You’re quite wrong about the Leader. It may be flawed but it sold well. They were everywhere in the late 50s and early 60s. The Arrow was considered quick by most people at the time - the one I rode impressed me. You are looking at this with 20/20 hindsight mate.
As I said I was just having a bit of fun, i didnt say they didnt sell, and quick is always relative, compared to the Desmo singles or the Aermacchi to name just 2, i just never saw the engine as remotely sporty (i have noticed another comment talking about race wins so they obviously had potential) and hindsight yes, but my expperience was riding them and other older bikes in the 80's, and they just didnt do it for me, I had an A& among others, and many hate them, but it was tuned and would leave most bikes in its dust, including a few bewildered Japanese 4 owners. i saw them as a far better bike, but that is just my experience. Also, if a pressed stell backbone chassis, forks with no triple clamps and a trailing link front fork were any good, why has no one built them since?? 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Started riding in 1960. I agree with you ref. Leader & Arrow. The Golden Arrow was really well liked. I don’t remember them giving trouble either. They just went.
My wife had a Leader, which I rode as well and it was great. It handled well and made an ideal commuting bike with the 'fuel tank' storage. It's biggest failing was the brakes (but few bikes had decent brakes in those days), particularly the front, which may have had something to do with the bottom link forks. IIRC correctly it won 'bike of the year' on MCN for 2 (or even 3) years. Very comfortable ride, too. I rode it when there was a universal 50mph speed limit because of petrol shortages (better than rationing) which meant it tended to smoke for longer (I think it was due to oil collecting in the exhaust) . Certainly both Ariel Arrows were popular. I rode motorcycles exclusively for both transport and sport (trials, mostly) from 1956 to 1995 although most of my Ariels were single cylinder 1930s versions I liked the Leader - very practical. It met its demise when a dog ran into the road in front of me and I went over handlebars. Fortunately, at low speed. I had enough parts to repair it but it was a much bigger job than with a tube frame and I never got round to it. In 1990 a cat did the same to me on my pedal cycle on the same bend with more serious results which put paid to my motorcycling sadly.
@@barebonesmcthe Leader and green Arrows were great bikes let down by 2 things, poor brakes and clunky gearbox. Oh 3 things a bit overweight. Oh well, 4 then, an engine that needed refining a bit on the petroil consumption front. The Golden Arrow could have been developed into a superb machine, but as with so many Brits of that era, R&D, investment, continual improvement like the Japs was just not something within their compass… milk it and hope for the best 😕
Your comments about the Aerial Leader are ridiculous, even laughable spoken by someone in the 2020s who had no experience of them when they were new. When they first came out they were revolutionary, very comfortable and easy to ride with fantastic weather protection. Despite what you say they were considered fast back then and with older riders very desirable. The ultimate of course was the Arrow, particularly the Golden one, they were a real top rated sports bike in their day. I had one and was the envy of all my friends. The Leader well deserved that award.
i totally agree. pride and clarks in brixton swlondon sold hundreds of them. mine was a golden arrow there was more than my one at the salt box and johnsons cafes.
Sorry the reply has taken so long. I’m gradually catching up. And yes my comments weren’t from when they were new. But I was comparing them to other 1950s bikes I had and knew. I hated the leader. But that’s just my opinion. We are allowed different opinions 😊 as you’ll see from other replies I argue “if the steering was so good why have we had no bikes with a single stem steering head and trailing link forks on any performance bikes since? “
You obviously weren't around in the 60's, I owned a Leader and it was great! 60 years ago they were quite fashionable. Looking at it now it looks very dated but hey that's progress, your opinions won't change how I felt when I got mine in 1965.
no to be fair, my experience was in the 70s and 80s riding old British bikes. and if it made you smile thats all that matters, i was just having some fun, i wasnt trying to change your mind :-) 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
I WAS around in the sixties and remember the Leader as what we called an "old cobbler's bike". The Arrows were sleek and relatively quick, but I could never get used to the leading-link front suspension made the nose rise under braking. Opinions are just that, so I'm only expressing mine. Evidently, many people loved the Leader as they were everywhere.
Hey !!! I had an Arial Leader and Arrow Super Sports !….they were good bikes even if they didn’t follow the trend of bikes at the time. The frame may well have been pressed steel but they brought the dirty bike image into the future. Having panel-work made them feel modern, and I absolutely loved the sound and smell of a two stroke twin ! But maybe you have to live through those times to really appreciate them.
don't know where barebonesmc got his ariel from, mine was like a rocket and even when the Yamaha 250'scame out mine gave them a run for their money. The Jubilee 250 Norton was a bit of a pain, 70mph flat out, down hill, with a gale force wind behind it, It looked like a real Norton though.
