Model A - front forks dry build

 You might remember from the recent girder fork investigation post that we had a lot of movement in the forks - in fact a 3/8 inch variation in wheelbase. It was obvious that a lot of this was down to wear in the links and wear in the spindles.

I contemplated reworking the original links for a while but while chatting to the AOMCC Black Ariel spares specialist I discovered that reproduction links were available from the club at a good price, so bought a set. They're not perfect - for example the middle links are smaller in diameter than the originals so I will keep the originals and repair them at some point.

For some reason the top links on the 1929 and 1930 bikes are not fully threaded:

The club spares officer also recommended I bought a new spring. It's certainly true that old fork springs I've used in the past have been very soft and looking at the old spring previously it was clearly a bit stretched. Again new ones are available at a reasonable price:

Putting these bits together with the old spindles revealed a significant reduction in play.

A few days later, the new spindles arrived from Acme Stainless - and very nice they are too. On bikes of this era, you don't need the knurled washers - these arrived in 1934. I bought a pair of headstock nuts as well since I was one missing and pulled up the steering head bearings a bit more. 

Putting all these in place removed all of the play in the forks. I now cannot detect any variation in wheelbase.

Stuck in the steering column there is the beginning of the blanking plug that is used on the Model A which was not supplied with a steering damper.

That plug will be chrome plated eventually. I'll finish it machining it long before that happens!

Model A - a stand, and a mudguard

A couple of new parts arrived for the Model A last month - a 5" D section mudguard blank - actually a rear, but cut down it will be perfect for the front:

It matches the original rear mudguard and is far more appropriate than the 1931-1949 mudguard it arrived with:

It's had a coat of black enamel. The plan is to let this harden, age and chip by leaving it around the workshop for a few years, then it will look the part:

I've also got a rear stand - an excellent reproduction from the Ariel Klub Slovakia. Apparently Slovakia was a strong market for Ariel before WW2, and there is a great following for Black Ariels there.

That's had a coat of black enamel as well:

Model A - bits arriving

The Model A kit has advanced a little - I've got the clutch and air/ignition levers, both correct original parts, from eBay. These are not cheap! 

There's also a 5" D section front mudguard under there. 

From the Archives

Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 until 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era.

Its roots lie in Paris when in 1896 Société Pathé Frères was founded by Charles Pathé and his brothers, who pioneered the development of the moving image. Charles Pathé adopted the national emblem of France, the cockerel, as the trademark for his company. After the company, now called Compagnie Générale des Éstablissements Pathé Frère Phonographes & Cinématographes, invented the cinema newsreel with Pathé-Journal, French Pathé began its newsreel in 1908 and opened a newsreel office in London's Wardour Street in 1910. Wardour Street, in Soho, was to become a centre of Britain's film industry. In 1958, Pathé was sold to Warner Bros. and became Warner-Pathé. Pathé eventually stopped producing the cinema newsreel in February 1970; by that time, many homes had their own or rented televisions and the days of the cinema news reel were over.

The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its collection of news film and movies is fully digitised and available online and it's no surprise that that archive includes film of our favourite subject. You can do a search like this:

https://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/motorcycles

This famous film of Harry Perrey crossing the English Channel on a 1929 'Black' Ariel was made by Pathé and is here too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmbc3QSSyqA&feature=youtu.be

Harry was Competitions Manager at Ariel until 1930 and apparently, on arriving in France after a 7 hour trip, Perrey returned to dear old Blighty, on his Ariel, the same day!

In 2019, 90 years later AOMCC President Ariel Atzori will repeat the experience though in slightly warmer climes, on Lake Como during the 2019 Italian Ariel Rally.

Biker Chicks...

A friend from Houston, Texas sent me this picture this week. An interesting shot from the 1920's presumably from Holland.

Is this an Ariel publicity shot perhaps? the bikes are both from 1929 I think, one a side valve and one overhead valve, both new touring models?

And look at their faces - noses, smiles - are they related? Mother & daughter perhaps?