classic motorcycle forum
Motorcycle Discussions => British Bikes => Topic started by: wetdog on September 16, 2011, 06:57:56 PM
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ariel sq four 1954 registration POB 568 any info reguards this bike welcome thanks
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this bike went to shuffel bottoms ? in birmingham any info still req thanks
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frame now stripped , next to the frame numbers the letters and "&" figures are stamped "M&B"
does this mean any thing to anyone ?
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M&B will be the firm that cast the lugs
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do you know what the firms name was ? did ariel not do there own castings , the seat lug has a cast in number which starts ET also the piston number cast starts ET
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No idea; most firms subbed out things like raw castings.
why does it matter?
Something like Kellys directory of the 1950s might be a starting place to look.
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M&B also did the castings for Nortons.
Very few motorcycle firms were big enough that they had their own foundries - keeping a small army of very specialized workers employed all the time and the furnaces running day and night to make them pay just didn't make sense unless the motorcycle output was vast.
BSA may have been big enough ? Although it would have been shared with other groups manufacturing schedules ?
The tell-tale is if the factory had a big tall chimney in the factory photo. ??
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why does it matter
I was hopping it might be somones initials , still trying to trace the history of this bike and only have dispatch records so far thanks ..ps head has CF stamped on it top of inlet manifold
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My '37 Empire Star has M&B on some of the lugs too.
Those foundries could knock them out literally for pennies...
As for dear old POB, it probably went for landfill 45 years ago. ;)
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"As for dear old POB, it probably went for landfill 45 years ago"
no its in my garage now , just started this one and would like more history , would love to know who customised it and when , will be back on the road in about a month
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Ah well, that's good to know it survived.
How has it been customised then?
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real 70s style , standard bike , high bars , s7 rear cut down guard , and a high sissy bar . must have taken a day , some blow , and about 8 newcastle brown , a real blast from the past for me , and makes me smile every time i look at it , infact i intend leaving as it is just to see if anyone knows the bike when i take it out , just waiting for cam followers from dragonfly , should be on the road very soon .
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Just make sure you're wearing a pair of Levi Baggies and a purple tank-top when you ride it... ;)
{That Easy Rider shite has a lot to answer for... :D}
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BSA did have their own foundry, before it went "titsup", it was composed of I believe, 67 different companies under the BSA umbrella, share-holders & politicians eh! They would sell their own Grandma's if there was a market for the old girls!
Well most would !
See if your bike was featured in a mag, like easy rider, or back Street heroes or my favourite the Mark Williams, Mike Nicks era of BIKE magazine of the 70s.
Cheers
John
JBW
JBW
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dont think anyone would print a pic of this , it is that bad , the sissi bar must add a good 20lb to a alredy heavy bike , the seat looks orgional even has road master brass badge on the back
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Sounds criminal to me.
I once worked in a shop that took a Sq4 chopper in part ex, and managed to sell it again; it had ludicrously overlength forks, like 6ft over....
I delivered it to a block of flats in south east london; :-[ that would be 1972/4ish.
I wonder if its the same one, surely two people couldn't be that deranged? :o
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front end is standard infact most of the bike is apart from rear guard , i dont really care for the look of these sq4 ariels much ( have a few singles which i do like ) , so if anyone wants to do a deal with a Triumph 650 / 750 unit any year let me know ( soon as may just ebay ) i may be interested thanks this sq4 is a very easy project
just got back from Levis cup trial good turn out of some very interesting bikes , nice to see its still going and well worth a vistit next year
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http://s1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb429/1wetdog/square%20four/?action=view
pics of sq four
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Looks OK apart from the God-awful guard and sissy bar thing.
What was he thinking....(or should that be "drinking"?)
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thankfully not beyond help, I'd swap it, if I had someting to swap for it.
Square fours are a lovely bike.
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maybe i might like it when i here it run , but looks wise is taking some getting used to , the barrels are a work of art and must have been a nightmare to cast , for me its unusual to work on a british head with such small valves , rockers etc but all very nice and polished , not so keen on the solex carb either would prefere a SU ( this frame takes the SU but not sure about the head ) anyone know if i can change to the SU useing this head
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I think it's lovely, I have lots of bikes, sadly no 650 unit Trumpet and would love to own it.
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Funny that, everything you read about the Square Four, rabbits on about the rear two cylinders over-heating and yet the pistons look absolutely fine on yours no score marks or anything, you can get or change your Solex to a Performance Solex, by re-jetting &/ or by changing the choke size 19, 22 & 24mm being available and the best people to have a word with is possibly the Square 4 people or the Imp Club, changing to a SU or any other could be a question of space... although there ia a picturte of a different carb on a racing Square 4 side-car outfit! by Stan Nightingale.
Tuning Solex carburetters for performance / by R.C. Pack and Charles Wheeler. - Brentford (51 York Rd, Brentford, Middx) : SpeedSport Motobooks, 1974. - [1],127p. : ill. ; 22cm.
ISBN: 0851130690 (Pbk)
British Solex carburetters. - [Brentford] : [Speedsport Motobooks], [1976]. - 218p. : ill., port. ; 21cm.
ISBN: 0903192705 (Pbk)
http://www.imps4ever.info/tech/carbs.html
Solex carb's are not as poor as people are led to believe & can give good economy, A performance Solex, according to literature available, was a match for other more exotic carb' set ups.
If you have a copy of Great British Bikes from the 50s, there's a road-test, the limiting factor for the Square 4, apart from over-heating from the rear two cylinders a myth?, was its weight, rigid & plunger suspension limitations, the Cruciform induction tract, according to Legend most Square 4s were bought by overseas fans & then a lot were snapped up & exported to the States in the 60s and 70s, I should think they are a tad rarer than a unit Triumph, but each to their own!
Also you could fit maybe, the four pipe head, power outputs varied from model to model and are somewhere in the region from twin pipe 34.5bhp 4G model of 1951, price £260/7s 997cc (65x75mm), dry sump, weight 412lbs, wheelbase 56", Gear ratios, 12:1, 7:7, 5:7, 4:5, to low-mid 40s bhp, last attempt 1953, produced up to I think 1958, but all models could if coaxed exceed just about 100mph, if it got there rather more sedately than a Triumph twin!
Surely, this was one of the first super-bikes, described in 1951 as pulling 8 mph in top gear and as having vivid acceleration, Bob Currie i would imagine took some shifting, not being known for his light-weight!
1949 Ariel Square 4 shed 100lb from its predecessors!
4 pipe mark 2 came into being in 1953!
Cheers
John
JBW
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thanks , pistons are new low comp , i have also been told rear heating was a myth but i will find out soon , ariel fitted as standard to some sq 4s a SU but this engine has the solex ( also standard for this year ) i will see how it goes . i may enjoy it yet and will give it a run to the dragon rally in Feb , if it over heats there ill be surprised