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Thursday, 30 December 2021

FH Dry Build - Exhausts

Well, it turned out that five years in a damp loft by the seaside wasn't the best thing for the old siamese pipes the bike kit arrived with, so as the pipes they supplied for the SQ4 were so nice I bought a new set from Feked. Feked make nice stuff which they pack very securely and deliver promptly. A good outfit:



...and they fit, too. The silencer construction is a perforated tube with glass wool around it, juts like the Burgess original on my W/NG. Should sound throaty! 

Nice deep socket fits the cylinder head stub:


Bracket is in the right place:


Two things here - the pipe bend is a little tight but will spring down to the right position with a little force, and the silencer end of the pipe needs about 2" trimming off it:


I'm not sure this bend is in the right place, but it does clear all the bits it needs to:


Someone else's bike, much the same:


Looks pretty good.



Monday, 6 December 2021

FH Dry Build - fixing the side stand

The kit of parts came with a side stand that fitted the frame lug but otherwise is unlike any side stand I have seen on an Ariel - from a bit of Googling, it appears to be Triumph one. I chose to modify it to fit the FH - in fact I would use it to make a replica of an Ariel one.


You can always get help with your Ariel - from fellow members of the AOMCC, or perhaps members of other Ariel clubs around the world. There are a few. This next picture came from such a source and shows the business end of an Ariel side stand:


The donor stand had a small hole for the spring. Since the first bit to get right was the fitting of the stand to the frame and the ability for it to hold itself safely in both positions (Ariel side stands stay down until you flick them back with your foot), I needed to make a peg for the spring. Another job for the mini-lathe:


Unfortunately, the first attempt revealed that I didn't have enough stretch in the spring - the stand would go down and come up but the spring would fall off before the stand was in the parking position.


I had to cut the peg off and re-weld it 3/4" further down the leg. I need a few more bits:

Side stand kit

Here's some more AOMCC help. Those feet belong to Lee Mallabone, and that's his side stand - he's showing me what shape the foot needs to be:


Using my hacksaw and the linisher, I trimmed the foot I'd made to match the original that Lee showed me. It's close enough - it's actually a bit bigger, which can only help out in the field:


Here it is back on the bike. I've relieved the inside of the clevis a little such that it comes around the lug a bit more, but to be honest I am not sure I want it to stay down - which it doesn't:


However, at the other end of the travel, it doesn't come up as far as I think it should:


Have a look at this:


Either I need to modify the clevis so that it will move further in both positions (which will have the effect of making it stay down) or I have to change the frame lug to relieve the stop at the parked end.

The next job is to trial fit the exhaust - then I can work out where the 'foot finder' pedal needs to go. More on that later.