Johnny Shanks.
just 'found' him on the net.
Google him to find out more. he was a well known racer in Australia .
died very recently, last februari at the age of 96 !
Here he is showing a 1955 poster with him winning.
Johnny Shanks with poster.jpg (24.72 KiB) Viewed 733 times
I was very good friends with John. I bought my W/NG from him in 97. He loved to see my 50 VCH on Rallies as he had one himself at one time. A REAL ARIEL man, called Mr ARIEL by many. Nev
I was the person who took the original photo of John holding the poster with his 1955 race results. John was standing in his shed with about 10 of his Ariels. I subsequently provided that photo to the Bathurst Australian Ariel Register rally organiser and a large framed copy was presented to John at the Bathurst Rally some years ago.
Johns best year on the track was 1956 where he turned most of his top placings into wins. There was also a similar poster made for the 1956 season and while John believes his copy was given to one of his sons, his sons were unable to locate it.
John started with a 48VH and then purchased a 50VCH followed by his HS. Years after selling his HS, John became aware that the motor was in Melbourne and he managed to purchase it back, then just a few years ago he noticed his frame at a swap meet, which he identified by some brackets that he had welded on to fit a fairing. I subsequently checked the frame and engine numbers and they were indeed matching. John did some preparatory work to rebuild his old race bike but passed before finishing it. It is still at his former home and one of his sons intends to complete the restoration.
John was an active member of the Aust Ariel Register and his local vintage bike club up until about 2 years before his death. He was also a wealth of information and was always willing to help others. I first met John in 1972 when he helped me out with some spares and information. I had kept I touch ever since and had visited him, and was made welcome at his Bathurst home and former home at Haberfield on many occasions. He will be missed.
The bottom photo is unlikely to be John Shanks but is of the Art Senior Ariel, with the rider probably being Art. That said John was trialled on the very fast Senior Ariel following an accident that sidelined Senior for about a year, but no agreement was reached.
David
Well well! In the first of the 'racing' pics number 5. with the often maligned full-width front brake looks to be out-braking number 6 (note also the fingers over the front brake lever!)
Mind you, number 6 might be compromised by some weird stuff hanging off his fork leg...
'55 Huntmaster, '56 VH, ' 51 VH, '62 Arrow, '80 R100RT, '00 Sprint ST (now with a new Arrow project, and just now those 4-stroke Ariel parts can't even make one running bike...)
Vincent
Senior did build an OHC Ariel which is currently in the possession of a Mr Thomas. I have never seen the engine but was told that the ohc cam chain was run in the pushrod tunnels, however in the photo the rocker boxes appear standard. Yes Senior ran a Norton gearbox from fairly early in his career.
Will
Senior always through bolted his bikes and reportedly ran very high compression ratios of up to 14 to 1 on methanol. I have also been told that Senior was not adverse to running nitro, however that information came from a fellow Ariel competitor, Claude Cartledge and it may have been speculation on his part. I was also advised by former Manx sidecar pilot Don McDonald that Senior pulled the through bolts out of the crankcase on a couple of occasions due to the high compression that he was running. He subsequently had a set of crankcases made in which the casting allowed for much longer threading for the through bolts.
Simon
From what I have been told the original brake linings on the full width hub brake would not stand much heat and quickly faded. When heated the lining releases a gas that stops the brake from gripping. Locally they were known disparagingly as green grippers. The first thing that John Shanks did was to change the linings to a better compound.
An interesting storey that John Shanks told me was that on one occasion he rode a VH in a production race for dealer Eric Moore. After the race the engine was stripped by the scrutineer and was found to have a 96mm stroke. After a thorough examination of the flywheels to see that the stroke had not been altered the bike was cleared. That sounds like a large manufacturing tolerance.
David
