More questions than answers

[paul.jameson]

One item which escaped me earlier is that your cam has been modified by removal of the pin on the outer end which drives the oil pump. That tells me that you have a non-original oil pump with higher flow than the original Ariel item. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon the type of riding you intend to do on the bike.

[nevhunter]

End view of the cams please. They could be 'wild as'. Nev.

[nevhunter]

I once had a set of 'Art Senior' cams. I Gave them away to some club Racer type. Wish I hadn't now.. Nev

[Rick Hughes]

Hello its another question. Iv never seen this bike running and iv since found the previous owner had not either, even though he told me he had.
With the thought he had ran for a short time with a squirt of bradex. As he had told me. I had assumed it was set up correct. So I went through the cam timing and point settings. With the excellent pdf files on here ..thank you
Im now ready to attempt to try to fire it up
It has at the moment no decompression fitted so Iv tied a string to the spark plug cap to stop it if I get lucky ..
It has this rather big looking oil pump instead of the pictures iv seen on here. Im very worried that the pump will work.
Is there a way of checking it works by perhaps taking the plug out and spinning the double nut on the end of the crank with a wizzy gun. Or is that silly
Im just very nervous about this potential start

[Roger Gwynn]

As the label says, this is a Morgo pump that requires the eccentric on the end of the cam to be removed so not many pumps were sold. Also it is rather overkill on a single that will happily run for a few minutes with no oil circulating, providing there is some oil in the engine. As it has stood for some time it would be advisable to pour 1/4 pint into the sump via the rocker box cap. The pump may need priming but I am not sure as this is the first I have seen. The hex plug at the top could be to bleed air from the pump.

[simon.holyfield]

As the label says, this is a Morgo pump that requires the eccentric on the end of the cam to be removed so not many pumps were sold. Also it is rather overkill on a single that will happily run for a few minutes with no oil circulating, providing there is some oil in the engine. As it has stood for some time it would be advisable to pour 1/4 pint into the sump via the rocker box cap. The pump may need priming but I am not sure as this is the first I have seen. The hex plug at the top could be to bleed air from the pump.

I don't have Morgo pumps on my singles, but I do have one on the Mk1. As Roger says, I would suggest that the hex screw at the top is the bleed - it's in a similar position on the four and there is certainly no mounting point up there. With the engine stopped, just take it out, and if you have oil in the tank it will come out of there naturally. When it does, put it back in and the pump will work.

[Rick Hughes]

It seems the top flat headed screw was the bleed screw I had a little fibre washer on ,I pulled it out and let the oil flow for a couple of mins
I got it all ready to try for the first time and then the blessed machine decided to go extremely tight on the kick start despite me previously kicking it over loads of times in the past week
So learning curve number 4 .. I took the gearbox cover off and the actual kickstart shaft was nearly solid in the housing , I freed it a little with penetrating spay but it has not come out to assess the cause. I wasn't sure that there wasn't a hidden screw or something so I had to leave it temporarily whilst I went home to study YouTube videos and it seems it should pull out so tomorrow I'll have to force it out somehow
I believe it should have a better lubricant than 10cc of runny oil in it some kind of home made sludge
. I'll get there and I'll learn on the way. If your bike always works perfectly you never learn that's what I am telling myself

[nevhunter]

Don't pull a HT Lead off to stop a Motor. It's likely to kill the Coil by it going to earth internally. . Better to short it Out by something that is earthed to the Motor. The Kicker shafts that are drilled for a grease Nipple NEVER wear out if they are greased regularly as no grunge gets in. Mixing the Intermediate and outter covers can cause alignment Problems. There can be different spring widths, too. Nev

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

Ah yes, a Morgo rotary pump made for the Ariel single, somewhere in the late eighties if I remember correctly.
Been there , done that and learned about it....
The Rotary pump made before Morgo made a larger version of the plunger pump.
That later larger plunger pump ( I believe still on sale ) also still delivers to much oil, stick with the standard Ariel plunger pump.
Waste of time, money and with that rotary pump, it destroyes a good cam .
It may look like a worthwile modification but on a roller/ball bearing engine you dont need much oil or pressure as Roger already wrote.
It deliveres way to much oil in to the engine causing it to drag, take it off and find a standard cam.

[Rick Hughes]

Well I bit the bullet I'm sure this engine would be a flyer properly set up and raced up a hill , but it's the opposite of what I want. I want to mooch along around the fylde countryside and beyond
At 40 to 60mph my two hips that I have had replaced struggle to kick this high compression bike over. But the hammer hit home last night when I went to a buddies garage to look at his 1930 AJF 500 machine he's acquired He let me kick it over and it was so easy
I got thinking there is so much done to this engine that to make it as I want it would cost far too much I paid very little money for the bike and I know I can't afford a prewar rigid bike with girders right now any way I went to a friend's house and bought what he described as "a lucky dip" 500 he had bought it in a chunk of other bikes and bits all he knew it turned over.
It has RB on the casing so it's 1951 iron head.
I bought it. Took it to my workshop and stripped it down he sold it as it was.. so I was pleasantly surprised it had a single cam, the normal oil pump the bore was not bad the piston had 1ring stuck but all seemed good it has on the bad side a plus 0.60 split skirt piston flat top so I'm going to put new rings a light hone a good clean out of the bottom end the crank is steel flywheels and not a tiny bit of play. In all I'm very happy I can't put it in until I have a reg from DVLA and if they inspect it I need to leave the other in