Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

I thought I might start a thread on various bodges that we have found on our Ariels. Please post bodges that you have found. If your experience is anything like mine this thread could go on a long time.
A few years back I heard of a running 1951 plunger frame VH that was for sale only 50km away. As I was in the process of moving I had my son in law do the deal and collect and store the bike for me and deliver it to me about a year ago. While I knew the bike was rough, it was fitted with a post 56 VH head and cylinder which was my reason for the purchase. My son used them to convert his NH to VH
I have just started the strip, and repair before rebuild.
There were no stands for the bike. The previous owner used to lean it against a post or wall.
While there was no rear stand, the brackets to attach the stand to the frame were also missing. The sleeve nut on the bottom of the suspension normally holds the 3/8” thick stand bracket in place. Without the bracket the central bolt is too long so the bottom sleeve nut was tightened until it bottomed out on the bolt and the final result was that the suspension guide tube was never tight in place and the suspension caps stood up about 3/16” higher than they should, and the suspension guide tube could obviously move up and down. I fabricated new rear stand and stand brackets See the different lengths between the front mudguard stays. As one is too long just bore a hole through the mudguard above the fixing tab and bend the tab out of the way. The mudguard centre stays have been cut and then a piece has been welded back on. But they are of course still shorter than original. Front wheel stand fixing bolts. A Whitworth spanner did not fit. Yes the prior owner screwed in a pair of unf bolts. 1/2" unf spanner. The previous owner had the rear wheel lock up with the downward pointing brake drum arm. So make an extended upward pointing brake arm and don’t worry about the return spring that should be fitted to that arm. The weight of the footbrake pedal alone has the rear brake permanently applied even though lightly. I will bet the drum ran very hot if ridden other than round the block. The brake rod is also just in contact with the rear wheel adjuster bolt so don’t try and bring the rear wheel forward after fitting a new chain.
Both front and rear brake drums were full of grease which was doing a good job of lubricating the linings. So they will have to be replaced. David

Good idea! Should be an amusing thread and maybe make us go and look for similar bodges on our own bikes.

Here's one on my W/NG - all four tank bolts had been replaced with over-long M8 screws. Result? Four leaks from the bolt holes...

Common mistake. The bolt thread must be a good fit and only long enough to Bottom out before the Tank is penetrated. This can mean oversizing the NEW Bolt threads OR have a tubular steel fixed spacer there so you can tighten it up enough to stop the Bolt moving and deteriorating the thread by Movement of the Tank. I have also used studs with Nyloc nuts, But getting the tank on is a bit compromised at the front. Nev

Another bodge is Leaving out the 2"spacer between the Engine Plates where the Long stud for the Footrests goes. Nev

nevhunter wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2026 9:38 amAnother bodge is Leaving out the 2"spacer between the Engine Plates where the Long stud for the Footrests goes.

I would count that as a mistake rather than a bodge, since it doesn't give nearly enough credit to true bodgers.

In a lucky purchase, I bought sight-unseen a bunch of BSA parts that turned out to be the world's first BSA Spitfire Scrambler (serial #1). However, some previous owner had started to make a chopper from it by changing the rake. When I removed the Bondo from the front end, I found that had he finished his project he would have been riding with a front end held together with pop-rivets.
A friend who owned a motorcycle shop had a "Wall of Shame" where he kept examples of bodges he found on bikes that people brought in for service. I have photos of 40 examples, so I'll only show two.

It's common for off-road riders to use vise-grips (mole-grips) to temporarily replace a broken shift lever, to get them back home. Someone who hadn't quite grasped the concept had welded a shift lever to the vice-grips, which he then clamped to the gearbox as a permanent fix.
The second example is a disc brake pad where, to avoid paying for a new pad, someone placed their life in the hands in the shear strength of zinc-plated screws from the hardware store, holding some unknown friction material.
These three examples show the ingenuity of people who I believe truly deserve to be called bodgers, rather than inept mechanics.