Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Lad's,

These have come up for sale and im considering purchasing them, they will obviously require a bit of work to get them up to scratch however they dont appear to be in two bad condition. They don't come up very often and i would like to grab them if possible.

The main thing id like to be certain of is that they are in fact genuine Ariel girders and not some Indian knock off. As im on the other side of the country i have no way of checking them out myself so am after the thoughts of people familiar with them.

Obviously missing a few parts including auxiliary springs if im correct?

I have emailed the seller and am awaiting a reply, this is the is the description with the advertisement:

Set of genuine Ariel girders. These are the real thing not Indian repros. Came off a bike I parted out. No corrosion but there is a slight bend on one side where someone tried to fit a wider wheel - easily straightened. There are a couple of extra lugs brazed on that should remove OK

Pics below

cheers

Josh

Those forks certainly look like genuine ones from here.

simon.holyfield wrote: Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:48 pm Those forks certainly look like genuine ones from here.

Thanks Simon, I have been studying them closely against pictures of genuine forks and they certainly look to be, Im not familiar with them and want to be 100% sure!

They look right

Yes, they certainly look like the set I have on hand and they came mounted on the bike.
Frank

Thanks everyone, will call the seller tomorrow and hopefully can pick them up.

They do look genuine Ariel to me BUT:

someone has fitted taper roller steering head bearings with some non-standard nuts to adjust them. It looks as if the steering column may have been modified to suit

the friction surface on the fork blade for the suspension damper is painted. That tells me that the forks have not been used since painting and paint, as you know, covers a multitude of sins.

they are either 1939 onward or W/NG type and most probably W/NG. To tell the difference, measure the distance between the centre of the lower fork spindle and the centre of the wheel spindle. Civilian is 16 3/4 inches, W/NG is 17 3/4 inches.

Thanks for that detailed info Paul, will definitely be asking for some better quality photos before deciding on anything. I new about the W/NG having the higher ground clearance but i wasn't aware of what the different dimensions.

With regards to the tapered steering bearing, i believe Drag's do now offer them as an upgrade - though there shouldn't be a need to modify anything else, they are a direct replacement.


cheers

Josh

I'm pretty sure they are the Later W/NG forks.That would explain someone trying to widen them. Earlier forks have the rubber handlebar mounts. I wouldn't modify them to a standard front wheel which gas a thicker axle and a wider hub. It's easy to fit the auxiliary spring(s) Nev

perhaps even very early postwar as the top casting on the girder is just like the one on my '45 NG
this is the WNG version

The main spring in the girder on offer has a few more coils compared to mine