In the 1960's a friend bought an ex post office BSA Bantam 125cc. He painted it black, put on clip-on handlebars and brought black leathers and black helmet to complete the look. A few months after he'd done all this I met him in a cafe. He was looking really crestfallen. He told me that going up an incline flat out when an old bloke on a Honda step through overtook him. To make matters worse the old guy was smoking a pipe!!
Well the Honda C-100 50 made about 4.5 H.P. with pushrod valves. It had the enviable reputation of being the most powerful OHV 4 stroke street bike made when it came out. That would have been over 90 hp if the engine was 1000cc. The 1960 HD XLCH Sportster made what, about 45 hp?
British bikes were awful , I used to buy them for £3 from allotments in sheds sat there unwanted , would last a few days then broken down in a field ...No wonder we all went Honda 750 in the 70s , I had 350LC's mostly they used to blow off any Brit bike even a 750 commando was destroyed when ever I raced one , now people call them classics and they love them after they rode a jap bike for 40 years and left the Brits to go bankrupt ...
It was just a bit of a laugh mate, and yes, i knew i would get stick (i actually expected more from the Gilera community) and if we all thought the same it would be a boring world, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
@@albion2742 lol. I said clearly right at the start this is just a bit of fun. I personally didn’t like either the style or that front end in particular. The front wheel always felt disconnected and frail to me. Others have raised the constant smokescreen and the terrible quality of the mounting bolts and internal threads. So I would say it was more exaggeration than joking. I was poking fun and exaggerating what I do see as a flawed design just as with the others. I just took things a bit further than usual with this video. If you watch my other videos you will see I do talk about the flaws as well as good points of most bikes. And whatever you personally (and the other leader fanboys) may think. The front end was VERY flawed. If it hadn’t been we would have had many bikes since with a single stem steering head and trailing link forks. NO PERFORMANCE BIKE SINCE has used either concept. That has to say something. And the fact they updated the stem so many times just reinforces that point. So yes you are right that I wasn’t completely joking. But yes. I was exaggerating and having a bit of fun. Sorry you didn’t see it as that. To put it in perspective I am a triumph owner. But I still poke fun at them regularly and sometimes take it to extremes (see the triumph video with the yellow warning sticker) I put a lot of work into these videos and so I think injecting a bit of humour occasionally is ok. Sorry it was taken so personally by the leader appreciation society😊 and I do actually love the way you have all shouted out so much to defend its honour 😊if we all thought the same it would be a boring world 😊 enjoy your day anyway mate and I hope you will take the time to at least look at some of my more serious videos just to see. Like I have taken the time to reply to yours and the other comments. You may find we have more in common than what sets us apart. We are all universally bikers after all 😊
I think you have done the Leader a serious disservice. It was designed as an about town city bike for the local commuter. Not an all out sports bike. So 50 miles an hour was a satisfactory speed for it. I mean if you really wanted to be a city speed demon you could have bought the Arial Arrow........lol
Try reading some of the many similar comments I’ve already answered. Yes I rode a leader. And much as we disagree I stand by what I said. Have any performance bikes been built with a single stem head or trailing link forks since? No. Why???
Nonsense. The Ariel Leader and Arrow were great bikes. I had an Arrow. It was exhilarating to ride, I wish I still had it. This guy is either nuts or he is a stirrer. He probably never rode one or even saw one.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply. if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂 yes i did ride one and hated it, but to be fair it was later, having said that, i was comparing it to the 2 A7's and TR25 I gad at the time so it isnt a blind comment. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
they only didnt blow up because of the amount of oil in the premix lol thats why they smoked so much 🙂 yes i am joking 🙂 i have obviously hit a nerve with many people here 🙂🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc modified yes but to do that you need some good basics. The Ariel engine had some very good design ideas that were miles ahead of Villiers and AMF two strokes. Those two only lasted longer because management got behind them
@@malcolmgee6812😊 a fair point. But management isn’t what has stopped anyone using a single stem steering head or trailing link forks on anything since 😊that was my biggest issue with the design. The front end just felt vague and to say the least 😊 I just hated it. But we are allowed different opinions 😊 if you watch the other videos you may find we have more in common than what separates us 😊 #togetherwearestronger #ridefree
A bit unfair to BMW. It should have been mentioned that the BMW could legally be ridden without a helmet (at least in Germany), because it had a seat belt and a roll cage. Weather protection was also good with a windscreen and wiper. It could be ridden in a nice suit without changing into leathers, which was thought to be a necessity for a car driver even to consider two wheels. The list of faults is correct, but the stand deserves a mention. It was designed to be operated from the drivers seat without getting out of the machine. It did not work for very long. It was neither a motorcycle nor a scooter, but a brave attempt by BMW to redefine two wheel transport. It failed.
