Ariel Arrow and Ariel Leader
These two bikes have recently been lovingly restored by my father Don and his mate Richard. Both originally date from 1960 and were built by the British Ariel Motorcycle company in Birmingham. They share the same engine, a 250cc 2-stroke parallel twin but with different levels of tune producing in the region of 16 brake horsepower with a top speed of around 70 mph, in favourable conditions.
In July this year my dad and brother Michael will be riding these two bikes the length of the UK from Land's End to John o' Groats raising funds for the NSPCC along the way, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to photograph the two machines together.
To find out more about the road trip and help the fund raising effort visit the blog page at top2toe2.wordpress.com. In the meantime enjoy this example of fabulous 1960's automotive styling.
These two bikes have recently been lovingly restored by my father Don and his mate Richard. Both originally date from 1960 and were built by the British Ariel Motorcycle company in Birmingham. They share the same engine, a 250cc 2-stroke parallel twin but with different levels of tune producing in the region of 16 brake horsepower with a top speed of around 70 mph, in favourable conditions.
In July this year my dad and brother Michael will be riding these two bikes the length of the UK from Land's End to John o' Groats raising funds for the NSPCC along the way, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to photograph the two machines together.
To find out more about the road trip and help the fund raising effort visit the blog page at top2toe2.wordpress.com. In the meantime enjoy this example of fabulous 1960's automotive styling.
A detail from the original 1963 Ariel Leader brochure
