Think Different: A modified Ariel Leader from England

UK-based photographer Del Hickey has a expertise for uncovering distinctive machines, constructed by extremely expert people that might in any other case fly beneath the radar. This time, he’s dug up an actual zinger—a modified Ariel Chief from a small village in Gloucestershire, England.

It’s the work of Ivan Counsell—a retired engineer and designer with little web presence past his private Fb profile. Requested what he’s as much as lately, he merely replies that he spends his time “making issues completely different.” And this practice Ariel Chief positive is completely different.

The undertaking was born when Ivan acquired the donor bike from a good friend of his at a value that was too good to refuse. “It was in completely customary type and lined in mud,” he tells us. “Evidently, it was neither fairly nor clear.”

Launched in 1958, the Ariel Chief was a 249 cc two-stroke twin with a pressed metal monocoque chassis and a totally enclosed physique. It carried gasoline beneath its seat, with a pretend gasoline tank, mounted within the conventional spot, performing as a frunk. As you’d think about, taking one aside is an arduous process.

“I can truthfully say it has by no means taken me so lengthy to strip a motorbike down in my total life. What number of nuts and bolts of various sizes can a motorbike producer presumably match to at least one bike? Anyway, after hours of grazed knuckles, swearing, and far to-ing and fro-ing—gathering many sizes of British sockets and spanners—the tin surprise was lastly dismantled.”

“Questioning what on earth I used to be to do with a mountain of tin and plastic, I marketed every thing I had spare on eBay. A chap drove up from the South Coast to Gloucestershire and crammed his Ford Fiesta to the brim with undesirable Ariel components.”

“A lot to my amazement, he lined the price of the Ariel’s buy and even left me with just a few hundred quid to spend on it! Blissful days! Thus far, I’m nonetheless in pocket—one thing that by no means occurs to me.”

“It didn’t take lengthy earlier than I made a decision what to do with the Ariel. I remembered seeing George Brown’s Ariel Arrow dash bike within the Nationwide Motorbike Museum in Birmingham and thought, truly, that’s not too unhealthy. So I began work, marking out the place I’d lighten the pressed metal body.”

Going ham with the opening noticed, Ivan gave the Chief’s monocoque an array of ‘pace holes’ earlier than turning his consideration to the enclosed entrance forks. As soon as he’d piled up all of the bits of steel peppered throughout his workshop, he dug into the Ariel’s motor; “A easy affair, as two-strokes go.”

Ivan had a pair of Suzuki GT250 X7 pistons mendacity round, which have been an ideal match for the Chief’s bore and stroke. So he modified the Ariel con rods to just accept Suzuki wrist pins and put in the GT250 X7 pistons. The barrels have been modified barely, and the heads have been swapped for Ariel Arrow objects with a ten:1 compression ratio and a squish band.

Ivan additionally bored out the crankcase’s single inlet port, fabricated a brand new consumption manifold to accommodate a 32 mm flat-slide carb, and added a foam air filter. The crankshaft was despatched off for a rebuild, whereas a good friend machined the exterior flywheel down to assist the engine spool up faster.

Ivan tried constructing his personal digital ignition for the Ariel Chief subsequent—however wasn’t pleased with any of his makes an attempt. In the long run, he constructed one utilizing the backplate from a Triumph T120 factors meeting, a six-volt battery, new condensers, and a brand new ignition coil.

“There was a purpose I didn’t go overboard on tuning the engine an excessive amount of,” Ivan explains. “I knew that once I rebuilt it, there could be extra horsepower than the Ariel Golden Arrow. However the brakes are absolute garbage, so a motorbike able to over 80 mph could be bloody harmful on right this moment’s roads—or any highway, the truth is. I’ll handle that drawback at a later date.”

Though Ivan binned the Ariel Chief’s all-encompassing bodywork, a variety of OEM components survived the cull. The bike nonetheless has its unique wheels, suspension, foot pegs, and rear fender, however every thing has both been refurbished, repaired, or massaged.

The usual exhausts wanted greater than just a bit tweaking although. “They’re longer than a double-decker bus,” says Ivan, “so I reduce eight inches out of them. I additionally eliminated the inside baffle and, as luck would have it, contained in the rear aluminum cone is a small tube. I pulled it out and reversed it so it protruded out the again of the cone, giving it a type of growth chamber look.”

“The exhaust word is kind of nice and never too loud. I’ve made growth chambers up to now, however this low-cost choice saved a variety of time. And the phrase ‘low-cost’ fits this construct very properly, as I by no means meant to half with an excessive amount of hard-earned money on a motorbike made with giant quantities of pressed metal.”

To avoid wasting much more cash, Ivan began filtering by the numerous bike seats he had hanging in his shed for an appropriate perch. “I routed round and located what I consider to be a Lambretta racing seat, so I grabbed it and positioned it on the bike. I made up a hinged bracket to entry the battery and used two sprung clips to maintain it from flipping up.”

Ivan paints his bikes himself, normally choosing completely different shades of inexperienced. In a bid to shake issues up, he picked ‘Sky Blue’—a colour usually utilized by the British navy on their engines, that Ivan notes has a suspicious inexperienced hue to it.

Though that is the primary time we’ve seen a customized bike from Ivan, it’s not his first (nor his final) undertaking. “I’m now making an attempt to shrink back from Brit bikes, as I’ve had them since 1971 once I was 11 years outdated. I’ve a 1972 Harley Shovelhead that pursuits me extra, so that can get the remedy later this yr.”

“I’ve a ardour for all bikes, however I’m afraid early Japanese stuff nonetheless does it for me. The engines are simple to strip and rebuild, and the gearboxes are beautiful to make use of. I’ve labored on tons of and tons of of them since I used to be 15 and owned round 150 of them—together with different makes, it totals over 200 bikes.”

“I’m at all times planning what to construct subsequent. Sadly, necessary stuff like engaged on the home will get a again seat—a lot to the annoyance of ‘her indoors’.”