Well I think it’s fair and I would have fired the marketing team at once. It’s a large company with exorbitant funding for research, development and marketing. Who ever dreamed up this story about people needing something like that has his head up his behind. I’d say whoever gave the green light on producing the C1 had his head talked around by this futuristic A hole looker that watched to much science fiction movies. 😉
Don‘t forget it had a seat belt and a roll cage. It was more a car on two wheels. Apart from the UK and Sweden it was legal to ride (drive?) it without a helmet in all European counties. Extensive safety checks were made and the C1 passed them all.
@@1CP578LP and it was still a box of kaka that could not get out of its own way. How do you lane split in a C1? You don’t. Standing in a traffic jam, burning up in the sun, sniffing exhaust fumes? No thanks. Bad idea but a good learning experience for BMW.
I have just looked at the comments below. As a teenager in Scotland in the 60`s, I saw the Ariel Leader and thought it was a beautiful bike. Although I never owned a bike until the late 70`s for a while, I have always like the Leader. I was greatly amused at the comments. So many about the Leader prove that it was a popular bike in Britain.
My brother had a Leader, he liked it and later got a Ariel 4 square with a sidecar. That bike did not like starting in the winter, plugs out onto a gas ring, back in the engine then it would fire. My first bike? Ambassador Villiers 250 twin. Lovely, held it's own against the 4 stroke 250s. Good handling too. Went from Harrow to Falmouth, down the A30, stopping only for fuel. Had to dodge the sheep on Bodmin Moor. Came back 10 days later. Felt as though I'd only done 50 miles!
How can you contend that the Ariel Leader and Arrow (and Arrow Sport) were terrible, bearing in mind that 000s were built and sold between 1959 to 1965? On the contrary, it was a really innovative design that more than delivered, in terms of performance, durability and performance, relative to other British machines of the period. The tragedy was that BSA (who owned Ariel) not only killed the Leader and Arrow, but the immense potential of the chassis, developed to house a prototype 4-cylinder, 4-stroke engine that, had it been developed in 1965, would have have given BSA the kind of technical lead they required to compete with Honda.
One Ariel salesman put the engine into a conventional frame to do his customer visits. The factory got so many enquiries from dealers that when he went on holiday they crushed it. Innovative designs don't go with small bikes because the margins are too low to justify the learning curve.
"that, had it been developed". But it wasn't, and that was the problem with the British bike industry, and perhaps more broadly, British manufacturing as a whole. Honda etc DID develop.
@@awtistiaeth4699 All It needed was Twin Carb's and an extra gear in the box ?, Mine went like stink , Used to pull away in second and let the rev's climb, Much FUN>
@@billthomas6873 I'm sure it did. The UK undoubtedly had good bikes and good engineers. It seems to the management that let most Brit manufacturers down.
The brakes? Did your one have brakes? Never found them on the 3 leaders I owned. Gave up trying to make them work better, a grappling hook and a chain was the trick.😆
I had an Arrow. True, the 6 volt electrics were poor and the 6" brakes also, however the handling was superb, you could take an S bend hands free (not much traffic then). Mildly tune it and it would go to 70 before changing up into top gear (as a mate on his BSA Lighting would confirm), and this on the standard Avon Speedmaster tyres available then.
The Ariel Leader was way ahead of its time as far as body design and weight distribution. If only engine design had been as forward-looking - a water-cooled, fuel injected 2 or 4-stroke might have given the British motorbike industry another fifty years of life, before the inevitable crash we’re seeing now.
@@jimmys6566 'Triumph' is not the truimph company of old, it is in its third iteration, now with a private owner. . With factories in three other countries is it still a UK company?
My best mate had an Ariel Leader, which he used as an all year round commuter. I borrowed it on several occasions and never had a problem. It was far from pretty and not the best of its class, but it did its job. As for the rest of the bikes, it's a matter of opinion and taste, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
indeed mate 🙂 if it makes you smile, ride it, if it doent? ride it until you have something better 🙂 i was just having some fun 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Any chopper is far worse than any of these. We had someone with a Leader in the Grampian Classic Motorcycle Club and he seemed to keep up with the rest of the pack on straights and bends.
So did a friend of mine till the iffy front suspension put him in a ditch on a right hander. Those links wore rather quickly. I later saw one whose front end had been entirely remodelled to fit conventional teles.
