The Story of the Ariel Leader "Tomorrow's Design... Today"

In 1959 the English motorcycle magazine "Motorcycle News" declared the Ariel Leader its machine of the year. The following year that honour was taken by the Leader's un-fared sister, the Arrow. For Ariel, it was a reward for the risks they'd taken with their radical designs. And yet despite these successes there remains a general perception that in some way the Leader was a failure that accelerated the demise of a venerable English company.

The Birmingham company began as a bicycle manufacturer in the late nineteenth century and then jumped onto the mechanised transport revolution in 1898 with a tricycle powered by a French De Dion-Boulton engine. From there they began building motorcycles in 1901, first using proprietary engines and then engines of their own designs. They even began producing their own motor cars.

An Ariel quadricycle from 1900

Pre-war Innovation

In 1925 Ariel employed a young engineer named Val Page and he set about improving the design of Ariel's engines. By 1927 Page's designs crystallized into the Red Hunter, one of Ariel's legendary motorcycles. The Hunter came in either 350 or a 500cc versions and in the post-war years enjoyed great success in TT racing. The Hunter enjoyed an extremely long production run from 1927 to 1959, when it was retired in favour of the Leader.


In 1930, Ariel had another stoke of good fortune when they picked up another brilliant young engineer, Edward Turner. Turner had been unsuccessfully trying to drum up interest in his revolutionary four cylinder engine. BSA and Triumph had both turned him down, but Ariel was impressed. The Four Square packed the power of a large multi-cylinder engine into a size little larger than a standard twin. The 'Squariel' as it was affectionately known remains one of the great English motorcycles and good examples fetch high prices these days. They were a big bike and the solid, reliable pulling power of the Four Square made them a good sidecar bike - an especially good feature in the 30's when most people could not afford cars. The earlier models had an unwarranted reputation for running hot on the rear cylinders, but this rarely affected overall performance. Like the Red Hunter, the Squariel had an exceptionally long production run, from 1931 to 1959.

Contemporary Four Square advertisement. If the Red Hunter was a sportsman's bike, the Four Square was a gentleman's bike.

But all was not well with Ariel. Hard times during the Great Depression led the company to declare bankruptcy in 1930. After a short shut down the company continued under new ownership but lack of capital would continue to plague the company. Both Val Page and Edward Turner drifted away during the 1930s to rivals BSA and Triumph and it seemed as if the days of innovative motorcycle design were over.

Military contracts during the Second World War offered Ariel something of a lifeline. Their 350cc overhead valve dispatch rider's bike was a hardy and robust machine that added to the company's well earned reputation, but continuing financial decline led the company to sell up to BSA in 1944.


Post War Stagnation
Val Page returned to Ariel 1949 and set about revising the product range, which hadn't really changed since the mid 30's. He added a parallel twin to the range with the 500cc KH model and updated the Red Hunter and Four Square. In 1954 came the Huntmaster, which featured a 650cc BSA A10 engine mounted in an Ariel frame, but Ariel's fortunes continued to decline.

The problem was Ariel's product range was seen as conventional and lacking flair. The old Squarial for instance was solid but staid. The Red Hunter was a successful sporting bike, but it wasn't as flashy or desirable as machines from Vincent, Norton and Velocette, while the Huntsman was basically just another BSA. Their engines too were bog standard four stroke technology which had barely changed in twenty years. A radical rethink was in order.

Ariel management decided to do something different. They decided to do market research, something unheard of in the motorcycle industry. Until that time motorcycle development was driven by the tinkering of creative engineers and the crucible of competitive racing and time trials. The customer was barely involved in the process, except as an observer and ultimate judge of the motorcycles' performance. Ariel's decision to actually ask the customers' what they wanted in a motorcycle was as radical a step as there was in a very conservative industry.

