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BSA Norton Triumph Ariel and miscellaneous motorbikes and trikes

Morturn said:
That's a super restoration job. I was an apprentice to a guy who rode one of those.
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I really just bought the Raleigh as a project to restore rather than ride and that's exactly what happened. I enjoyed restoring it. I had it on a bench at shoulder height so no climbing under like a car and it took up little room. Nice easy therapeutic job. The side covers were missing but that didn't matter. Sold it on eBay.
 
Morturn said:
I too recall the Ariel Leader and Arrow much berated, all sorts of arguments about they did not have a proper frame etc. I thought they were quite a nice looking bike but the bikers tended to like the big throaty 650 twins with lots of chrome bits to polish. I recall the Arrow had a bit less cladding and was quite nippy.
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I agree, I thought it was an excellent design with the dummy tank as a tool/storage box. I rode it quite a bit and it was fast enough for me, very smooth. They were criticized for the smoky exhaust but we British always over-oiled our two strokes compared with continental makes. The Leader/Arrow was recommended to have 16:1 petroil ratio. The engine, particularly, is a copy of the German Adler design which only needed 24:1 ratio and this is a good example of the practice. Maybe we were just 'playing safe ' but the Germans put much more development into the two stroke engine and produced some good designs.
 
My Arrow was already messed about when I had it.
It was the 1st 2t I had as a teenager.
Silly me tried some reverse cone silencers,o_O Sounded great but went crap, weren't on long.
 
My learning curve on two stroke engines was done on the 49cc Phillips moped I bought new when I was 16. I used to diligently decoke it regularly but it did need it with a 16:1 petroil ratio. I could tell it was ready for a decoke when it went quiet ( or quieter). I too, experimented with the silencer, reversing the perforated cones and then leaving them out altogether. I soon learned about the importance of exhaust port back pressure in a two stroke. The German Rex engine was a flat-top piston Schnurle scavenging two stroke in the single- speed Phillips moped but was slightly unusual. The primary reduction gears were built into the crankcase and so were lubricated by the two stroke petroil. I thought that was quite clever as no other lubrication is necessary. I did thousands of miles on that moped, including riding to Weston Super Mare from the Midlands and back for a weeks holiday. The engine never missed a beat or misfired. I had no back up and it was before the days of mobile phones, of course. Some would say it was a bit foolhardy and it probably was.
 
My latest Exhibit is a little Guzzino 2t, nearly original, imported from Italy in Jan 2026. Nice and light for transport. Works well, still not good with the hand change though. A Guzzino XSS847 & title.jpg
And it's as old as me.
:cool:
 
Looking at that bike makes me think of something I've pondered before. Does a forward facing air intake help performance? You must get a ram effect into the carb. Most bike air intakes are rearward facing. Also does it assist cooling?
 
To answer a couple of questions.

Keeping the condition as it is, it gets a oily rag wipe over the rusty parts now and then.
Regarding the ram air effect, If it does then I don't notice it at the speeds I ride it at on grass. I'll master 3rd gear one day. And although street legal I've not ventured on the black stuff yet.
:cool:
 
This is the 1960 Phillips Panda I restored in 2006 (only 20 yrs ago, seems longer than that). As a nostalgia project, it was identical to the new one I bought at the age of 16 mentioned in my earlier post.
Built in Bridge Street Smethwick, of course, it was all-British except for the German Rex engine.
Phillips Cycles were very old hands at making bicycle parts
 
Sorry, the thread disappeared as I was typing, I never was very good with touch screens.
Phillips Cycles were established in 1892 so were old hands at bicycle manufacture. The bike had Miller electrics including the flywheel magneto. Miller were based in Aston but I'm not sure just where. I eventually sold PCL 735 to a gentleman from the Wirral. I'm also including a photo of my original Panda with my brother on it, taken in Brean around 1961. Note the 'L' plates (mine not his).
 

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It interesting to me in how the design of these older motorised push bikes and mopeds has now come full circle. The modern high end eBikes are a very similar design. The trusty moped, which I now think it of as a hybrid would not look out of place with an electric motor.
 
