New member - looking for spares.

[Charlie.G]

Hi all,

New member, and new owner of an Ariel/vintage bikes in general.
I'm Charlie, and I recently inherited an Ariel/BSA build from my Grandad Brian Ferris after he passed away.

Its a bit of a mash up with a '36 LG250 motor in an early 30's BSA frame (I think B32, not sure).

I'll whack a few pictures up soon.

I'm on the look out for the full engine damper assembly, and the decompression/valve lifter assembly if anyone can point me in the right direction/to club spares?

Looking forward to joining in with the club.

Cheers,
Charlie.

[Charlie.G]

A few photos below.

[tony.barnett]

Nice looking bike!! I think Single Spares are out of action at the moment while they look for a new Organiser. Maybe put an advert on the forum for what you want? There is also a club facebook page if that suits you.

Draganfly are a good resource too, both for parts and info - check out their website (it helps if you use the part numbers for bits).

[Charlie.G]

Thanks Tony.
Already a member on FB and been directed here - but took a while for me to join!

Yeah i've been scouring Draganfly and trying to figure out what I need, but looks like the main sliding member that I would need for thsi year (1272-30??) is out of stock, as well as the valve lifter/decomp mechanism (330-31).

Hoping someone has one to hand, as I was planning a quick turn-around for this.
It's being entered into the Bike Shed London 2024 show in May, so fingers crossed it's done by then! haha

I will post an advert for them.

Cheers.

[paul.jameson]

That looks like one very modified engine. What was Grandad's intentions with it? Was he going to race it on methanol? Where are you based? If you can do, attend the forthcoming AGM autojumble where you will find many of the items you need but also a vast stock of knowledge to tap.

[Charlie.G]

Hi Paul,

I have no idea about that actually, as I wasn't aware he owned it until it was handed down to me.
It was setup to run on methanol, hence the shaved fins, but not in a complete state.

my plan is to leave it is close to this as possible, but convert back to petrol to use it as a daily rider if possible, so I have already replaced the piston and cylinder.
The bottom end has been checked over, and i've turned up some new sludge trap plugs (as they were on a very long lead time on Draganfly), and sourced a new oil pump directly from Morgo.

Mainly just missing the above parts now to get it running, and making all the oil lines and engine plates to fit a mag I have lying around (not period, a Cav one from roughly 1915 I think, so will need some fabbing to make it fit).

I'm based just south of Oxford.
What's the details of the next jumble, as I haven't seen anything on that yet?

Cheers.

[dave.owen]

Agm details are in cheval, there is an auto jumble just outside Cirencester on Saturday 6th April, in the old cattle market not far from thd end of the spine road.

[paul.jameson]

I have a slightly worn sliding member, spring and cap (but no nuts) which would probably cope perfectly well with the power of the 250. You might get a better one at the AGM and I can take this one to the AGM for you so you can compare what is available. I don't have a spare valve lifter assembly but you don't need one on a 250, except for stopping the engine and there are ways to get round that problem easily enough.

Have you checked the primary chain line by putting a straight edge across the sprockets? As you are using a BSA gearbox it is quite possible that the sprockets are out of line and you may need a special spacer (unless Grandad had already made one.)

I would advise caution on the Morgo oil pump. Assuming you are using the original type piston it will just have 2 plain rings. The later Ariel oil pumps (which I believe have lower capacity than the Morgo) can give over oiling problems on a 3 plain ring piston. Ariel only brought in the higher capacity oil pump once they went to 2 plain plus a scraper ring after WWII. The 2 numbers on the back of your original oil pump will tell you the year of manufacture so you can see if it the one which was originally fitted to the engine. Ariel pumps are easy enough to test. Just put some oil in and depress the plungers. If the pump shoots you in the eye with oil it is working (but still worth a careful clean out). The Ariel oil pump for 1936 is the same for the 250, 350, 500 and 600cc single engines so it is the same oil pump they used for racing round Brooklands.

Feel free to contact me using the details inside the front cover of Cheval if you think that would be useful.

Paul

[nevhunter]

Looks mostly period BSA . 250 3 sp gearbox .Rather small brakes. . Quite light in weight. Nev

[Charlie.G]

I have a slightly worn sliding member, spring and cap (but no nuts) which would probably cope perfectly well with the power of the 250. You might get a better one at the AGM and I can take this one to the AGM for you so you can compare what is available. I don't have a spare valve lifter assembly but you don't need one on a 250, except for stopping the engine and there are ways to get round that problem easily enough.

Have you checked the primary chain line by putting a straight edge across the sprockets? As you are using a BSA gearbox it is quite possible that the sprockets are out of line and you may need a special spacer (unless Grandad had already made one.)

I would advise caution on the Morgo oil pump. Assuming you are using the original type piston it will just have 2 plain rings. The later Ariel oil pumps (which I believe have lower capacity than the Morgo) can give over oiling problems on a 3 plain ring piston. Ariel only brought in the higher capacity oil pump once they went to 2 plain plus a scraper ring after WWII. The 2 numbers on the back of your original oil pump will tell you the year of manufacture so you can see if it the one which was originally fitted to the engine. Ariel pumps are easy enough to test. Just put some oil in and depress the plungers. If the pump shoots you in the eye with oil it is working (but still worth a careful clean out). The Ariel oil pump for 1936 is the same for the 250, 350, 500 and 600cc single engines so it is the same oil pump they used for racing round Brooklands.

Feel free to contact me using the details inside the front cover of Cheval if you think that would be useful.

Paul

Hi Paul,
I don’t have my copy of Cheval yet as I only joined a day or so ago, so thanks for the info.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to make the AGM this time, as I have plans.
Would you be willing to post the sliding member?
I’m very interested in just getting something on it to start with, and if it’s too worn finding a replacement at a later date - but atleast it should be a runner.

Yeah, I can get around not having a valve lifter, but would like to get one sorted eventually for completeness.

From what I remember when I first got the bike, the clutch and engine sprocket where loosely assembled and ‘almost’ lined up - but I may need to shim it a little bit to get true chain alignment. Not certain yet until I try and reassemble.

Thanks for the info about the oil pump.
It is indeed a twin ring piston I’ve got in it now, and the reason I went with the Morgo was because the pump was missing when I got it, and it was the only replacement I could find at the time.
I’ll keep an eye on it and swap it out to an Ariel one in future if needed.