After two years of research Ariel felt they understood what the market was looking for and in 1955 Val Page and his design team came together to work on a new motorcycle design. The design they presented after six weeks brought together a number of novel features and was unlike anything Ariel had produced before. The most obvious feature of the 'Glida', as it was originally called, was its scooter-like body shell. In 1951 the British motorcycle industry had been shaken to its foundation by the arrival of the Vespa. Traditional motorcycle manufacturers had dismissed the little Italian scooter as a fad, but the public did not agree. The Vespa offered the British post-war commuter everything that the motorcycle didn't - style, comfort, weather protection, simplicity and reliability. You could ride to work on a Vespa in your normal clothes - no need for leathers, helmets and goggles - and they sold in their thousands. Given England's inclement weather, the Glida's body shielding was a sensible design feature.

Douglas Vespa - "the two wheeled car." The Vespa transformed personal transport world wherever it went. 
https://newatlas.com/the-scooter-the-short-history-of-a-cultural-icon/3954/ 

The decision to fully enclose the body of the motorcycle required a complete change in construction. The standard tube frame chassis was replaced by an integral box girder frame. The petrol tank and electrics were hidden away inside the hollow frame, maximizing the use of space and keeping the centre of gravity of the machine low. The sheet metal construction posed a particular problem for Ariel which did not have the capability to manufacture these parts itself. Production of the body, frame and other sheet metal parts was outsourced to local manufacturers and Ariel's Selly Oak factory largely became an assembly hall for the Leader's pre-manufactured parts.

After fifty years of four-stroke engine development Ariel made the decision to employ a two-stroke power-plant. The reasoning behind this decision is unclear, but the origin of the design is not. After the Second World War the Allies confiscated German technology patents. Everyone was keen to get their hands on the Schneurle patent for reverse scavenging two-stroke engines. During the pre-war period the patent had been jealously guarded by DKW, who held an exclusive license. Now BSA obtained the plans of the DKW RT125 motorcycle, which they would release as the BSA Bantam. The DKW 250cc twin engine (or its Adler copy) found its way to Ariel. Ariel's two-stroke wasn't an exact copy of the DKW or Adler engine, but it's so close that their common origin cannot be denied. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-motor-cycle-ariel-two-stroke-engine.html

Among other new features were trailing link forks, which contributed to the bikes smooth handling and road holding. The fork ends were highly stylized and distinctive, like many of the bikes decorative features. This was one of the advantages of the steel body shell; it could be used in imaginative and functional ways. While the real petrol tank was hidden away inside the bike, a traditional looking dummy petrol tank was fact a large storage compartment. Unlike contemporary motorcycles, the Glida had an elaborate control console with a range of standard and optional features including an 8 day clock. Other features included indicators, rear panniers, and a full windshield.

Ariel management were delighted with the design and a prototype was built. Ariel's parent, BSA, however, were horrified by the bike, but Ariel decided to press ahead with production regardless. This was quite an exercise as it meant completely retooling the factory. Fortunately their marketing department rethought the name and in July 1958 the bike was debuted as the Ariel Leader.

The reaction of both press and public was uniformly positive. The motorcycle magazines were almost gushing in their praise. "Undoubtedly a most significant step forward in design as far as motorcycles are concerned..*" was a typical comment. Orders for the Leader quickly outstripped production, requiring some serious reorganization at Selly Oak. By the time Motorcycle News had declared the Leader motorcycle of the year in early 1959, Ariel had decided to stop production of all other models in order to concentrate on the production of the Leader. After some 30 years, it was time for the Four Square and the Red Hunter to gracefully leave the stage. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/introducing-leader-motor-cycling.html

Advertising for the Leader and Arrow steered away from English motorcycling tradition and attempted to capture a new, younger market who had been influenced by the scooter phenomenon of the mid 1950's

In 1959 Ariel released the Arrow, the un-fared sporting version of the Leader. The more traditional looking Arrow was an instant hit and was named 1960 motorcycle of the year by Motorcycle News. The Arrow gained a great racing reputation. In 1960 a deluxe version of Arrow called the Golden Arrow was introduced. The Golden Arrow featured racing handlebars, a small windscreen, two toned gold and white paint job and a bigger carburetor. The bike made such an impression that the British model company, Airfix, released a plastic model of the bike. http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/sutra236140.php

Even the Leader competed in the racing circuit, but it was the Arrow that really made a name for Ariel's two strokes.

