

References

;Citations ;Sources *

External links

Ariel Owners Motor Cycle Club

Jeremy Mortimore's site on Ariel Cycles

The Ariel Motorcycle Club of North America (also includes a series of sections on the history of Ariel motorcycles)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304025650/http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/misc/html/ariel.htm A short history of Ariel Motorcycles up to 1910 on Leon Mitchell’s websitebr>Photo of 1924 Ariel Nine Four Seat Tourer

1923 Ariel Nine Four Seat Tourer advertisement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel (Vehicle) Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Manufacturing companies established in 1870 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1902 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1970 Veteran vehicles