Absolutely. Ridiculously underpowered bikes have always been an interest of mine, especially cyclemotors, i e. engine attachments for push bikes aka clip-ons. These were particularly popular in France where they were treated exactly the same as bicycles. I'm not sure what the current French legislation is regarding these vehicles. Here, we had (and still have) to have them registered as motor vehicles with number plates, insurance and (now) wear proper motorcycle helmets which seems ridiculous. However, In retrospect, it's not such a bad thing really with wayward cyclists ignoring the rules and the pressure to register bicycles and the complex rules on ebikes etc.
By coincidence, I am seriously considering purchasing an electric bike attachment kit for my push bike. I still ride it occasionally but at 82 I need a bit of assistance up hills and don't have the stamina I had when I was 20 when I would easily cycle 100 miles.
Fortunately for me, such kits (at the moment) are treated as bicycles if the motor is under 250 watts and limited to 15.5mph.
 
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What was also ridiculous in Britain at one time was that pedal -assisted mopeds of 49cc, max speed 23 mph in the case of the Panda, were then classed as motorcycles (group G I think it was) . After passing my (farcical) motorcycle test I could jump on to a 650cc Golden Flash or ,1000cc Ariel Square Four, Vincent Black Shadow etc. and still could legally!
 
I can't find any reference or information on the Birmingham auto electrics company Miller. All I can find is as an American company but oddly, the Miller logo I remember it, is there. As I recall, Miller of Aston, were a smaller competitor to Lucas and were eventually absorbed into the Lucas empire and the name disappeared.
 
I too have some vague recollection of Miller being based in Aston. Their lighting kit and dynamos on bikes was quite common. Im sure they did bulbs for bikes too.
 
Just round the corner from Bracebridge Street, the home of Norton Motorcycles.
Birmingham certainly was the world hub of cycle and motorcycle manufacturing. Sad it's practically all gone.
 
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Was MCA what I remember as Aston Autos? Although my hazy memory tells me that Aston Autos were further up on Aston Rd. North rather than Lichfield Rd.
 
MCA was a part of Aston Auto's, one being the spares and the other, machining, Bikes & scooters, MCA was run separate though by "Mickey" Mason, his Daughter worked in the office, The upstairs rooms at Aston Auto's was storage for carriers, crash bars etc, Ron Timms who who serviced the scooters and MOT's also rode for Cradley Speedway. There was also a Chrome Plating shop that did the exhaust & silencer plating next to MCA,
 
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Thanks Brian, I've now found the MCA website which I could have searched for before. Interesting to read the background of the company. If I ever have another classic British bike they might be useful.
I have this memory of Aston Autos as a quite long shop front not far from what is now Dartmouth Circus. The Lichfield Rd address further on I'm not sure I can remember that.
Victoria Road to me was famous for the police station. Not that I ever went in there though!
Another vivid memory near there was Ansells Brewery, Aston Cross. As I recall, they were plagued with industrial action and it closed down not long afterwards.
 
AlanM said:
Thanks Brian, I've now found the MCA website which I could have searched for before. Interesting to read the background of the company. If I ever have another classic British bike they might be useful.
I have this memory of Aston Autos as a quite long shop front not far from what is now Dartmouth Circus. The Lichfield Rd address further on I'm not sure I can remember that.
Victoria Road to me was famous for the police station. Not that I ever went in there though!
Another vivid memory near there was Ansells Brewery, Aston Cross. As I recall, they were plagued with industrial action and it closed down not long afterwards.
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Ansells was also next to HP Sauce,( Mum used to take us there to breathe in the malt !!!!) Aston Auto's was a long shop, with the bike showroom and spares sales on one side and the scooter sales and service opposite, Christine mason was the Boss's Daughter who worked at MCA in the office, George **** was the manager, I think he went there from Premier further up the road, my first bike , a tiger cub was bought from Tamworth M/cycles for £5, Mr Mason let me buy a leather jacket from Aston Autos for £5 ( with tassels) and pay weekly, MCA workers were Martin Groves, David Woodhead ( his Dad was the sales rep) Albert the van driver ( loved his snuff) Jack !!, Fred & Vera ( they rode a combo) and a few more I can't recall,
 
Yes, I forgot HP Sauce, it was quite a landmark when driving down the Expressway.
Many years ago, I had been to a Messerschmitt rally in Kettering, I think, and after I got home, I had a phone call from one of two lads who were from Lancashire who had been at the rally. He said " We've broken down, we don't know where we are but we can see the HP factory". I rescued them , towing their car to my house in Solihull where they stayed overnight and fixed their car to go home the next day.
 
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