Arielpost 5

The bike is coming along nicely and Dad is doing a great job of the preparation work. Since the last post the following have been done;

• Mounting points have been braised on for the tank and exhaust


• Shims have been turned and fitted in the headstock to allow the taped roller bearings to fit correctly


• Pattern made for the footrest hangers and sent off to be lazer cut from 6mm sheet


• Frame has gone to powder coaters


• Bash plate has been fitted


• Clutch fitted and belt obtainjed from Nigel Bower at NEB


• Mag fitted


• The damaged fork leg has been welded up where it was damaged at the mudguard stay mounting point by Bully and that has been collected and milled, shaped, drilled, tapped and polished so it's ready to go again
  

Todays pics are of the engine with the beautiful clutch fitted and just waiting for a powder coated frame to come and wrap itself around it. Should be back by the weekend so we can start showing some pictures of the build as it takes shape.

Eventpost 26 - Wye Valley MC (Hope Under Dinmore)

The run of bad luck continued on Sunday, I decided to take the Fantic out for it's first trial since the engine had been rebuilt and I must say, the bike performed like a dream.

The issues that we had experienced with the front sprocket throwing the circlip off have stopped, the warm starting issues have gone away and the motor now runs like a dream since it was rebuilt at Bill Pye's.

The trial, put on by Andy Pitt and the guys from Hereford was spot on. Considering the rain that had fallen they made good use of the banks, streams and rocks to mark out a sensible but challenging trial for all classes. Some of the sections in the stream, particularly those under the backdrop of a huge waterfall were really good with mossy rocks and slippy banks that were enough to give the whole field a challenge.

Anyway, 10 marks on the first lap and 8 marks on the second represented a fairly steady ride that reflected how rusty I was feeling but I felt like things were getting better and was getting used to how the bike was performing when the bad luck continued with a rear tyre puncture.

I attempted doubling up on the sections to save having to ride the whole loop two more times and managed the first 4 sections twice for a loss of just 2 marks even with the flat rear, however when I tried to ride the first rocky stream, the tyre was starting to move off the rim and I thought better of it to save the rim from damage and decided to retire.

Still, encouraging performance from the bike and a shame but a thoroughly enjoyablen trial. I will certainly try and get down to ride a few more trials in that area.

Arielpost 4

Dad started work on the build today and here are the 1st pictures of the progress made.

The engine plates have been fitted and drilled and the gearbox has been put in place to start the fitting of the new primary chain case.

The front of the new primary case is much smaller than the old case and the long term intention will be to mill out the webbed area that was the mounting point for the original primary case, however we didnt want to split the cases as the engine has recently been rebuilt so in order to fill in the area that would otherwise be a mud trap, we decided to make a circular plate to fill in the space until we next have the engine apart, when we can mill out the excess ally casting that is not required (see the middle picture).

We can now build the engine back up and leave it complete in the engine plates so that is can be put in and taken out of the frame as a complete unit without having to disassemble again.

Arielpost 3

OK, so the last post was all about the stuff we are not going to use and this is all about the bling that will be going on to the bike.

This is some of the stuff that has arrived;

Whitton yokes

NEB Belt drive clutch

Silencer

Bash Plate

Primary cases

I am already drooling at the thought of this built up and Dad is already starting to feel better - he's even talking about it being built for it's first trial by the end of May!

Will keep the BLOG updated with progress as it happens

Arielpost 2

The bike has now been stripped down and unbelievably this pile of Ariel is what we are not going to use. In addition I have what appears to be a complete Burman gear box in bits to go with it.

The intention was that Andy Pitt was going to have all that remained as he originally owned it, but as the time is not right Andy has had to pass and I have listed all my spare items on ebay.

Someone could have the basis of a pretty good trials bike for a reasonable price.

When you consider that a new frame is over £1000 and I doubt that this lot will reach anywhere close to that, it must be a good start to a fairly inexpensive project for the winner of the auction.

