First bike I was on, as a pillion, as a 10-old kid was an Ariel Leader. Loved it. Started riding myself a year later on the Honda CT90 my father bought to use on the farm….. and the odd run into town. Reacquainted with Ariel when working in the UK in the 1990’s. Was based at the St John’s Arms pub in Bedfordshire, where the Ariel club held their annual mid-winter rally. Good memories…..
I was talking to the owner of a beautiful Arrow at Buntingford car show, and I pointed out that the Leader was a precursor of bikes like the ST1100 Honda, and probably 40 years ahead of its time.
Petrol mix 32 to 1 guys. 😊 I had a black one in the early 70's. 761 EON it was my daily ride from Andover to Basingstoke when I first started work at 16. I loved it. It used to blow out the left hand crankcase oil seal if you caned it. It really smoked then! 😮
Tell you what Lads, that was true epic viewing, made my day/week/year!! 3 points come to mind, Vickers would have been over the moon having their Viscount mistaken for a Comet, especially by 'antique machinery experts'! Back in the 60's my mate rode the Leader whilst me choking if was behind him, smirked on a 125 4-stroke/e. starter/indicators Honda Benly 125 able to whizz past him anytime! Today, pop up photos side by side of 2012 Honda NC700X and NC 700D, nothing is new for the D is the spitting image physically of the Leader but I have automatic 6 speed totally enclosed new tech!! Thank you once again lads!
Thanks for an interesting chat on the 250 Ariels. Back in the 60’s my mate had a standard 250 Arrow, it handled beautifully and smelt lovely running Castrol R. At the time I had a 350 Norton Navigator which could only just keep up with the Arrow; I recall regularly seeing 78/80 mph on the speedo. Apart from charging around the roads of Cambridgeshire we regularly went ‘off road’ on the Roman Road just near Cambridge - neither bike was ideal for this but it was good fun!! (not permitted to use motor vehicles on the Roman Road now!). Now at the age of 80 we both meet up for meals and a couple of beers occasionally. I’m running a Honda VFR v-tech and my mate was until earlier this year still flying his home built two seater light plane! I’m rambling a bit but my favourite two stroke was the Greeves 250twin which I’d love to see on your channel sometime. Keep up your interesting ‘old bike’ videos 🏍️🏍️🏍️
Back in the day we would soak wooden spills in R and burn them while listening to Sound Stories LPs on club nights, so we got the authentic smell. So glad to be still riding at 75.
@@alandavies55 Hi Alan,Intresting anecdote.If memory Serves me well,I'm pretty sure Ariel made a 350 version of the arrowes called the golden arrowe?I'm sure those who know this marque more than I will correct me if I'm wrong?Wonderful to hear you are still motorcycling at 75.I'm 70 next year and just bought a Harley.Regards...Paul
Thanks, guys; nice to see the Leader which, in 1958, cost 209 pounds. Back in 1963 I bought a brand-new Jawa 250 (a twin-port single) and the handbook recommended a petroil mix rate of 20:1 using Shell X-100. If I ran it at that the bike would knock and, about one second later, nip up and lock the rear wheel. After experimenting, I ended up using Filtrate, a black collidial oil made in Leeds, at a 33:1 ratio, which worked perfectly and didn't leave a smoke-trail either. As an impecunious young man in the military (seven quid a week didn't go far) with a 75-mile-each-way commute, I needed transport that was both cheap to buy and reliable; at a purchase price of 120 pounds and with 100% reliability, the Jawa fulfilled both criteria. No comparable British bike offered that.
Most enlightening discussion on the subject, an aesthetic that might be considered marmite. I would sooner have the 250 MZ in the garage however, on hearing about the provenance it is a wonderful artefact from an era. 👍👏👌
Always thought the MZ ES 250 Trophy was the generic successor of the Leader. Lots of pressed steel, especially with the leg shields, leading link forks.
I was very envious of friend of mine who owned an Ariel leader and longed to own one myself but sadly never did. I suppose I was attracted by the fact it offered good protection with its closed in design. I seem to recall it did receive much acclaim at its launch. Thanks for the memory.
