Ariel Motorcycles
 |
|
| Industry | Manufacturing and engineering |
|---|---|
| Fate | Sold to BSA and discontinued |
| Successor | BSA |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Defunct | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Bournbrook, Birmingham |
|
Key people
|
Jack Sangster, Edward Turner and Val Page |
| Products | motorcycles |
Ariel Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was one of the leading innovators in British motorcycling, and was part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the Ariel brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived 3-wheel tilting moped launched in 1970.
Ariel made bicycles before making motorcycles, and also made automobiles. Car production began in 1902 and moved to Coventry in 1911, but ceased in 1925.
The 'Ariel' name was reused in 1999 for the formation of Ariel Ltd, a sports car producer.
The original company was established in 1870 by James Starley and William Hillman. They built wire-spoke wheels under the first British patent; this allowed them also to build a lighter-weight "penny farthing" bicycle which they named 'Ariel' (the spirit of the air). They put the name on the factory where they made penny-farthing bicycles and sewing machines. In 1885 James Starley's nephew, John Kemp Starley, invented the 'Rover Safety Bicycle' - a bicycle with two similar-sized wheels and chain drive to the rear wheel, which is essentially the design still used on bicycles today.
Ariel merged with Westwood Manufacturing in 1896 and made a powered tricycle in 1898 with a 2.25 hp de Dion. Hillman left soon afterwards to found Premier Motorcycles. More tricycles were produced and motorised quadricycles were added in 1901 as Ariel then moved into car production. (See also List of motorized trikes and/or Quadricycle)
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