Cool Motorcycle

Any oldies out there remember the 'Arial Leader' ?
Certainly NOT a cool bike but one that has stuck in my memory for 40 odd years.
My brother-in-law owned one, and i happened to see one like it on a stand at the Birmingham motorbike show a few years ago.
My husband was quite impressed when I suddenly said the name of this bike!

I remeber the Ariel Square Four

Apparently the Ariel Leader and the Ariel Arrow were 2 stroke...he thinks!

My husband hasn't heard of the Ariel Square Four, but he's not that clued up regarding motorbikes.

obviously you know more than he does..maybe the Leader and Arrow were 2 stroke as they are 60 -70s bikes..

GEC wrote:Apparently the Ariel Leader and the Ariel Arrow were 2 stroke...he thinks!

My husband hasn't heard of the Ariel Square Four, but he's not that clued up regarding motorbikes.

Your husband is correct GEC, all Ariel's built in the 60's were 2 stroke engined. The Arrow was basically the same as the Leader, but without the closed-in bodywork. The police in England used to ride Leaders... noted as being one of the worse handling bikes of all time. The Square 4 (nick-named 'Squariel') was notorious for overheating the 2 rear cylinders...

this was always my favorite ever since I was a kid...sorry if wandered off topic.

Yes maaka, I remember the Munch Mammoth with it's 1200cc NSU car engine...
Munch actually produced a 2000cc Turbocharged 260BHP bike in the late 90's... but only made 25 of them at approx. £50,000 a piece
But to cap the power stakes... how about the 'Rapom V8' ?
An 8.2 litre supercharged bike with 1000BHP on tap. Don't know about 'cool'... but certainly extreme

thats a real breast Stevo..I got a mate that build drag bikes, that would be right up his street,
I always thought my bike was cool so I will throw its pic in the hat..
I bought the frame and engine, and threw the rest on myself..I still have it and its sitting under the house these last two years..Silly me left some fuel in the tank and then it went off and sludged up the works, so needs a good clean out so she will fire up again..

Nice ride maaka... I'm no expert on Harley's, but is that the 1340 lump you've got strapped in there? a Super Glide?
I've only ever owned a Sportster back in England before... but I did have the great pleasure of restoring a '40s Knucklehead 1200 for an American guy in Chiang Mai a handful of years back.

Beautiful bike you got there Maaka. Can you tell us more about it?

thanks fellas for the comments''
yup its 1340cc.. 1989 Harley Davidson FXR Lowrider..not a Superglide, but I think those rear springs /shocks are off a Supergilde..I bought the engine and frame new, and all the other parts came later new from the shop when I had the money, and I built it in my spare bedroom, and later got a bike mechanic mate to come and tweek everything up, and help me fire her up for the first time..I got the paint color off a Honda car, and keep the decals off, because back in the early 90's Harley's were new to NZ, and afew were getting nicked..it comes with a double seat as well..it weighs about 20 stone, and I must admit I blew a disc in my back trying to hold it up one day when it nearly fell over..its not looking so sweet as back then, ruddy harley alloy oxidizes, sort of corrodes, and spoils the finish on the bikes, but the new pic is her 20yrs later, so not much difference I guess.I never been over 90mph on it as I set the sprokets for a faster take off rather than a high top speed..My 74 Trident was much faster at 130mph...the bike is a bugger to stop once you have wound it up, being 20 stone, and it only has a single front disc, as its not a wide gilde front end..two years ago I was booting it down a hill and a silly old lady pulled out of a sidestreet in front of me, one of those spilt second choices where you have to quickly downshift, wave up weather to enter the oncoming traffic, and jumped the curb, I saw her and thought if that car pulls out I am a goner, and sure enough.I had nowhere to go, and she was looming up fast.I got in down two gears, then just tapped the foot brake which I shouldnt have done, because the arse end slew around beside me, then the front end dug in and I somersaulted over the bars will still holding on, smacked the road, then we slide downhill at a fair rate of knots, even catching up to the tail bumper of the car and tapping it with my helmut..I thought my beloved was a goner, but I had only crushed the exhaust pipes alittle, and the rest was fine..havent ridden since..and like I say the petrol went off and stuffed up the carb, and so its need the carb pulled aprt for a clean, and I hate fiddling with carbs..I will get my mechanic mate in one day as I miss that V8 sound she has...

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Ariels.
I remember the Police riding those around in the 1960's.
Pity the British motorcycle industry died off due to poor management and lack of investment, much like the Car industry. Like BL turning out dreadful w@nkers.

Here is a good read about the decline of British motorcycle manufacturing.

http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/ ... rview.html

Someone mentioned V8 sound. Here is some of the real stuff. 350 Chevy engine.