Never mind the poor old BM....

[Simon.Gardiner]

New Year clear out - should have paid more attention to the pic on the cover of last October's BM Club mag when it arrived.

Never mind the 'sad and lonely' BM, what's that Ariel single engine (at lower right)? Looks like it ought to be a VHA or VCH (enclosed push-rod tubes) but I don't think I've seen one of those barrels with such a prominent vertical 'fin' going up from the base or with a cut-away between the rocker boxes on the cylinder head.

Some special Dutch light-alloy work perhaps??
(Or maybe I'm missing something, wouldn't be the first time....!)

SG

[klaus gerhard]

IT looks like a round case 1949ish VCH engine to me

[will_curry]

It looks like that to me too. Are the crankcases here elektron?
I've only ever seen two pairs of those before and both were too corroded
to risk using.

I think Roger Maughlin, the sprocket man from Knighton, had one which
he used and also Charlie Fryer used one in a trials outfit well into the
late 60s.

[nevhunter]

It's the roundbase VCH made of electron and they will corrode if not looked after. The rib front and rear is standard and the spark plug is closer to the exhaust valve than other Models. Mine is mid 50 and still going. I've had it since about 1973. There's Pictures On this site of it. Nev

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

Nice! yes that looks like a magnesium round case engine, pretty rare, or very pretty rare !
a few pics from the net....

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

O, bytheway Simon, you are not the first and probably not the last, but.....

There is Danmark, people who live there are called -in English- Danes

And there is The Netherlands, people who live there are called - in English- Dutch.

So apart from the first letter D there is no similarity.

Now, if that bimbo over the great pond is just as knowledgeable, we - The Dutch- are in for a treat.
Come and get it, our land is full of mud and cloggies, sorry no lithium, oil, gold, coal or whatever.

[will_curry]

Interesting word, bimbo. In English it is used to disparagingly apply to a dim-witted
female whereas its original, Italian meaning is boy child. US slang applies it to
an unintelligent male.

[Simon.Gardiner]

Vincent - the only people I've seen doing clever stuff with post-war Ariel singles near where this engine is are the Dutch!
(That's not to say other folks haven't, just that I've not seen it, so far. Danes or other nationalities near Denmark please feel free to contradict me!)

It would be interesting to know what cam that engine has in it, and the engine number to check if it was one of the few that went to Denmark from the factory.
If those are elektron crankcases they're a bit of a fire risk - maybe someone should offer to help the Museum out by removing dangerous materials, for only a small fee....

SG

[nevhunter]

JAP Speedway Motors use the same metal in the cases.. It goes from shiny to a lovely Grey by Itself. Keep Mud off it. It CAN Be Welded IF you Know what you are doing. It has a Higher rate of expansion with temp than aluminium. New Castings COULD be done but where would you get the Barrels and Heads? As supplied the Motors were tuned as the Standard VH s were. Mine was supplied with High Comp piston and a GP Carb to order. The Later ones were similar to a VHA with IRON Flywheels and the WIDE cam.. Nev

[nevhunter]

The OTHER engine is a rough Mid 20's HARLEY Davidson "J" Model. Nev