Square 4 Bonneville speed records early 1950s

[Simon.Gardiner]

The website had a query recently about Sam Parriott's Bonneville speed record attempts (and record) on a Square 4 in 1951/'52/'53.
There's an article on the AMA Hall of Fame website about Marty Dickerson, mentioning his record attempts at Bonneville on a Vincent
".... Dickerson returned to Bonneville on his Vincent and set a Class C record of 129 mph. Dickerson’s archrival at the time was Sam Parriott, who rode an Ariel Square Four. In 1952, Parriott and the Ariel broke Dickerson’s record on the flats......With the new modifications, Dickerson went back to Bonneville in 1953 and shattered the Class C record, turning in a two-way run that averaged 147 mph."

The Dickerson article that I could find is here:
http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/detail.aspx?RacerID=159

The query was whether the Club knows anything about Parriott and his record-breaking (briefly!) Square Four. It seems we don't, and I can't find any references on.the internet either.

Anyone out there know anything?

SG

[fpassmore]

I visited Mike Tadeo in California 8-9 years ago and saw the bike at his place. His step-dad A.J. Lewis had it to do some more tuning then a couple of deaths came along and screwed most things up. Thor was the last one to deal with Mike and took most of the stash away. It was wild to see what Mike still had from back then.

[fpassmore]

At my last visit I bought a MKII head from Mike rebuilt and refurbished with Ducati valves. I still have it waiting for the rebuild of my ‘56 engine for the available ‘53 frame I have

[Simon.Gardiner]

Following up on some of Frank's comments has turned up a little bit more info, mainly from A.J.Lewis's old website (www.arielmotorcycles.com - now sadly defunct but it is in the internet archives, not sure if this will work but the archive link for 13 Feb 2012 is:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120213221 ... ycles.com/ ).

For those of us 'this side of the pond', A.J Lewis was a legendary tuner of Triumph and Ariel motorcycles in California, it's possible (probable?) that he was responsible for prepping Parriott's Square Four all along. To put Lewis's position with Ariels into perspective (re. Frank's comments about 'the stash' ) here are a few words from the 'Meet AJ' section of the archive website:
"...When A.J. became aware of the interest in the now discontinued Ariel, over 100 used machines were imported from England, in addition to hundreds of spares. Many Southern California dealer's Ariel parts were purchased including all those still at the former west coast distributor, Johnson Motors. With this as a source, A.J. had the largest supply of Ariel Motorcycles and parts to be found anywhere. An added bargain was the factory literature, parts books and other related materials, unavailable anywhere else..."
As an example of A.J.Lewis's stature here's a pic of him (on the left) with the also legendary Bud Ekins (the man who actually jumped the wire on the bike in 'The Great Escape'), both sat on Ariels.

ajbud.jpg (38.15 KiB) Viewed 19645 times

The website also had some other interesting pics - it seems that the Parriott bike was an iron 4G (but there's no date on this):

castirn.jpg (19.54 KiB) Viewed 19645 times

A pic of Sam Parriott with his bike (but again undated):

ra4.jpg (29.44 KiB) Viewed 19645 times

And a result sheet from a 1959 meeting:

The 1959 results indicate the speeds that Parriott was getting with his bike - also that he was campaigning it for some time, so was clearly happy with it and didn't feel there'd be any advantage in 'upgrading' to an alloy engine! (Square 4 folk feel free comment... )

Interesting to note that accurate spelling got the same scant attention back in 1959 as it does now, but (as I discovered while digging around for references) Buddy Parriott (name listed correctly, 4th on a Triumph) was Sam Parriott's son and a formidable racer in his own right (although mainly on Nortons it seems).

A question for Frank - is that iron 4G the same bike that you remember seeing?

SG

[fpassmore]

I cannot say absolutely if it was the same machine, it was an iron engine. It was always a crapshoot talking with Mike Tadeo. He drank a lot and things got easily muddled. First time I went he wanted to take us out target shooting on his private range with his 50 calibre rifle. No rifles and drinking for me thanks!! I do know he was an ex-Marine armourer and machinist. His shop equipment was extensive and very well kept. I wish I had taken some photos but Mike did not like cameras
Frank

[fpassmore]

Second time my buddy Joe and I turned up he suddenly appeared behind us on one of the trails with his bow and arrow with him in camouflage. Truly quite the character.
He was supposed to come to the Las Vegas auction but his mother was apparently not well so he did not want to leave the property. I suspect he never liked leaving the property.
Frank

[nevhunter]

A BSA ZA7 (Star Twin) was credited with a speed of 123 Mph Prior to 1950 at Bonneville if I recall correctly. I got one, thinking they were Pretty special. Pretty special at wearing cam lobes away. Nev

[nevhunter]

He's doing ok to Hang onto the SQ4 at the speed he attained. Nev

[Simon.Gardiner]

He's doing ok to Hang onto the SQ4 at the speed he attained. Nev

These guys are doing even more hanging on!

Dickerson.jpg (127.46 KiB) Viewed 13120 times

[Simon.Gardiner]

Delving a bit more into the AJ Lewis archive website I've found some references to the record-breaking bike being rebuilt for new owner Tom Stolkowitz. Confusingly (to me anyway) it mentions this as the 1948 record holder, so maybe Parriot used more than one bike, or may be the website just isn't being very accurate.

Most of these guys seems to have worked with just one machine, so if the one bike was used by Parriott between 1948 and 1959 it must have been pretty reliable for what it was being asked to do.

The rebuild seems to have been to turn it back into a road bike - and with a Triumph sprung hub? The pictures do look to show a very similar bike to the one in the Parriott photos.

From the archive site:
"The Ariel Motorcycles below were owned originally by AJ. Now rebuilt Tom has added them to his collection. The cast-iron Square Four is the motorcycle that set the record at Bonneville in 1948 ridden by Sam Parriott. "

aj-tom_castiron.jpg (53.01 KiB) Viewed 13079 times

castiron_aj.jpg (38.95 KiB) Viewed 13079 times

SG