Many years ago, about 53 to be precise, I owned an Aerial Golden Arrow 250, and my older brother owned the Leader 250. Mine would show an indicated 84mph with me flat on the dummy tank, but it was a Smiths speedo, so probably not at all accurate. Brakes were, to put it mildly, interesting. You learnt to always plan an escape route in case you couldn't stop. Open the throttle and you couldn't see the road behind for the blue smoke from the total loss oiling system, but it was comfy and I was 16, so I loved it.
I owned an Ariel Leader it was good enough to keep up with Bonneville's and Dominators on twisty roads and I OFTEN PASSSED THEM ON CURVES, IT WAS GREAT HANDLING BIKE, i DO AGREE ABOUT THE SHITTY BRAKES, IT WAS THE ONLY BIKE i HAVE OWNED THAT i COULD LIGHT A CIGARETTE BEHIND THE WINDSHIELD WHILE RIDING AT 50 MPH. sorry about the caps.
I have to give credit to the passion shown by all the fans 😊 the only other community that has responded with similar passion is the BMW air head owners 😊😊my experience is just that 😊 I just hated that whole front end 😊
I started riding in the late 60’s on a BSA250. Got me to work and back in all weathers. Moved up the a Velocette 500, a marked power upgrade. Rode that all weathers including snow. I was young and didn’t know any better. Then I went to 4 wheels for a while. Now in the USA I only have an FJR 1300, bigger engine than my first car an A35! The technology improvements, tyres and reliability are amazing with phenomenal brakes. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
What a load of tosh the Ariel arrow and leader were a quantum leap in design..a leader was tuned by herman meyer and achieved 126 mph. And these handled very well compared to their contemporaries and were faster than some 500 four strokes. If you are going to make videos like be sure you know what you are talking about 😊
Try reading some of the many similar comments I’ve already answered. Yes I rode a leader. And much as we disagree I stand by what I said. Have any performance bikes been built with a single stem head or trailing link forks since? No. Why???
Please don't suggest that the Honda Cub was inspired by the Ariel Leader....the Cub was in prototype Stage well before the Leader was made.. the Cub was/is a work of Genius. 100 million plus Customers proved that and are still doing so..
wherever the original styling cues came from (probably several places) they were all going a similar route, both will have changed during prototype, Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂
Just listening to the section on the Leader, I never owned one but did some work on one for a workmate. As a learner limited to 250cc my bike was a BSA, and I remember clearly the surge of power once I got that motor firing on both pots. Certainly not dull or boring.
The Leader was used by the police in Sheffield and other cities. Why? Because it was a good reliable patrol bike, easy to ride and to start. They didn't need a high performance engine. They needed a reliable one , easy to maintain and repair (no valve train to mess with!) I was riding a Honda Cub in 1965 and the Leader who booked me had no trouble overtaking and stopping me. 😅
i thought it was because it came with its own smokescreen and could deposit an oil slick to catch out unwary criminals on the run? 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
The Ariel Arrow and Leader were decent commuter bikes for the day and a viable alternative to Italian scooters if you wanted a bit of protection from the weather (and rather more comfortable and stable). It was an oddity of course, that frame, but it was practical.
My brother owned an Ariel Leader and a Ariel Arrow had the Leader for 12 years used it every day for commuting 30 miles round trip never let him down. He regards it very fondly even though he had stacks of motorcycles
High sarcasm alert was warranted , but well deserved !!! I spent 24 mins sat next to my Wife ( she likes this channel too) sniggering almost constantly at your commentary. The Harley Topper I immediately renamed the 'Flopper'. It looked like a plastic bread bin my mother had, with some wheels attached. The BMW C1 my wife said looked like a mobility scooter. The Victory (lack of) Vision looked like a Honda Goldwing that had been bummed by a Cylon.
Pmsl lol. My mum had the same bread in I reckon 🤣🤣🤣 I think the victory could make a great boat if you turned it upside down 🤣🤣🤣 say hi to your wife too 😊 have a great week 😊👌👍
I did enjoy my Aerial Leader, It was my commuter, my fun bike was a DBD32 and the Leader was so good at the job I used it for, that the oft temperamental BSA only got Sunday time which really did suit me.
I did consider a 200cc C1, specifically for a commute 6 miles each way where none of the roads allowed more than about 45mph in practice. It just wasn't enough for my car engine to get warm in winter. But then came the test drive and the centre of gravity is so high it is an absolute PITA. Other typical Italian manufacturing and design faults (the badge is genuine BMW, that's it, the engines are Rotax and the rest is Bertone) were just additional nonos even though it was cheap. The CX125 was designed to get the absolute maximum speed out of a limited 125 with aerodynamics. (The 29BHP version could exceed 100mph, and if your rich Italian teenager didn't derestrict it the moment he got it home, there was something wrong with him.) I once assisted someone with a complete rebuild of a Leader engine. The split crank was especial fun as well as being a weak point and of course after the rebuild the new N/S oil seal promptly failed sucking oil from the chaincase into the LH cylinder. At least any following German warships would have been unsighted by the smoke. All you can really say about it is "Not quite as bad as a Velocette Valiant." Americans by the way have an appalling record of inaccessible spark plugs. Our patent agent at one time also did work for Champion and he remarked how the car industry was constantly demanding more life out of plugs (without paying more of course) so they only needed to be changed at engine out or body dismantled services. Harley as with most of their abusive commercial practices were just ahead of the trend.