I used to have one in red & white, with panniers. That "dipswitch" was a headlight levelling device for when you carried a pillion. It was a brilliant bike.
I had a 1959 Leader, as a 17 yr old. Had the turn signals, rear carrier and the panniers, it was a great handling bike and I used to pass many a Bonny goldies and other bigger bikes on roundabouts and curved roads, Leader was first produced in 1958. It produced 17bhp. and the engine was a development of Addler in Germany. A friend of mine had an Arrow with chambers and twin carbs, it was very fast and out ran most 250s of the time.
It sounds pretty good for a British two stroke, no doubt helped by its square 54x54mm bore and stroke (the same as the Suzuki Super Six and GT250) which was quite modern in comparison to all the long stroke Villiers engined bikes 🇬🇧
My father had an Ariel Leader. In the 1980's he cut and welded the skinny panniers from his Leader into wider touring panniers for his Honda CB400N Super Dream (black). The Ariel Leader fairings had been left at an ex girlfriend's mother's address behind her garage back in the day, at least he had the bottle to go back years later to get them.
Bought a Leader in 1960 paid £175 for a year-old example. The screen was an integral part of the design, it was never an optional extra. The dashboard lever was not the dipswitch it was to raise/lower the headlight beam according to load. I'd had a BSA B33 500 single but it was old and uncomfortable. The Leader was lighter, more modern, infinitely more comfortable and handled better. Took me a while to adjust to the quite narrow handlebars but they proved comfortable over time!The petroil ratio was 25:1but I discovered Bardahl and thinned it out to 48:1 which cut the smoke in half. The brakes were only just acceptable and setting the two sets of points was a nightmare. The enclosed final-drive chain was a bonus. But I kept it for about six years, riding it six miles each way to work and hardly ever getting wet or cold. My then wife rode pillion occasionally but two-up it just wasn't powerful enough. I rode it to London from County Durham a couple of times and it was OK but frequent stops for fuel were off-putting (smallish tank - a little over two gallons IIRC) I longed for one with say, a 350 twin four-stroke engine like the Triumph 21 but Ariel had actually made a business decision which was the equivalent of committing suicide and the brand disappeared. Brave but foolhardy in the end result.
My 1st bike as a learner at 16yo was a second hand Ariel Leader 250cc. My dad didn't want me to have a motorbike, so we came to an agreement that he chose my 1st bike, that's how I ended up passing my test on one. Got 80mph out of it on the A3 but the smoke screen left behind must have been hell for any following vehicle, lol. Still riding and see no way I'm going to stop anytime soon. Great show lads.
A pal of mine had one plus the police 'noddy bike' at the time. During the days when coppers walked, rode bicycles or occasionally motorbikes. Bantams and (later on) Tiger Cubs were stalwarts of the racing scene.
The Ariel Arrow and Golden Arrow, which were basically unfaired Leaders with tweaked motors, were real street sleepers back in the day. My pal Melly had one and he scared the bejezus out of the Triumph mob regularly. The Triumphs always won out on top end but on the twisties and in town, the lighter Ariels were hot potooties. Ariel was one of the great British manufacturers, always innovative and well made.
Not at all I have a full time job and full time family also the free time I have had has mostly been raining Would never give up doing these as long as I can click a shutter button
I always thought the Ariel/Arrow design, in concept, was where motorcycles *should* have gone. But obviously didn't. If a pressed steel 4 stroke twin with leading link suspension and integral panniers came on the market today, I'd probably buy it.
The Ariel Leader was designed in the days when only richer people owned cars Lesser people rode bikes or motorbikes You put a sidecar on when you had kids It was made for people to go to work in suits and it was great for that It is a magnificent design But the minicar came out and spelled the end for sidecar and the Ariel Leader So they tried for another market, the Arrow 250 limit for learners and 200 for less tax I had an Arrow SS which handled incredibly well Brakes glazed too easily and became useless Drank too much petrol The smokescreen didn't n Matter too much those days Thanks for the report I want a Leader Give it an electric motor and disc brakes and they can be successful now
The one thing that the Arial Leader wasn't, was "The Leader of The Pack". The leader was a big gutless scooter. The Arrow saved the day for Ariel with quite good handling and a fair turn of speed for a 250 at the time. However it still had the Leader's brakes that were dismal.
