Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

The BSA yokes not only have the stanchions closer together than the Ariel half-sided yokes
they also somewhat 'shorter' and won't fit into an Ariel frame. My understanding is that later,
full-width Ariel forks have the same stanchion spacing as the BSA.

This is speculation on my part as none of my Ariel 4-strokes have the Ariel full-width hubs.

My trials outfit with Ariel half-sided forks has a BSA 8" Gold Star hub but I had to build the rim
over to get it central. It also needed a longer wheel spindle to make enough room for the tommy bar.

alan.moore wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:52 pm Sammy Miller recently restored a 1957 HT3, it appears on a couple of his YouTube videos. It sold at Bonhams last November for £7300 hammer price.

Sammy says: When we bought the bike it was 100% original and not modified in any way. We decided to do a total restoration as you would never find a 100% original competition Ariel HT3 again.”

And indeed that 100% original HT3 is not original anymore nor will it ever be again...each to their own I guess but couldn't he have just tidied it up instead of giving it the shiny brush treatment?

But I guess I don't know what it looked like before.

EDIT - sorry - that sounded miserable - Alan - make sure you post some photos up. Sounds like an interesting bike.

Same here and not miserable at all !
The note that the HT3 was 100% original at first does make me scratch my head as why it got restored back to new.
Have you seen the pictures of the show in Brno?
Most Ariels unrestored showing their age and straight from the road, some over 90, almost 100 years, perfect !

I hadn't looked at the Brno show pics, but just have. That looks proper. No over restored bikes from what I can see, just good used examples.

But we are taking things off topic...

The HT head races are BSA parts that are almost but not quite the same size as the Ariel ones. The yokes are BSA, check out the parts book, it is the bible bottom yoke 4800-55 (42-5012), top yoke H3-55 (42-5011), std Ariel bottom legs and hubs listed in 1955 and 1956

IMHO, Shinier than new is not the way to go these days. A well patina ed "Original" will get more attentionif it's genuine and IF you are fortunate enough to find one Toffee Apple and milk bottle top resto's were popular 40 years ago. Lot's of extra chrome. I was roundly and very publicly accused of "letting the club (standard) down"when I left the original "As found" finish remain on an Australian Made bike in the 70's
Back to topic I absolutely love british trials and scrambles bikes. Keep this stuff coming. Nev