Have to disagree about the Leader. When I was at school a teacher had one. It was very reliable and he said the screen was so well designed that on the move the rain went straight over his head. A friend had the closely related Golden Arrow the "sports" version using the same chassis. I rode it several times it handled and went well by the standards of those days. The engine was quite tuneable and at Ernie Earles a four cylinder 500cc version used by sidecar racers including Ron Langston.
You arent the first and wont be the last mate 🙂if we all thought the same it would be a boring world , 🙂 this isnt my usual video, i was just having some fun 🙂hope you will have a look at some of the others and find we probably have more in common than we differ on 🙂. Ride Free 🙂
I only ever saw one C1 on the road. Surprising considering I owned a BMW bought from dealers CW Motorcycles, Dorchester, they did all the servicing and Dorchester/Weymouth was part of my regular rides.
A: I do agree the CX125 should have been a bigger bike but otherwise love almost everything about it. B: There is a central theme in your videos: You hate enclosed bikes in general. C: Thank for being so polite about my designs. 🤣
hmmm, i do love the Paso though lol, the CX125 was one of those " what might have been moments for me, imagine it with the 600 single from the Nordwest in it :-)
@@barebonesmc And in the CX 125's defence: It came out in the middle of an Italian 125 cc arms race and should in that respect be applauded for not being the next "race replica". That already makes it symphatetic to me. And there WHERE plans to incorperate the same technology in other, bigger bikes. But then it bombed badly. Therefore the next 125 cc Gilera became a watered down version with the same bodywork. In short: Buyer conservatism breeds stagnation.
My Dad bought a leader when they first came out, his pals used to say "how's your scooter doing"? He loved it - a massive leap over the Villiers engined 2 strokes available. He and mum toured Scotland and Skye with it, no motorways. He got rid of it due to my appearance, and he never let me forget it.
I had a Topper in Jr. High and really enjoyed it. I and a friend, even larger than me, had it up to 60mph with both of us on it. Speed certified by the officer that pulled us over.
people keep saying it but it just wasnt my experience, and i keep asking for any other examples of bikes built with a single stem steering head or trailing link forks made since as a performance bike and no one has come up with any
I used to service BMW C1s. The most common problem was replacing/repairing the centre stand lowering/retracting mechanism. It used cables and was overly complicated and thus easy to get the sequence for placing the machine on and off the centre stand wrong, breaking cables and bending various components. As to handling, it needed getting used to. However the 125 was gutless and I doubt if they would do a high mileage before the engine expired as they had to be ridden on the stop everywhere.
Glad you enjoyed it mate 😊. If you like the funny side look for the triumph video with the warning sticker on the thumbnail 😂😂 I was on one that day 😂😂
The BMW C1 also has overly-small wheels. They are the size of 50cc children's scooter wheels. Most scooters for adults come with at least 14 inch wheels. The windscreen was also useless as it did nothing to stop rain from soaking you while driving, and only made the bike tall and top-heavy and thus terrible for handling.
Valentine Page didn't design the Triumph twins, that was Edward Turner. Page designed the earlier Triumph Tiger range of singles as well as various Ariels.
@@pashakdescilly7517 so we were both right and both wrong sort of 😂😂😂 thanks 😊 I actually love being put right like this. Thanks for the respectful way you told me I was wrong 😊 both of you😊
@@pashakdescilly7517 The 6/1 unusually had a gear driven primary drive, not a chain so the crankshaft rotated backwards. Much like the front crank in the Square Four also conceived by Page and Turner.
