Don’t let 127mph dash your hopes. Just set your hopes a little higher. Hey, I don't need any more Australians encouraging me in this foolishness... A new alloy HS barrel. The new alloy heads ... Not that I'm even thinking about this anymore (honest, really...) but, if I were, I'd like to be able to...

Paul and Simon, Thanks for the quick response. You simultaneously dashed my hopes, and saved me from further consideration of something foolish. After I finished the Cannonball last year on my 1928 Ariel a friend -- Australian, as it turns out -- has only semi-jokingly been pushing the idea that I n...

It might seem like an odd question (because maybe it is...), but is anyone aware of the highest authenticated speeds reached by Ariel singles? By 'authenticated' I mean something a bit better than self-reported speeds based on speedometers. Something like a radar gun or an independent timing associa...

For those that are running high compression ratios, older fuel results in engine pinking that did not occur when the fuel was newer. This is a good point. A lot of effort has gone into the design of combustion chambers of modern engines to tolerate higher compression ratios on lower octane than was...

The venting is not via the tickler but from the front of the carburetor. That's a third path which I didn't mention, which doesn't affect what I wrote about fuel vapors venting through the pilot jet.

Can I take you to task on this one please? ... Surely an alternative outlet for the evaporating fuel in the float bowl is through the air vent in the top of the float bowl - the hole(s) through which the fuel spurts when you depress the tickler for too long? Hmm. Well, can I can take you to task fo...

I remain sceptical Hey, you're reading this on the internet so it would be foolish not to be skeptical. there is a miniscule amount of fuel at the jet and once this has evaporated no more deposition should take place. If I repeatedly dipped a new pilot jet into clean fuel and allowed it to evaporat...

my theory being that if evaporation does leave a little residue it will be re-dissolved in the fuel when it is next flowing. Also if a residue was to form I think it would accumulate at the lowest point, What I've found when I've examined several of these blocked pilot jets under the microscope is ...

ethanol incenses the water in the engine oil I have no idea what incensing the water means. ethanol contains sulphates and copper Ethanol is C2H5OH. It contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. No sulphates or copper. ethanol also lacks any lubrication properties Gasoline also lacks lubrication propert...

ethanol loves to eat rubber pipe alloy brass cork and metal The problem with blanket statements like this is they aren't based on fact. Ethanol does attack rubber hoses that are not made specifically to resist ethanol, so that part of the statement may or may not be true depending on the specific r...