Ariel's board must have had entered the 1960s with a renewed sense of confidence, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Two unrelated developments, one domestic, one foreign, clouded the horizon. In 1959, the British auto company Morris released the Mini-minor, Britain's response to the German microcar invasion of the 1950s. For little more than the price of a Leader you could now buy a cheap, reliable British made car. The Mini went on to become a British motoring legend, selling over one and half million cars between 1959 and 2000. But for Ariel, a large portion of its potential touring bike market had suddenly evaporated.

To make matters worse, there were changes afoot at the bottom end of the market too. Imported Japanese motorcycles were now beginning to appear in Britain and, although originally regarded as cheap and poor quality imitations, they quickly made headway in the market. For low cost they offered exceptional performance and reliability that left many British made bikes for dead. The British motorcycle industry completely misread the Japanese threat. Edward Turner, now the head of Triumph, expressed satisfaction that many young riders were buying Japanese bikes as one day they would want to upgrade to something better. He was of course expecting that they would want to upgrade to something British - like a Triumph - without ever thinking that maybe after having experienced the quality of Japanese bikes, they would want to stay with Japanese bikes. The British motorcycle industry's complacency was to cost it dear.

This photo of the Ariel stand at a motorcycle exhibition must be dated 1964. It features the Leader and Arrow but the new Pixie is also visible at the front left.

Ariel's response to the Japanese threat was to introduce a cheaper 200cc version of the Arrow in 1964. They also produced a 50cc moped called the Pixie as competition with the worlds most successful small motorcycle, the Honda Cub. Neither were as successful as Ariel hoped and both were withdrawn the following year, along with the original Arrow, leaving only the Leader and Golden Arrow in production. By this time not only Ariel's, but BSA's financial position was dire. In 1965 Edward Turner sealed Ariel's fate but shutting down all further development of Ariel products. The company was wound up later that year.

Celebrating the 25,000th Ariel motorcycle. Sadly Ariel wasn't to last much longer.

In the years following Ariel's demise there has been something of a backlash against Ariel's two-strokes and the Leader gained a reputation as a failure. This was both unfair and incorrect. In all, some 35,000 Leaders and Arrows were produced over seven years and they were extremely popular and sold well, especially in the early years. They retain a loyal and dedicated following to this day.

Sadly Ariel's long term viability was always undermined by insufficient capital. Had they managed to survive the late 60s economic downturn though, what would they have done? Fortunately several designs for the next generation of Leaders and Arrows have survived. The 1965 Leader Mark II would not have looked much different from the earlier Mark I, but would have had a more sporty, streamlined fibreglass front faring that owed its design to the Arrows' racing heritage. Such a bike would have been quite appealing and a little less radical in the late 60s that it appeared in the late 50s. Ariel was also experimenting with a four-stroke engine Leader (the prototype survives) and was considering bringing back the trusty old four square.


The design for the new Arrow was radically different from its predecessor and was clearly influenced by BSA.  The new Arrow dispensed with the central frame in favour of a return to a tube frame chassis, but the Ariel two stroke engine remained. Two prototypes were built before the Ariel went out of business. Ariel also experimented a with triple cylinder two stroke engine for the Arrow, but this idea barely got off the drawing board.


More interesting news about Ariel's next generation.
Thanks to the dedication and persistence of members of the British Leader and Arrow forum (on Yahoo), some unprecedented discoveries have been made regarding the Ariel TS5 Arrow.