I had an Ariel leader and overall it was a decent bike for the period. It did come with a clock but that was an extra. At the time that was quite usual, even the heaters in some cars were an extra before 1960. It had loads of luggage space, especially if, as I did, you paid for the extra paniers. You actually failed to mention at all it's worse fault which was clouds of 2 stroke smoke and frequent oiling up of the plugs. Both problems could be avoided by reducing the oil mix but that usually resulted in a seized engine if you put it under any sort of stress. I think it would have made an excellent bike for 007 as the smoke from the exhaust would have choked anyone chasing him. Or maybe as a getaway bike for a bank heist since the number plate would be completely hidden during the getaway. I never went anywhere without at least 2 sets of plugs as they often needed changing. Apart from that a great bike for commuting, shopping or touring with it's huge luggage capacity and excellent weather protection
As I said mate it was just a bit of fun :-) mine was experience as a swap for a test many years back (i was considering switching from a TR25 Trophy Trials, but i hated it, and went to an A7 instead whicj i know many hate, but to me was far better than the leader, a different class of bike 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
The other day I was talking to this geezer and I said to him "Were you responsible for the Speed Twin?" to which he responded "No, that was my dad." And it was too! But his name was not Val Page junior.
The clever compact parallel twin with the centre flywheel and 2 bearing crank is supposed to be a Page/Turner design, the 6/1. But the Triumph Speed Twin and its engine, which was considerably cleaned up and improved, was the responsibility of Edward Turner.
Great selection, some absolute shockers there. Objectively, the worst by a country mile is the Harley Topper, but man, that Victory is an absolute horror show.
The Topper was rubbish engineering and awful to ride. The Voyager is just an aesthetic challenge, riders liked them. Did you know Arlen Ness had a big hand in the body design?
@@pashakdescilly7517 No, I didn't know. It's still absolutely hideous, though. It's the most clumsy, stodgy, 'more is less' bit of bike design I've ever seen.
The worst bike I ever owned was a 1959 Fuji Rabbit. In some ways beautifully designed, like, for a scooter of the time, the engine access. But boy you needed it. It vibrated like a pig. And the way components failed demonstrated how the Japanese of the time were very much on a learning curve with materials technology.
BMW had plenty of experience with scooters before the C1, they built Italian scooters under licence in the 50's and bubble cars but apparently couldn't be successful designing their own scooter.
I thought the Rajdoot 250cc 2 stroke twin was awful but these indian made two stroke got me and a swedish lady two up from Colva Beach to Anjuna arouñd 75 miles round trip. I hired a TVS in 2012 and it did 45mph and 100 mile as round trip. A 160cc single doing well over 100mpg.They cost 50000 rupees new in 2011. Very reliable, simple like suzuki single 4 stroke so v cheap for exploring. TVS are now Norton owners. Im impressed. Well done TVS
Yes, you are wrong. I have 3 Victories, including a Vision. Didn't think I would like them when saw them at Bike Week. Then I rode one. Probably the smoothest and most comfortable bike ever built. They also run like a bat out of hell!
As I said at the start. All a bit of fun. With the vision. Just not my think and would hate the roads I ride. I do think it would make a great boat if you turned it upside down though 🤣🤣
I'll agree that the Vision is perhaps the ugliest thing in two wheels... It's also far and away the most comfortable long distance tourer I've ever had the pleasure of riding.
Opinions are opinions and everybody has one. This list reflects your opinions and you are welcome to them. I have my own opinions and counterpoints. 1. With the C1, BMW tried to tap in a nearly non-existent market, as had Ariel with the Leader and Honda with the Pacific Coast. It didn't help that it was plagued with the usual incomplete development typical of pretty much every new model BMW launches. 2. The Gilera existed for the Italian market where high-performance 125s were the norm. Before EU regulations put and end to the party, these were 30hp 125s capable of 160km/h. To say that it should never have been built judging only on the castrated UK version is a bit parochial. 3. The Ariel Leader simply was not monstrous. 4. The Topper was not based on the DKW 125 RT, but the Harley-Davidson Hummer was. 5. When the Vision first came out I was a bit like you, but I have since come to love the Buck Rogers styling. You're misrepresenting the Rotax connection. Rotax is actually a subsidiary of a Canadian company, Bombardier, aka BRP. As such, BRP's products such as Can-Am bikes and trikes and Bombardier quads, UTVs, snowmobiles, and boats are exclusively equipped with engines developed and built by Rotax. Polaris does equip some of their own recreational products with Rotax engines, but Rotax was never involved with the development of Victory motorcycle engines. Oh, and you can turn a Vision around without the need for a forklift because is has a reverse gear. Your comments on performance and handling are just bad faith and unsupported by facts.
Some fair points ( number 2 " Parochial" ade me giiggle lol.) as i said, i was just having some fun mate, Re turning the vision around, youve obviously not spent the time i have in small villages across Europe where a reverse gear would make no difference because it is simply too long to turn around in these roads. that was one of the reasons i passed on the Mean Streak to be honest and the vision is about a foot longer 🙂and if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, if i spoke wrongly about BRP/Victory im sorry, im not perfect, who did develope the engine? but i do my best and re the Harley DKW bit, i wasnt specific to the model, but it was DKW tech, Harley had done no 2 stroke development before that as far as i am aware? 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
The Leader was aimed at those who wanted to ride a motorcycle without becoming covered in leaking oil so normal from most bikes. An alternative to the Italian scooters, you could ride it in city clothes, with no need for dirty Belstaff jackets etc. Meanwhile there was a massive under-investment by the owners of the British Motorcycle industry , just as Japanese bikes were becoming world leaders.
