RealClassic – August 2019

subsequenthistor y.
Thecompany, nowadivision of
ComponentsLtd,broughtout avariet yof
motorcycles until 1926, whenawell-known
motorcycle designer,one ValPage,cameto
Ariel in thatyear.Page movedfromJAP,and
he came specificallyto crea te apair of new
engines–madefamousint he BlackAriels
–thatwould be the basisforAriel’s four-
stroke poweredsinglesuntil th ecompany
finished trading in 1959.Thehorse logo
came into being also in this period,hence
the currentCheval deFer,the title of theAriel
Owners Club magazine (It’sFrench foriron
horse). ButIhavenoideawherethe French
connection came in–movingon...
Duri ng the post-war boomyears,Ariel
builtapair oftwins,the 500ccKHand
laterthe 650 FH Huntmaster,whichwas
manufactured from 1954to 59, and a
prettydecen tbikebyall standards–and
is the subjectoft his restor ation. Ariel
had been takenover by BSAin1944, and
the Huntmaster usedalarge numberof
components from BSA’s excellentA10 twins.
That’s enough of the historything–and I

bet morepeople willread this article than

will everreadABrief HistoryofTime.

However, and this is the question some

mayask,isthiswell designed and lovely

paralleltwin Huntmaster anAriel, or is it

really just another BSA A10?Because,aswe

sawinthe previous paragraph, BSAwere,

from 1944,well and truly in the driving seat

of theAriel company, and manyofthe A10

and Ariel Huntmaster enginecomponents

areinterchangeable.But –Iamatpains to

pointout –they arenot identical engines –

oh no,sir –aswewillfind outaswetake a

peekat Doug Walker’s sumptuousexample

from 1956.Andit’sonlythe engines which

used BSAcomponents–apartfromthe hubs

and frontforks ,whichwere arguableAriel

parts usedby BSA.It’s complicated.

Doug’s friend Jim Hunterfound the box

of bits–actually theyweren’teveninabox,

but wereliberally spread out inashed,

strippedrightdowntoindiv idual nuts and

bolts.Heacquired said bitsknowingthe

Doug would be truly interested –and he

was; thanks Jim.Thepreviousownerhad

intended afull restor ation and then sadly

TwoHuntmaster engines.The dark one is the feature bike, theother astock photoshowing the remarkablyhandsomeAriel primarychaincase.The top

end is basicallythat from the earlyplunger BSAA10, but withAriel’s improvedrockerbox

As with thetopend,manybottom endcomponentsareshare dwith the A10, but they’re not all interchangeable.Beforewasting money, chatwith the chaps
at Dr aganflyMotorcycles andlearn thetrue way. Andjoin theAriel Owners MCCbefore buying the bike. Whatdoyou mean,youalreadybought it?

died.‘Manyarethe plans in the heartof

mortal man’says the Bible.Anyway, Doug

paidforthe pieces,back in 1982,took his

little treasures home,and worked on them

A ithth t d b tt d bl B f ti h t ithth h

ARIEL HUNTMASTER

Subscribe and save:www.Real-Classic.co.uk/subs AUGUST 2019 I91