Two TS5 frames were discovered by forum members in 2011. It appears that after BSA wound up Ariel the prototype and parts were put into storage, possibly intending to be used as spares. One of the prototypes was acquired by a couple of brothers who converted it into a racer. They had several years of success racing their 'custom' bike which had been chopped and changed around during the course of its career. In the end the bike was partially dismantled and stored away. Roger Bedford, in conducting his research into the Leader MkII, was introduced to the brothers, who happily unveiled the remains of the bike.

The frame, tank and engine case are part of the original TS5 prototype. The forks, suspension and swing-arm are racing modifications. Another frame has since been identified.

Additionally, two gents in the forum have independently undertaken their own builds of the Leader Mk II replica.


This is Roger Bedfords' mock up of the Leader MkII. It features a modified fibreglass dolphin faring.

In April 2012 the first of the Leader MkII replicas hit the streets. This example has been built by Eddie Buck. It has turned out a very impressive result. It really makes you wonder what might have been....

Ariel - Great Success!

The Ariel comes to life

I bought the Ariel on the understanding that it was running, but of course the term 'running' is often used with a great deal of flexibility. I mean, I was told the Troll was 'running' when I bought it and she was pretty far from running. Maybe they meant the wheels went around?

After the first once over I installed the battery and tested the electrics. They all worked, which was great news. The next weekend (the Piaggio weekend) I removed the side panels and examined the engine. It all looked in pretty good condition. Someone had recently replaced the oil in the gearbox and I refreshed the oil in the drive train. I gave the petrol tap, carby and air filter a quick clean. When I was satisfied, I poured some petrol in the tank, switched on the ignition and ... nothing. Shelly gave me that dubious look that said "well, you will buy these things."

I went back and rechecked the electrics. While they were fully working a week ago, now they were stone cold dead. When I tested the headlight it lit up for a minute then quickly faded. The ammeter on the dash also said it clear - no charge. I tried kick starting on the EMERGENCY start setting but I couldn't even get a spark. I couldn't have been less surprised actually. This was like the Troll all over again.



Here's a couple of shots of the engine just after I removed the side panels. The user guide says the side panels are easily removed by unscrewing six large screws. Yes, there are six large screws but you also need to remove the gear change and kickstart and then jiggle the panels over and around the footrests all the while trying not to damage any of the paintwork. The carby and its tickler is completely inaccessible without the panels removed. Someone really didn't think all this through when they designed this.

Monday morning I contacted Barry and asked his advice. Barry was adamant the bike was running and gave me a couple of tips to try. So on Saturday I started again.

After re-cleaning the petrol tap of more sludge the tap developed a fairly dramatic leak (obviously the sludge was performing some service!). Although I didn't have an appropriate gasket, I jury rigged a seal that did the trick. For the next couple of hours I fiddled with the fuel, the electrics and periodically gave the engine a spin. Despite my best efforts it would cough and splutter but just wouldn't catch. I knew I was close though.

On Sunday I tried again. I'd seen footage of a vintage Crocker being fired up on You-Tube and it gave me an idea. The engine had to be primed four times before the ignition was switched on. Then it jumped into life the first kick. New, the Ariel should only require two priming kicks before starting on the first 'live' kick. I wasn't expecting anything like that but thought I would try it anyway, so before each 'live' kick I did two soft prime kicks. Initially it made no real difference. For the first 10 minutes I sweated over the kickstarter and the engine sounded as lifeless as ever. But then it began to cough. It spluttered out after one or two revolutions for probably the next 10 minutes so I replaced the spark plugs and then ... Bang! She started. I was quite surprised at the sound of the engine - it was quiet and smooth.

After that first start the engine stalled a couple of times but it was never hard to restart. Sometimes it would even fire up on a 'soft' priming kick. I ran the engine for about 15 minutes before it was time to put her away. Here's a quick video of her running.

