» My most treasured possession

My dad's motorbike
My dad built a motorbike from scratch, last year he died and left it to me in his will. It's amazing.



The frame is based on a loop of tube from
Mole Valley Farmers sheep rack range of products, plus other bits -
the geometry is based loosely on Sammy
Miller's works Ariel bike from the museum. He threw my dad out of his museum when he caught him doing a bit of espionage with a tape
measure.

Things get more interesting when you look at the engine. It is a 498cc four stroke based on 1955 Ariel Red Hunter crankcases with steel
flywheels which don't explode at high revs unlike the cast iron road bike versions. It's got a 85mm stroke and Triumph high capacity oil
pump instead of pathetic Ariel version which wouldn't fill the cistern in a doll's house loo. That last part is a direct quote from my dad.

A home ground trials type camshaft (with gentle valve opening) to give good low speed torque is combined with a Piston is from a Toyota car
engine, much machined, which cost about £20 instead of the £90 odd for a proper bike one. The Barrel is from a Lister stationary diesel
engine - my dad smashed the fins off, cleaned it up in the lathe, got a foundry to pour aluminium around it and machined the fins on, plus the recess for the cylinder head.

It would be a great bike to escape to Switzerland on, except it would make the jump.
(Fri 9th May 2008, 9:41, More)