ARIEL 5-6 h.p. Twin Cylinder Combintion.. 1914??

[Andy.Kirk]

Dear Members,

I wonder if you can help us to try to ascertain the model, exact date & approximate value on the Ariel motorcycle, photos attached.

My father passed away last year and left us a few vintage motorcycles left over from a motorcycle business that we used to own back in the 70's & 80's.
George Cheyne Motorcycles was established in Aberdeen in 1905ish and on purchasing the business we inherited a few of the original motorcycles that were left in the basement.

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The photographs attached are one of the few we have left.

The Ariel is in totally original condition and no attempt has been made to restore it at this moment in time. It was last on the road in 1964 and has not been used since. It has been on show in the Grampian Transport Museum for the past 20 years or so. We have it at the moment in storage collecting dust, as you can see from the photos.

We are trying to find out the real value of this motorcycle with view to selling, but can not find out anything on the internet as it is so rare!
I would be grateful if you could shed any light on this for us, but if not don't worry.


Thanks in anticipation,

Andy…

[Andy.Kirk]

Forgot to mention. We have an engine No.7532 if that helps matters at all... Thanks!

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[adrie.degraaff]

Lets start with the value, it all depends where you put it forsale, at Yesterdays antique motorcycles you will get 30.000 euro, at an auction they will steel it from you at a bargan prise to sell it elsewhere for more.

Now the year, I would say 1917 to 1920 as the manufacturing date could be differend to the selling date, it would help if you give the frame nr, it's in front of the gearbox knob.

I would be interested to see older incomplete motorcycles where you don't know the make.

[andyhughesflattankarielpre25]

Greetings to you, there was a 1921 white and poppe engined Ariel with sidecar sold about two months ago in auction for £9,600,this was in original condition but not quite as good as yours and of course it was a single cylinder not a twin,making it a bit more common,but even these dont turn up very often,a solo bike in large lumps sold about four months ago for just over £6000,this was an absolute steal for a lucky person.I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect ,Adrie might be correct in his value but who knows ,the only real way is to stick it on the old flee bay and see what happens,good luck it is a fantastic machine and the best way to have them with a bit of life history ,not to shiny.regards Andy.

[adrie.degraaff]

The reason your getting more at "Yesterdays" is the large amount, if the buyer is sending his money to them he is sure getting a motorcycle in one peece, at ebay this is not so sure.

[andyhughesflattankarielpre25]

Hi Adrie,I agree with you about Yeterdays they are nice people .

[patrick.robotham]

It is either a 5-6 hp or a 6-7 AKD engined model from between 1917 and 1921/22. It also looks to have a genuine Ariel sidecar. The fins on the cylinder heads run at 90 degrees depending on which model it is. However I cant remember which is which but I think 5-6hp run for and aft.If the tank panel is correct it is more likely to be 1921/22 but the colour looks a bit odd. I would certainly not sell it through ebay. I sold one very like this nearly 20 years ago for £6500. This is worth between 15kand 20k. Pete Gassons veteran outfit was sold last year by Verrals for I think £30k and it did not hang about in the shop for long. Pat

[john.mitchell]

I would reckon it to be a 1919 model, Pat. The 1920 model range were chain drive and I believed they had the more curved tank and fork springs inside the forks. However Ralph Hawkins told me that they produced 3 different catalogues in 1920, obviously using up a mix of left over parts. By 1921 they had started using the MAG Vtwin engine. However it is a magnificent example and I would certainly value it at over £20000. They are a lot easier to ride with sidecar!

[patrick.robotham]

Just checked some of my old photos. This is a 6-7hp model as the fins on the head run for and aft, The tank with the light coloured panel is 1921 , and the non druid forks came in 22/23/24, with the rounded sided tanks 23/24. You could get chain cum belt drive up to the end of the AKD and WandP models manufacture, when the AKD was indeed repalced by MAG engines and much heavier forks modeled on Brampton Biflex.The confusion arises in that vehicles of this period did not have to be registered so that the date of registration is often later than the date of manufacture. You have to bear in mind that this was a really expensive machine when it was sold, and was presumably put together as and when the customer ordered it. Mine was owned by George the fifths boat builder(J Class yachts), and he must have had a bob or two. Pat