Scooters and Bikes - New beginnings

Today was a day for new beginnings. Firstly, my brother dropped off the Ariel. He had very kindly picked up the bike while we were overseas and had been holding it for me. Today he finally had access to a ute and so bought her over. Although the bike's condition was worse than I had expected she did look rather fabulous. The upper surfaces of all the grey panels are badly surface rusted. They won't buff out. I will eventually get them sand-blasted and repainted. I'm kind of keen to do that myself this time, but we'll have to see. The red areas I intend to keep 'as is.'

The bike was covered in a decades of grime that took several hours to clean it all away. Then, with the shell gleaming about as much as it ever will, I popped in a six volt battery, connected the terminals and switched on the ignition. The ammeter on the dash immediately sprung into life. I turned on the headlight and it worked perfectly. Great! Deep down I wanted to immediately pour in some petrol and give her a crank, but I restrained myself. I'll go over the engine this weekend before I even think about turning her over.

After I had cleaned the bike down I checked under the seat to confirm the engine and chassis number. When I bought the bike I was informed that the chassis number was T286A and the bike had been built in 1961. When I checked with the Ariel Club in the UK they were a little surprised as that number corresponded to the very first batch of Leaders built in 1958. The first 100 numbers were prototypes, test beds and demo bikes with the proper production starting in July 1958 with bike number 101. This means that my bike is the 185th production Leader ever made, making it one of the oldest surviving Leader's known. Unfortunately, the Ariel dispatch records for the period 1958 to 1960 have been lost so I can't confirm who the original owner was and when it was purchased.

So, the plan is - go over the engine, clean and re-oil, clutch and gearbox, check the brakes, flush through the fuel tank and carb, clean the airfilter and then - start her up. Electrically - fix the horn and stop light, install the new indicators I've bought (they aren't original but I'm not really doing a restoration). Finally, replace the tyres, which are badly perished, with the new whitewalls and then send her for inspection. Somewhere in that timeline, if I have the chance and money (hmm, always a problem) I'll see about sanding and repainting the grey panels.

After picking up the Ariel, we loaded the Heinkel and about five large boxes of parts onto the ute and took her around to the Vespa Shop. Ivo and Roberto are now ready to begin the restoration, which was far too big a job for me with my rather basic mechanical skills. I'm happy to put the job in their capable hands. The Heinkel restoration is going to be a big job and I don't expect it will be finished inside six months.


Then I picked up the Troll, which had been in having its horn replaced and some electrical problems looked at. As we were wheeling the beast out of the shop Ivo commented that whenever the Troll is in the shop people always come in and comment. Ivo should be proud of the job they did on the Troll - she looks fantastic. This time, she fired right up on the second kick and the new horn was loud and strong. Then I had a very pleasant ride home in busy peak hour traffic.

This Sunday 29 November, Piaggio Australia is organizing a Vespa riders Christmas BBW at Subiaco Oval followed by a ride through the city. It's the first event of its kind in Perth and I had intended on riding the VBB, but her lack of power always makes me wary when considering rides of any distance. I'll make a decision on the day (maybe I'll do a test run on Saturday?). More likely I'll end up riding the Troll as that way Shelly can come along too. Although it's organized by Piaggio all other scooter makes are welcome. I'll probably be relegated to the rear of the pack with Lambretta riders but that isn't such bad company!

Scooter update and a new purchase

On Sunday 24th July 2009 Shelly and I will be flying off to Germany for three months of random travels across Europe. Needless to say there won't be much to report here on the scooter restoration front. I do hope to visit a few scooter and motorcycle museum on the trip and I'll try and post some pics if I can. We shall see. For anyone interested, here is a link to our blog:
http://paulymx4.travellerspoint.com/

So, here's a wrap up of the Scooter situation....

The Troll is still broken down. I'm fairly confident that the rings have gone. I've found a source for pistons and rings but won't order until I have the confirmation of the damage. Ivo is going to pick up the Troll in the next week or so.

