Wayne's Ariel

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When we saw Wayne's Ariel we immediately wanted to know more about this bike.
We wrote to Wayne and asked him to tell us more about his fabulous 1959 Ariel.
Wayne is a 1969 born Rocker and lives in UK. Enjoy this bike, its a real jewel.
Frank



I bought the bike 19 years ago & it was a collection of odd bits & peices (see early photo) I think it had been Cafe-Raced before (probably in the '60's) as it already had Borrani ally wheel rims on it & John Tickle bits & bobs & rearset footrest (they were being used as pillion footrests at the time I got it!)


It had a Honda petrol tank (held on with jubilee clips!) & various other Japanese parts on it! High bars & forward footpegs were also on it! The first thing I did when I got it home was replace the bars with clip-ons & took the forward footrests off! A week later I got hold of a glass-fibre 'Goldie' petrol tank, fitted a new seat cover & pretty much rode it like that for a few years! Had swapped tank for another as first one split, same style as the one now fitted (but glass-fibre again!)

"Looked like this for a few years! "

In 1995 I totally re-built the engine & at the same time drilled out the cylinder head to lighten it (it's BSA A10 iron head, by the way not the original ARIEL one!) I got the idea from a bike magazine that was my fathers from the '60's, showing how to lighten a Norvin for racing, by drilling just about everything full of holes! I then rode it for a couple more years (as daily transport) until the magneto packed up!


By this time I had something more modern, an A65 Lightning! The bike stood around for nearly 5 years, until I decided to have the mag rebuilt, by this time I had kids so never got 'round to getting it back on the road!.....Until 2 years ago, then I replaced the tank with an Ally one I'd had made to fit the bike perfectly, Bought a re-conditioned smiths speedo (as someone pinched the other one) new headlamp, brakes, cables & re-sprayed the tinware! Fitted new exhausts & 'Goldie' type silencers! Recently fitted 'Bacon slicers' to the front wheel, but not sure I like them, they're not a perfect fit!.......


It started life as An ARIEL FH650 Huntmaster (The Ariel Huntmaster FH 650 was particularly popular with sidecar fanatics in the late 1950s. ), registered in 1959!

The Ariel Huntmaster

As for me I have been riding Brit bikes since I passed my bike test in 1986, did have a couple of jap bikes but never really liked them, so have had nothing but brits since 1988! I used to be in the 59 Club, rode bikes for everyday transport until my family came along (had to get a car!)


I'm 41 but don't tell anybody! Ha! Ha! Would like to get a Velocette Venom next, that's what my goal is anyway! Had Triumphs & BSA twins, so feel like a big sporty single! Used to attend the Rockers Reunion Runs in the late '80's/early '90's, love Rock 'n' Roll/Rock-a-Billy music, that's about it really!.Wayne.

Wayne

Outside Johnsons Cafe.

On his 650 Lightning, outside Johnsons Cafe.

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