New Ariel motorcycle?

[bolus]

Watch starting about 1:00min in


http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/ ... eltobuild/

[wisp]

So where will they stick the batteries in that?

First the Enertia, now this. The plot thickens. ROFL. 


We should have had a poll as well. This, the Naked Motorcycle (powered by a Fire Blade)....
 


The electric (posted previously) or...

  A lightweight single cylinder Honda powered supercharged version. 

I see they mention an electric Atom by Ariel. Has anyone seen it or is this all a BS wind-up?

[Bruce Fielding]

[quote="wisp"]
I see they mention an electric Atom by Ariel. Has anyone seen it or is this all a BS wind-up?
[/quote]

Got it in one. I had a long meeting with Simon last week and we had a giggle about this. He assures me that it's all our marvellous British Press speculating once more...

This is the source of the story:

[NathanE]

Here's my (non-bikers) view

Naked - too similar to stuff that's out there already - other than the badge what's new?

Electric - I suspect that the technology is still in its infancy and uptake would be really low - commercially probably the biggest risk

Supercharged single - if it could be made sufficiently different from competition then this would be my choice commercially.  

[wisp]

[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
This is the source of the story:
[/quote]

Same link that Bolus posted.

Are they allowed to present such fiction and still make reference to both Simon and Ariel as though it were fact?

[Bruce Fielding]

Should be an official answer from Ariel shortly...

I have a suspicion that since they say the pictures were supplied by Simon, there's a bit of the jigsaw missing...

[Bruce Fielding]

OK...

Ariel have done some ideas and Ian has put some down in sketch form to illustrate some thoughts of what an Ariel bike might be like. Although the papers are always very keen to scream â??NEW ARIEL BIKE SECRET CONCEPT UNVEILEDâ??, which is an MCN thing to generate interest/sales, Simon was at pains to try and get them to understand the questions facing British manufacturers, low volume implications, where motorcycling was going etc etc so tried to get them to promote it as a discussion generator. Simon calls it conceptual discussion.  Plus there is a nice bit about the Atom of course! 


MCN have put this forward as Ariel WILL be doing a bike, but itâ??s actually more like IF Ariel did a bike...

It would be good to bring back an Ariel bike, but the obvious answer â?? Honda engine, trellis frame â?? doesnâ??t really suit, so what is it; how will a low volume handmade bike be â??betterâ?? than a high volume bike; what would it be powered by; etc etc?  â??Betterâ?? is one of those difficult measurables of course.  Faster?  Probably not when a Suzuki Hyabusa will top 200mph unrestricted.

Ariel's original dream was to be making a range of interesting vehicles, all in low volume, so a bike would fit into this nicely. Naturally if there is a lot of interest we might look at it and you never know where these acorns lead, but believe me we donâ??t have a bike tucked around the back yet.


So nothing confirmed. It's good to chatter...

What would YOU want from a hypothetical Ariel bike?

[John Lloyd]

[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
What would YOU want from a hypothetical Ariel bike?
[/quote]

Four wheels 

[Trigger]

A bike that made any money would be nigh on impossible I reckon. Any niche is pretty much covered and the big manufacturers can do it so much more easily. I just cant see it being viable.

[Bruce Fielding]

I think it could have a modern take on a square four engine (whatever that is)

Other than that...

Ducati have already done the frame thing.

Honda have already done the Honda thing.

Hardtails have already done the seat of your pants thing.

And customisers all over the world have already done the outrageous thing

What is there left to do that coincides with the Ariel DNA?

Beyond a certain degree, lightness isn't an engineering benefit to a bike and there are already superlight bikes...

[NathanE]

Has anyone done a rear mid engined bike?  That could be the way to innovate (either that or the way to guarantee permanent wheelies )

[wisp]

[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
Other than that...

Ducati have already done the frame thing.
[/quote]

I think Bitten may have done the frame first. He was way ahead of his time.
His early prototype had a steel trellis frame. The later bikes were mostly carbon fibre, whilst having no chassis in the traditional sense.

  http://www.britten.co.nz/  or  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Britten

Maybe Simon could use his V1000 engine. The bike was good for +300KPH

[img width=800 height=600]http://www.britten.co.nz/photos/images/sot2003a.jpg[/img]


[quote="Bruce Fielding"]
I think it could have a modern take on a square four engine (whatever that is)
[/quote]

This is the square4 apparently named after the cylinder configuration..

[NathanE]

does that make it a squariel?

[Driver]

I think if Ariel were to "do" a bike it would need to be in conjunction with one of the bigger manufacturers.  Like a limited edition of something else where Simon took what they have and added some Ariel cues, badges, etc... Otherwise we just have another Indian on our hands. Honda would be a natural fit.

[Bruce Fielding]

[quote="Mr.Toad"]
does that make it a squariel?
[/quote]

That is indeed what they used to be called... (well before the BSB dish coined the name)