In the meantime I've been riding the Vespa - although not very often as it's been pouring with rain here in Perth. The Vespa feels very uncomfortable after riding the Troll. It really is only suitable for short rides. It doesn't have any guts, acceleration is poor and second gear is hopeless. I think a total rebuild of the engine and clutch is called for but I really don't want to spend any more money on it right now, especially as there will be a bill coming for the Troll.

The Heinkel is still parked in my shed. I haven't done anything more on it since I got the parts from the Heinkel Club and it doesn't look like much more is gonna happen this year. Partly, this is because I ended deciding the spend the 'Heinkel restoration fund' on an Ariel Leader. As I have mentioned before, I made some enquiries about the Ariel Leader earlier in the year. I wasn't especially serious at the time but things just took on a life of their own. I don't remember actually committing to buy the bike, but the seller became convinced that I was the guy he wanted to sell it to. About three weeks after I'd made my first enquiry the seller, Barry, called me out of the blue to advise that someone else had been around to visit him and was interested in the bike, but he told them firmly that he was selling it to a guy in Perth - me. I was a little surprised and told him that I didn't have the money (I didn't - I bills coming out of my a*se!) but he was okay with that. I could just pay him a bit at time, whenever I had some spare cash. Time and money were not an issue. After I had had time to think this over I decided - why not!? Opportunities like this don't come along often. So I paid him off over a couple of months. On Friday I got a call from the transport company - the bike is in Perth and ready for collection. Unfortunately I won't be around to pick it up, but my brother will kindly take care of that for me. The bike has been in storage for 10-15 years, but it was test run before it was sold. I've heard the engine running - it sounds rough, but what do you expect. It's almost road worthy, needing only new tyres, brake light and a new battery (and a tune up won't go astray!)

British Covered Motorcycles

Throughout the 1930's and 40's designers and concept artists envisaged the motorcycle of the future as aerodynamically streamlined with an enclosed body. While streamlined fairings had appeared on racing bikes, they rarely featured on production bikes, which remained noisy, dirty, mechanically intimidating.

In the late 1940's Bohn Aluminum and Brass' concept artists painted a vision of the future that was sleek stylish. It was a vision that no motorcycle company embraced but would later be realised by scooter manufacturer, Piaggio.

The Scooter Revolution
In 1950 Vespa was Europe's best selling two wheeled vehicle. Even in the US, Vespas, rebadged as the Allstate and sold through the Sears mail order catalog were outselling the domestic scooter giants, Cushman and Salsbury. The success of the Vespa shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone - not only were they a practical vehicle, they were cheap and stylish, and Piaggio's promotion of their product was sophisticated and relentless. Vespa advertising invariably featuring buxom young lasses in summer dresses, scooting along happily with a picnic basket or bag of shopping. Of course, any imagery featuring young women is appealing to young men, and it's easy to focus on the overt sexism of the ads, but that misses the point. These adverts were explicitly targeting women. Hiding away the dirty, noisy and complicated engine meant you didn't need to be a man or know about machinery. Piaggio was saying "you too can ride a Vespa. It's easy!"

While Piaggio may not have envisaged these adverts spearheading women's' emancipation they did implicitly recognise the importance of female opinion in the purchasing process. When faced with a choice of buying either a motorcycle or a Vespa, Piaggio was counting on women to cast their vote in favour of the Vespa as something that they could ride on. Piaggio's rival, Innocenti, clearly failed to recognise this. The early Lambrettas, with their tube frame and exposed engine, were built for a male audience that was looking for function and power. By the mid 50's, however, they too had given up and the Lambretta LD was every bit as streamlined and sexy as the latest Vespa.

The state of the English motorcycle industry
The English motorcycle industry entered the 1950's in a state of crisis. War production had been a prop for many famous marques who had been teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Despite needing to find a niche for themselves in a desperately poor post-war Britain, most companies seemed to have abandoned innovation to their continental rivals. Companies such as Ariel and BSA were still producing exactly the same bikes they had been producing since the 1930's. The most significant innovation of the post-war period was BSA's use of the German DKW two-stroke engine, seized as war reparations, in the BSA Bantam (in fact, the DKW engine was such a good engine that everyone wanted the design. The US gave the engine to Harley-Davidson, the USSR to Ural, and in East Germany it went to MZ). But however one looks at it, the introduction of a German designed engine can scarcely be called an innovation. The English motorcycle industry was in a rut.