I am an 85 year old gent, so I was around when the Ariel Leader came out. I was riding a BSA 650 flash at the time and my late wife a Vespa scooter that was getting a bit old, She wanted something else as a commuting bike without the paraphernalia of wearing full protective rain gear to work, We looked at a Leader and read up the details that they had been designed for commuters to be able to travel to the centre of a City such as London and park easily and enter their offices without changing their dress attire, That did appeal to my wife who was in nursing at that time and who took it out for a nice long test run while I waited for her to return and chatted to the salesman who inadvertently let slip some problems. But when I studied the Leader closely I started to see some of the problems you have outlined. Needless to say my wife who actually liked it and found it when new, an easy bike to ride did not buy one but opted for another reliable Vespa. It is a shame that BSA did not put more thought into the construction of the Leader and just let the designer have control of the concept which should have been a success.
I'm not sure how the victory vision came last. Yes it does look impractical etc, but at least you could take it on a long highway run. The only place you would want to ride the topper, is at a historical motor show to display it still ran.
I really cannot see where there is a fault with the arial leader motor bike, i have one of these and it never once ever gave me any trouble at all, it was comfortable to ride economic and was easy to take care of. The design might not be what you like but nobody is sayingnyou have to own one. I did like the idear that the engine was enclosed, as tbe sice panels were easy to take of and put back on It did what a motor bike is ment to do, it got me from A to B with no trouble what more do you want ?????%
Cheers for adding one of the more eloquent critiques mate😊 as you will see in the comments many agree with you. But equally many do with me. It is a polarising bike for sure. The response honestly surprised me but I do give credit to the people who love it for defending it 😊 it was just a bit of fun 😊 have a great week
Back in the early 60s I was a teenager. Some of my mates were bikers. They would tell me of their hate for the Ariel. Their preference was for the Triumph and BSA range.
my bike history is complex lol, but i was never a fan of the early Triumphs, but my view was skewed by Meriden days, had 2 BSA A7's, one a full clubman spec, loved one, hated the other, no guesses lol 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
I remember the Arial Leader being around in 63, never owned one but thought they were fast and light two stroke bikes. There was some chap who regularly raced a heavily modified one sans the outer panels. Just another one of my many misconceptions cruelly exposed I guess.
ei think they could be made to go faster, but only with tuning as far as i see it, and certainly not with the bodywork on. what came from the factory wasnt my cup of tea, and i think the European engines were far better at the time personally, but it was a bit of fun 🙂
In spite of all the negatives I still think the Ariel Leader was a brave attempt to produce a modern motorcycle. Designed to win over car drivers and scooter riders, I think it failed mainly because the engine was way too small, a 500cc two stroke twin would have been more appropriate in my opinion. No one can say it’s not a unique if flawed piece of motorcycle design though.
Please do some proper research. Enclosed bodywork was a thing of the 50s... cars were too expensive. Velocette LE, Velocette Vogue and that rubbish Vincent Black Prince tried and only made the film '1984' as a symbol of the future. Peter Inchley only won the Barcelona 24hrs, Thruxton 500 and first sub 14 second ¼ mile on an Ariel Arrow, the Leaders younger brother. ...pretty special ancestry
The HD Topper is a real shame for the brand, it looks like someone took a tool box, put a lawnmower engine in and bolted wheelbarrow tyres on in his farm shed.
lol, now you see you didnt listen, i actually said the bike had the performance of a snail DESPITE the engine being so good, purely and simply because the bike is so heavy, power to weight is more important than pure power any day, and to be fair, compared to many engines it is still relatively low on the highest power board
Its' goofy design aside, the quality of some parts on the Victory Vision was abysmal. The auxiliary switches would have been at home on a 60's BSA. The saddlebags had very little room in them and an unusual interior design that made placing items in them a planning exercise . That said, the Vision is destined to become a collectors item.
Mr. BAREBONESMC- I cannot fault your choices (although I have no experience with any of these machines). If you have a chance I would suggest a review of an Orange County Choppers motorcycle as I reckon your comments on one of these machines might be interesting.
