Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

On Friday, after unsuccessfully looking for the Mag/dyno unit for the 1932 Cammy for over six months, and after finding an appropriate gearbox from a 1934 through the NA Ariel Owners club, I finally took possession of the project bike. (Thanks to Dermot Rogers, an Ariel enthusiast from near Seattle but not a member of either club, for selling me that gearbox.)

I plan to start a blog on the restoration, but that will likely be in the new year. I will post a link when it is up, in case anyone wants to see progress. The bike is in semi-restored condition. The things that I know are missing are the passthrough toolbox/battery platform, Mag/Dyno, Headlight brackets, damper mechanism, seat spring units, descending arm of the hand shifter. The engine is a basket case right now and I do not know how complete it is. The former owner, who is now hospitalized, provided a lot of receipts from Draganfly and Bertram Speedo's in a binder marked '32 Cammy. Some of the stuff that he bought, I recognize, but much of it was also for a 1934 Red Hunter which a friend of mine bought from him in working order a few years ago.

My first step is to inventory everything that I have received (three huge boxes) against the 1932 4F parts list (and supplementary) that I downloaded from the library. This may take a while because I have to leave in August and will not be back until just before Christmas. I'm not certain that my count will be complete before I go.

As I mentioned six months ago, when I joined the club, I am new to Ariels, and my oldest restoration to date was on a 1968 Honda CL450. This means that there will likely be many questions (some of them ill informed). Thanks in advance for your patience on those. I am really excited about this project.

I want to upload a photo or two, but I cannot figure out how... (first ill informed question)

Liam.Plant wrote: Sun Jul 20, 2025 8:30 pm ....I want to upload a photo or two, but I cannot figure out how... (first ill informed question)

1st post in the list in 'Forum Help' section!!!!
viewtopic.php?t=193

SG

Thanks Simon,

I will do better. Here are some photos of the best part of her...
The former owner started to restore her in 2004, but abandoned it. I'm sure that I will eventually find out why.

The first thing that I noticed when I looked at it was the drastic upsweep at the back of the front fender. It does not look like the photos I have seen so far of the 1932 SQ4. It is possible that these are from a 1934 VH, as he was building one of those concurrently in 2004. They may have been accidentally swapped. Thoughts?

Liam - that front mudguard doesn't look too different from what Karol has on his '32 4F.
Maybe take a look at the parts books in the online Members' Area library? https://www.arielownersmcc.com/members_ ... sBooks.htm
These show (illustrated) two front mudguard options, plain and valanced - yours looks like the valanced option.
(The 1934 singles seem to have used the same mudguard for the 'valanced' option).

SG

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your work. Here is a thread about my story with the 4F6/1932. I assume the previous owner gave it up due to lack of spare parts or financial constraints. We had to make many parts to get this beautiful machine back on the road, but it was worth it.

viewtopic.php?t=11109

Thanks Karol, I may need to call on your help if I need to get parts fabricated.

We still have some parts, but many of them are already sold out. When I make parts for my motorcycles, I always make a few extra pieces to help other interested parties, but we often make unavailable parts for rare motorcycles like your 4F6 and there are few interested parties. When a small series of parts sells out, I don't go back to production (it wouldn't sell and the costs for a small series are high). A lot of people follow us and when we make a part for their future renovation, they buy it and keep it on the shelf.

It's only 93 years old. Nev

Hi Liam, Just saw your posts from a few months ago, and I am on the other side of the planet in NZ also reconstructing a 4F, in my case a 1936 600 cc. I guess yours is a 500, and I do have a spare good head and block and other parts for a 500, if that may be of interest. Postage may be an issue of course. Also I have been getting some parts made, such as the special big-end securing bolts. Working on getting new chaincases made if that would be of interest. All the best with your project. Cheers, Harry.

Hi @HarryS,

Just got back from Down Under, too bad that I never made it to NZ. It is time that I get started on the restoration... probably in the new year. Mine is actually a 600, but I believe that I have a good head and block, time will tell. I'm looking forward to hearing about your resto: are you posting anything about it here?