Vincent break the mold
Vincent, a small company specialising in very high powered bikes decided to break the mold with a radically new bike that would later go down in motorcycle legend - the Vincent Black Prince. To all intents and purposes the Black Prince was based on the 998cc C-Series, a speed record breaking bike that had been around for almost a decade. Taking a leaf from the scooter industry, the entire frame was enclosed in fibreglass body panels. It caused a sensation when debuted in 1951, but the fibreglass body proved to be difficult to manufacture and the supplier failed to make good on deliveries. Only 200 were completed as the Black Prince (or Black Knight) before the company was forced to declare bankruptcy. A further 300 were sold without bodywork as the Black Shadow.


Ariel introduces a winner
Ariel's situation was symptomatic of the British motorcycle industry's inertia. Their top two models, the Square Four and the Red Hunter, while excellent and popular bikes, were virtually unchanged since they were introduced in 1930. In the early 50's they installed a BSA engine a new model (Ariel had been bought out by BSA in 1944), but this was scarcely an earth shattering development and Ariel's fortunes continued to decline. In the late 50's however, Ariel decided on a radical change. They developed a powerful and compact 250cc engine based on the German Adler two-stroke engine which they fitted into a totally new motorcycle design. They did away with the traditional motorcycle tube frame, instead centering the design around a pressed steel box frame which enclosed the fuel tank. The engine was suspended beneath the frame and, like the Black Prince, the Ariel Leader featured fully enclosed bodywork, this time in pressed metal rather than the troublesome fibreglass.

Debuting in 1958, the Leader featured many advanced features, including indicators as standard, luggage panniers and an integral windscreen. Ariel's advertising explicitly positioned the Leader as the best of both worlds, offering scooter styling and all weather protection with motorcycle performance. Initial reaction was positive and Ariel stopped production of all other models and were soon turning out 1,000 machines a month. In 1959 Motor Cycle News declared the Leader the motorcycle of the year. The following year it was the Arrow's turn.

Despite all this critical acclaim and initial sales success, the Leader proved not to be the success Ariel hoped. While it did cater to a niche that were looking for a comfortable and clean motorcycle, it failed to satisfy traditional motorcyclists, who simply didn't like the scooter styling, or scooterists, who weren't really looking for a powerful and expensive bike (it retailed at 219 pounds plus extras). It also rather unfortunately arrived on the market at the same time as the Mini and consumers would much rather buy a cheap car than a luxurious motorcycle. Ariel responded by releasing a cut-down 'sports' version without all the fairings, the Arrow and Golden Arrow in 1959. Ariel tried to export both the Leader and Arrow to the US, but there they were up against the market dominating Harley-Davidson and their unusual styling simply didn't appeal to the American aesthetic. The Leader and Arrow continued in production until 1965 when, unable to compete with cheaper Japanese imports that began flooding into the market, BSA pulled the plug on Ariel. In the end some 35,000 Leaders and Arrows were built.

Velocette goes off the rails
Of all the British motorcycle companies that could have developed a successful faired motorcycle, Velocette should have been the one. Since the 1930's they had produced a partially faired motorcycle, the LE, which had become the mainstay of the English police force. The LE was so closely associated with the police that it was nicknamed the 'panda bike', due to it's black and white police colour scheme. Scarcely stylish, the bike was solid, fast and reliable.

