Ariel Owners MotorCycle Club

Hello Cam, Can you take a picture of the plugs? If a cylinder is burning oil one should be able to see it on the plug. You probably checked, but are you sure all plugs are firing all the time? Although there were no apparent signs on mine, when I disassembled my engine I saw that Nr 2 hadn't been fi...

Hi Cam, you could always try this - again from the Sq 4 Workshop manual. No idea if works. However, I still find it hard to believe that so much oil is flowing down the stems on a newly rebuilt engine. On mine, which was just rebuilt as well, and using a Morgo pump, I just had some leakage at the ro...

Changing to Mk II guides might be an answer (if they fit - I didn't do this and don't know the respective dimensions). Alternatively, getting new guides turned-up with a top that allows the rubber 'valve guide seals' that one gets in car engines to be fitted would be a better option. MKII guides do...

But... where is the oil coming from? There shouldn‘t be any oil getting into the combustion chamber. Even if there‘s a lot of it in the rocker boxes. I never had that problem the few times mine ran, and I also had the thicker oil line running to the rockers. Are you sure it‘s really oiling up and no...

Hi Cam, Suggest you try to get in touch with Simon Holyfield. He did a lot of work and study on oil pressure, the relief valve and the oil lines to the rockers and pressure guage. simes is very helpful and I‘m sure he will be able to give great advice. He also put a lot of information on what he did...

Hi Cam, Exactly. Simes also documented that on his blog. My lines came from Drags as well, and the larger pipe feeds the rockers, just like yours. Should be the other way around. If you can solder pipe connections, it is quite simple to exchange the fittings one for the other. But, if you don't, the...

Agree. Maybe they weren‘t so common in the 50‘s and that was the recommended solution back then. My rockers don‘t have it, but can‘t tell you if it‘s a problem or not - not enough mileage on her yet.

Yes, my plain bearing for the front crank seized due to my mistake in setting the end float. You can read the whole horror story here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9348

Apparently this is done to help drain the oil away from the rocker assembly. I can only presume to stop oil potentially flooding the tappet area and maybe burning it. I am sure there are more knowledgeable members out there than I who know exactly why it's done. There is a recommended modification ...

Cam, As a first thought - primary chain tension is checked and correct? Is the shock absorber tight enough? any chance that the big nut loosened? Then check the obvious - any bolt, nut or screw in the inner primary case come undone? I used an engine endoscope through the primary case inspection hole...