Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Can anybody advise me on whether my 1958 NH needs an oil filter in the oil tank. I tried a mesh filter from Draganfly (although the listings for it only went go up to 1955'ish) but it was much to big a diameter to fit in the feed tube of my tank. My tank has a 1" dia. tube. It seems odd that there is no oil filter on the return to the oil tank.

There should be an oil filter in the tank but the 1958 version is very different from the up to 1955 version. It will fit the 1" hole you have but at the bottom, has a cone with a hole in the narrow end which fits over the end of the delivery pipe in the tank. So the late version filters the oil before it leaves the tank. The early version filters the oil as it is returned to the tank. Both are just gauze filters which only remove large particles but the sludge trap on the NH will keep the small bits under control.

Thanks Paul. Are these type of filters avalable anywhere and if not is it ok to run the engine without a one?

The only likely supplier is Draganfly, although you could try club spares. Yes it is OK to run without one, as Paul says they will stop grit going round but if you have grit in your engine you are in trouble anyway or your bike is...

Do we have any pictures of the last type of filter? I have a Drags one in my FH which I assume is the right one (it fits) but I'm confused by Paul's reference to a cone?

There are 3 filters used that fit inside the neck of the oil tank over the years. 5861-52 1952-54; 5861-55 1955 and 5861-56 1956-58. The 1st 2 are interchangeable and available (short dumpy type), the latter is listed as out of stock (long thin one) but with a price so perhaps they have been made and if the demand is there may be made again.

The cone in the bottom is purely there to be a guide to get the bottom of the filter over the end of the outlet pipe.