The Velocette LE panda bike

In direct response to Ariel's Leader, Velocette came out with the Vogue in 1962. Outwardly similar to the Leader, it followed Vincent in using fibreglass for the body panels. Filled with extra, luxurious features, including twin headlights, it was more expensive than it's rival at 260-275 pounds (depending on extras). Unfortunately, it's high price, combined with a poor performing 192cc engine spelt its death knell. Although the good reputation of the LE ensured that some local police forces in the British midlands purchased them, sales were appalling and in five years only 400 were built. Velocette reverted back to more traditional motorcycle designs until they finally closed their doors in 1970.

The Vogue - a disappointment that ultimately undid the company

DMW has a crack
Dawson Motors Wolverhampton debuted their covered motorcycle in 1961. It featured a forward mounted 250cc Villiers twin engine (in a similar arrangement to the Velocette Viceroy scooter). Like it's competitors, it failed to make any impression on the market, so in 1963 they introduced a police special version. This too was a failure and production of the police special was limited to 33 units. The Deemster roadster continued in small scale production until 1966, although by that stage the Villiers engine was replaced by the Velocette Viceroy engine.

Jess James'impressive and outstandingly rare police Deemster and collection of 4 police Leaders, two civilian Leaders, three Arrows and... a shed full of Ariel projects.

Although all these bikes failed to make an impression at the time, the truth is they did point the way of the future. In the 1970's BMW would release a whole range of covered touring bikes. The Japanese would follow suit and soon enough the modern super bike would hit the streets covered in sleek fibreglass panels.

What went wrong with the British scooter industry?
With the British motorcycle industry in such disarray in the 1950's, certainly someone could have come up with a scooter to take on the Italians? Unfortunately not. If motorcycle design was paralysed by inertia, scooter design was characterised by incompetence. There were some interesting designs, such as the Piatti, Oscar and the Dayton, but these were never fully developed and disappeared quickly off the market. Motorcycle manufacturers disdained scooters as a fad for far too long until by 1959 scooters sales were outstripping motorcycles by such a margin that they could no longer afford to ignore them. Triumph released the Tigress and the Tina, BSA came out with the Sunbeam, and Velocette started work on their luxury scooter, the Viceroy, a machine of impressive style, complexity and cost. It wasn't so much that these scooters were bad - the Viceroy was fabulous (but prohibitively expensive) - but they were ultimately ill-timed.


The fact was 1959 was the peak year for scooters and the British had missed the boat. If the industry had bothered to understand the market they were now trying to penetrate they would have recognised the signs. Instead, the massive, late investment of Triumph, Velocette and others was ultimately wasted. This didn't stop Triumph pushing their T10 scooter into the face of declining sales right up to the end of the 1960's. By the 1970's the face of British motoring had completely changed. Nationalisation was the word as most struggling manufacturers were swallowed up by the monolithic British Motors.

The Last Gasps
In 1965 Ariel attempted a comeback with a cheap 50cc scooter, the Pixie, which made use of many surplus Leader parts. But the Pixie was up against the world beating Honda Cub and never really had a chance It died a quiet death after less than a year in 'production.'


Five years later Ariel tried to resurrect itself with another scooter - the Ariel 3. It was an ingeniously conceived three wheeled personal transport vehicle with a tilting drive train that would have been a great success today, or if it had been released anywhere but Britain. A few of the surviving examples can today be found in places such as the Greek Islands, where their stability and maneuverability allow them to be driven up and around steep, winding roads. But again Ariel failed to understand that there was no market for these vehicles in Britain and never actually looked for the market overseas. The Ariel 3's marketing slogan of "Here it is, whatever it is" says it all.

The Ariel 3 was technically ingenious but totally misplaced. http://ariel3bristol.wordpress.com/

The British approach to advertising must also bear part of the blame. Motorcycling was still seen as a gentlemanly past-time and motorcycle and scooter adverts tended to be somewhat patronising, especially towards women. The Ariel advert above is typical, aimed at the bowler hat wearing gent. Scooter ads often featured women of course, but they never really had the joie-de vivre of the Vespa advertising. Nor did the motorcycle companies shy away from their expectation that motorcycle owners were should have a high degree of mechanical competence.