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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:
 
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