Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Another email request, from Nigel Walsworth in Canada, and with another period photo!


My name is Nigel Walsworth and I reside in Canada. I’m looking for any assistance to identify My Dads Ariel motorcycle.. This is a photograph of my Dad taken on his Ariel motorcycle some time between 1930 and 1950. I’m guessing early thirties?? I'm not sure where the photograph was taken but I know it was in the UK. The number plate is VN165 but I am unable to make out the date on the Tax Disc. I'm fairly certain that some keen eyed individual will be able to suss out the year and model of the machine based on an accessory (or lack of), engine configuration etc, or based on the number plate.. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
SG

What a lovely photo - you can feel the pride.

VN is a Middlesboro' registration but Idon't know when it was current.

The bike seems to me to be a 1929 250 side valve model LB.

Neither the tax disc or the riding gear mean anything to me as regards
dating.

The architecture of the terrace is interesting too. Apart from the rainwater pipes
there are no external pipes - outside toilets and wash houses? The variable colour
of the bricks is also something that I find interesting. Round here it's quite unusual.

will_curry wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:40 am The bike seems to me to be a 1929 250 side valve model LB.

Yes i agree becouse 1929 dusn't have a rearstand.
It's a worn motorcycle so the photograph could be 1935 or later.

The same question was posted on Facebook and I will give the same reply here. It is a 1929 LB, small hubs, funny silencer, April 1929 registration number and no rear stand, although it could be missing.

adrie.degraaff wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 7:32 am

will_curry wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:40 am The bike seems to me to be a 1929 250 side valve model LB.

Yes i agree becouse 1929 dusn't have a rearstand.
It's a worn motorcycle so the photograph could be 1935 or later.

Thank you very much for the information. I'm curious as to how you decided on 1935 as the date of the photo?

Nigel Walsworth wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:27 pm I'm curious as to how you decided on 1935 as the date of the photo?

A motorcycle was a very expensive buy so they where cleaned and polished every Sundaymorning to ride out with the wife for the first 5 years.

The frontmudguard is broken and not repaired, the silencer rotted away or lost and this wrong one hanging on some kind of strap.

adrie.degraaff wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:08 pm

Nigel Walsworth wrote: ↑Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:27 pm I'm curious as to how you decided on 1935 as the date of the photo?

A motorcycle was a very expensive buy so they where cleaned and polished every Sundaymorning to ride out with the wife for the first 5 years.

The frontmudguard is broken and not repaired, the silencer rotted away or lost and this wrong one hanging on some kind of strap.

I would have never spotted all that. It seems a very reasonable deduction. My Dad was 23 years old in 1935. Thanks again.

in my opinion, this is a motorcycle from 1929, probably with a capacity of 250 cc with SV distribution. The photo is at least 3 years older. Due to the condition

In our country, these models have not been preserved much. Models 500 and 557 were more popular in our country

Tax discs can be a useful guide to date a picture even if the actual date isn't legible
as the designs changed over the years. A clearer scan of the disc make be enough
to provide a better date.

I'm not sure Adrie is right about the silencer. The sales catalogue shows a fishtail
silencer which to me looks like what I can see in the photo.

As Karol says not many survive compared to the larger bikes. The last time I saw
one was at least 5 years ago on a VMCC run.

I like this shot