My late cousin Roger had one in the sixties he had ape hangers on it and "arse warmer" silencers the pipes were bent by packing them with sand and heating them , I never saw them doing it but it looked exactly like you'd imagine they used to burn his legs on hot days , his girlfriend refused to get on it lol at one point he was riding along over took a bus and the pipes came off swivelled and dug into the tarmac he went over the bars which slipped forward his biker mates never let him forget they also insisted it was a scooter and why wasn't he wearing a parka..🤣👍🤘he was 17/18 at the time..
Good Show. I enjoyed it. Up till the early sixties the Glasgow cops used lovely grey Norton Twins. Dominators ? Don't know, but they were 600 or 650 cc. Then the powers that be decided that they were all going to get Ariel leaders with radios in the paniers and blue lights etc. The cops absolutely detested them !
They never used LE Velocettes in Glasgow, beat patrolling was always by a pair of 6foot plus Highland bobbies. The Norton mounted road patrol cops were a bit of an elite. To them, the Ariel Leader was a blow to their prestige. They were mocked as the Scooter Patrol. For them, sanity soon returned in the shape of Police spec. Triumphs. I don't know what happened to the Leaders ?@@LemonDrizzleGang
Most of the fully enclosed motorcycles of this period looked rather awful, the Vincent Black Knight was absolutely hideous. But somehow Ariel got it right with the Leader, it's a sleek, elegant machine, and I have liked it since I first saw it as a kid on the cover of Popular Mechanics.
Did you ever test the CB750 four? I keep looking for it and hope it’s only me somehow missing it. This is of particular interest as I rode one in 1975 to around 1979
I brought one (not running) back to Canada in about 75, but it was a two tone blue I think. Did they make them in that colour or was that a re-paint? Was going to re do it, dragged it around for a few years and sold it. thanks for the video
Hi LDG. Im a new rider and would like to know your recommendation for a MG. V7 850 or a V85tt? Im 6’2” and plan to maintain the bike myself. Love your videos. Paul from Boston MA.
I once bought a Bleeder, as we call them. It had been done up previous owner spent 6 months rebuilding it. But was very unreliable so I got it for £15 , electrical problems all the time. Think I sold it for £20.
Still here I have been battling some issues with my eyes but on a waiting list for an operation so struggling with editing Thanks for your concern really appreciated Mike
I had several Ariels in the '50s and early '60s (I moved to NZ then) and remember the Leader coming out. It always was a piece of rubbish. You talk about 'the reality of classic bike ownership' as though you have no expectation of reliability. Certainly the Leader was always unreliable but on the whole, the bike engines of those days were basically simple design and very reliable. The only problem I had was with my very first bike, a 1951 Excelsior Talisman Twin which had a burnt clutch on the way from Bath to Nottingham once. I was able to limp home and replaced the clutch plates the following week. It was a 250cc twin twostroke and took me thousands of miles around Britain in comfort. I replaced that with a new 1956 350cc Ariel Red Hunter, a very reliable bike, cost 186 pounds. Did more long distance trip and then went to a 1956 Ariel Huntmaster 650cc, same frame and running gear which had more power . I had other bikes, BSAs from 125cc to 650cc but the Ariels were my favourites.
I really love what you're doing with your channel but honestly what a dreadful thing that is😂 For me, it's just horrid and I just don't get it but I absolutely recognise everybody is free to make their choices and I defend that right. Still a shocking thing though🤣. Great music. Cheers
a very good design for 'transport' bike. can hose it off quickly. maybe brit engineers didn't understand how or why exhaust needed an expansion chamber, germans got it , nips 'stole' it, and made fast bikes for the youth market.
