Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

The thread on the stem and the two nuts is now restored and better than new. The stem is now fitted to the frame with shiny new bearings and constitutes the first act of reassembly after eight months of destruction. I have two more associated questions.
Amongst the hardened grease that I scraped out of the steering head there was a leather band that I guess, fitted over the stem. What's it for and where does it go?
The damper rod has a brass end at the bottom of which should be a male thread which on mine has snapped off. I understand there should be a star washer bolted up to it to support the damping discs. Is this correct and is the damper rod and star washer available?

Hi Phil

The damper rod on my 58 FH had the brass thread stripped so I drilled and tapped the rod to accept a length of steel thread:
Regards Mick

phil.trotter wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 10:30 am ...Amongst the hardened grease that I scraped out of the steering head there was a leather band that I guess, fitted over the stem. What's it for and where does it go?

It'll be to try and help the grease from the grease-nipple get to the bearing (as opposed to just going up or down the steering stem).
With one, I'd assume it goes just below the entry-point from the top grease nipple - might be better detailed in the spares books, I think I've seen two fitted before now, the second one being above the entry-point from the lower grease nipple.

SG

Thanks for both the helpful replies. Now I know what the leather rings are for I'll leave them out until I find suitable replacements.
After looking at the photo of the damper rod, I'm going to make a new brass replacement for mine. The hole that the spindle passes through is actually egg shaped and it has worn very close to the edge of the bar. My bike had a sidecar from new which probably didn't help.

Would that 'leather' band in fact be 4838-31 - Felt washer which escapes the online drawings but can be bought from Drags...

It would indeed and there should be 2 of them. The damper rods should be available there as well.