To be honest, an engine (£1000), pair of wheels (£4-500), Forks (£2-300) and £200 worth of cables, bars, levers and ancilliary bits and it seems that £2000 on top of my parts and someone has a really cheap Ariel that would be worth twice that just by putting it together.

Arielpost 1

We are still gathering the required bits and pieces to start building up the Ariel but some things are already in place;

The engine is already sorted, basically it's a short stroke 350cc engine with a bored Ally barrell to just over 400cc, a wide ratio trials gear box, a BTH mag and has only done a few trials sine a complete rebuild so no real work to be done there except a bit of elbow grease and some overtime on the polishing mop.

A new Bartram frame (oil in top and down tubes) is there (see pictures), as are the new Ally Ariel Tank (again see pics) and new NEB belt drive clutch.

The primary cases, bash plate and silencer should be with us this weekend and the following bits should come from Wrighty in the next few days;

Whitton yokes, new cables, ally mudguards, chain and footrests

We will then spend this weekend stripping down the bike, salvaging all the bits that will be used in the re-build and starting the clean up job before dry assembly over then next month.

Pics will be posted as we go and also as nice new shiney bits arrive

New Era!

Well, I have bitten the bullet, the Sprite has been sold and now lives on the East Coast with a guy called Mike Clay who will be riding it in the Poachers events in the lincolnshire area.

The Ariel has been purchased and Dad is chomping at the bit to get on with the build of the bike.

I bought the bike from Steve Thompson who has had it for a few years after purchasing it from Andy Pitt in 2005. The engine runs as sweet as a nut, in fact when I collected it there was no clutch on the bike so before starting to strip it down I put the clutch back on and it started literally 1st kick and ran like a sewing machine.

I took the bike over to the farm and managed to clean all of the sections that I rode so i am really looking forward to getting it built too as i am sure it can be competitive.

The bike came complete but had with it a brand new John Bartram frame, belt drive NEB clutch and a new ally tank, the engine had recently had a rebuild with new big end etc and had been fitted with a BTH mag so all the basics are there to build a great bike.

I have been in touch with Steve Gagg this week and he is making me a set of new primary cases that are smaller and narrower to fit the belt drive clutch better than the old cases, a new ally silencer and a bash plate. These should come this weekend.

I have a relative that is going to do the paint on the tank to make it look original. We are going for the burghundy colour with polished ally sides.

There will be some bits that Dad will be charged with producing, for example getting the footrests positioned and mounted correctly, repairing the mudguard stay mounting point on my old Norton Roadholder fork leg (taken from the Sprite before it sold), making a new brake pedal and brake rod, seat and rear mudguard mounts to list a few of the items that need replacing or improving for the final product.

The work will start at the end of this week when I strip the old bike back down and we can start to mount the engine in the plates supplied with the new frame.

I will keep the BLOG updated with pictures as the build comes together.

Dad has in his mind that he would like to complete it in time for a BMCA trial at the end of May but personally I would like to take the time ensure that it's finished for a roll out at the Bonanza trial at the end of June, which would allow for a bit of testing to get it right before stripping and powder coating for final build.

The pictures are of the bike as it was when I collected it. The bits that are coming off the bike (frame, tank, seat, oil tank, clutch and primary cases, yokes, footrests, rear brake pedal, mudguards etc etc) will be going back to Andy Pitt as he was the original owner and did the original work building it and wants to build another Ariel the same, so at least they are going back to a good home and will be used.

Sprite For Sale.....

I have decided to have a change and go for something a little bigger as the next project. I am thinking Ariel or at least a pre-unit bike bike. Anyway, to make way for the next bike I have decided that the Sprite will need to move to one side so it's up for sale.

If you are interested, please call me on 07725 644321 or email me at davedawson444@btinternet.com. In addition, I also have a new 32a engine that's just about finished with trials gears, pvl ignition and everything new... I will probably put both on ebay in a few weeks time but this could be an early opportunity if you are a regular reader of my BLOG...

Dave

Eventpost 25 Red Marley 2008/2

Here are a few extra pics from Red Marley including the trophy presentation in the evening