London Motorcycle Show: Ariel Bike Highlights

Ariel is a name from the goldenera of British motorcycling; theSquare-Four an icon from its past. But just like the rest of our bike industry, Ariel failed to emerge from that halcyon era. But last year saw the firm reborn through the rampant success of Ariel cars.

If you’ve seen this week’s MCN you’ll probably still be drooling over the official Carole Nash MCN London Motorcycle Show supplement.

Outside of all of the talks, presentations, live interviews and riding shows taking place, there is – of course – a mountain of beautiful, new, 2015 bikes to lust over.

We’ve taken a look at what each manufacturer is bringing and pulled out our own, particular highlights…

 

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ARIEL ACE

• Power 170bhp @ 10,000rpm
• Weight 230kg
• Seat height 745-825mm 

Always hoping to bring Ariel motorcycles back into existence, they did so in style in the summer of 2014 with the stunning new Ace.While there’s only one Ace model, it’sa vailable in two distinct styles – the Sport and Cruiser – and because it’s a modular bike, owners can actually choose to configure it in a wide variety of different ways to best suit their needs and tastes.

You can even buy the modular parts to effectively own both bikes at the same time, simply swapping the parts to suit your whim. Either way, you start with the £20,000 basic Ace, and spec everything from there, from the kind of suspension you want, to the type and position of bars and footrests, and the size of tank.

Whatever other spec you choose, the Ace is powered by a 170bhp, 1237cc V4 motor, along with shaft drive, brakes, C-ABS and traction control all taken direct from Honda’s VFR1200.

Because the drive train is a complete transplant, you can also spec the semi-automatic DCT version if desired.

This is no parts-bin lash-up either, the Ace is beautifully finished, fuels perfectly and rides superbly. Everything works properly, and when you don’t want to be out riding, you’ll never tire of gawping at that Atom-aping chassis.

Ariel motorcycles are well and truly back.

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ARIEL will be displaying the Ace on stand M30 at the London Motorcycle Show from February 13th, 14th and 15th.

Tickets are available on the door and more information can be found atwww.mcnmotorcycleshow.com