"all the power of a drained double A battery" , brilliant phrase, I'm going to have to slip that into my standard list of analogies ! (Along with things like "as fast a dead quadriplegic tortoise ", you can borrow that one ! 🙂 )
dont forget a back end that looked like a hippo with diarrhea lol onr of mine similar to yours above was like calling a dead rabbit slow if i remember lol, i do go off script lol
OK, so I now own a 2022 R1250RT, which I love. Good weather protection, panniers, a rear rack, adjustable head light, novel front suspension, and a comfortable ride. Fifty years ago I bought my first of three Ariel Leaders, which had good weather protection, panniers, a rear rack, adjustable head light, novel front suspension, and a comfortable ride. Never had a problem with the chassis, and because the whole bike was made of steel, it would withstand collisions with taxis and buses admirably. I think my Beemer is no more than a grown up Ariel, bit quicker sure, but they're related in concept. To hear my lovely old Ariels slagged off like this breaks my heart. Sigh.
Sorry mate. I was just having a laugh. And if it makes you smile that’s all that matters 😊 we all have our own experiences and perspectives 😞 one of the bikes I owned and hated is now stupidly collectible with a ridiculous price tag n I saw a cultus for sale at £8500 the other day which blew my head. I stick to positive videos in general but as I said I was just having a giggle. Have a great day. N don’t take me too seriously. I don’t 😊
The Gilera CX125 has 30 bhp and does over 100mph, I don't think it was ever learner legal in the UK as it is well over the 14.8bhp limit, so it's silly to pretend that it isn't suitable for a learner when at least in the UK it was never intended to be.
all of the ones i ever came across were 12HP restricted to be honest, only ever seen a full blood one on track, if what you said was right, who do you think they thought would buy it? i think 99% of people after being restricted to 125 and 12HP, would NOT go out and buy another 125 after their test?
You can be sarcastic all you like about the leader but mine was great for going to town on a saturday night dressed tidy without getting cowshit on me on our country roads.
I quite liked the Ariel Leader - a low power version of the Vincent Black Prince ;-) My brother had one that he was given. At the time I had a Norton 650SS (I still have it) and preferred to use the Leader to nip to the shops - I'd be there and back in less time than it'd take me to start the magneto-ignition high compression Norton. In the late '50s a friend's father bought a DKR Dove - _that_ should have been in your list.
You’re quite wrong about the Leader. It may be flawed but it sold well. They were everywhere in the late 50s and early 60s. The Arrow was considered quick by most people at the time - the one I rode impressed me. You are looking at this with 20/20 hindsight mate.
As I said I was just having a bit of fun, i didnt say they didnt sell, and quick is always relative, compared to the Desmo singles or the Aermacchi to name just 2, i just never saw the engine as remotely sporty (i have noticed another comment talking about race wins so they obviously had potential) and hindsight yes, but my expperience was riding them and other older bikes in the 80's, and they just didnt do it for me, I had an A& among others, and many hate them, but it was tuned and would leave most bikes in its dust, including a few bewildered Japanese 4 owners. i saw them as a far better bike, but that is just my experience.
Also, if a pressed stell backbone chassis, forks with no triple clamps and a trailing link front fork were any good, why has no one built them since?? 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Started riding in 1960. I agree with you ref. Leader & Arrow. The Golden Arrow was really well liked. I don’t remember them giving trouble either. They just went.
My wife had a Leader, which I rode as well and it was great. It handled well and made an ideal commuting bike with the 'fuel tank' storage. It's biggest failing was the brakes (but few bikes had decent brakes in those days), particularly the front, which may have had something to do with the bottom link forks. IIRC correctly it won 'bike of the year' on MCN for 2 (or even 3) years. Very comfortable ride, too. I rode it when there was a universal 50mph speed limit because of petrol shortages (better than rationing) which meant it tended to smoke for longer (I think it was due to oil collecting in the exhaust) . Certainly both Ariel Arrows were popular. I rode motorcycles exclusively for both transport and sport (trials, mostly) from 1956 to 1995 although most of my Ariels were single cylinder 1930s versions I liked the Leader - very practical.
It met its demise when a dog ran into the road in front of me and I went over handlebars. Fortunately, at low speed. I had enough parts to repair it but it was a much bigger job than with a tube frame and I never got round to it. In 1990 a cat did the same to me on my pedal cycle on the same bend with more serious results which put paid to my motorcycling sadly.
@@belperflyer7419 a sad end to that story mate sorry. Take care n have a good week
Quite agree. The Ariel was a very good bike for it's time. Easy to maintain and work on and quite quick for the 60's
The Ariel Leader was an excellent commuter bike.
many would agree it seems 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmcthe Leader and green Arrows were great bikes let down by 2 things, poor brakes and clunky gearbox. Oh 3 things a bit overweight. Oh well, 4 then, an engine that needed refining a bit on the petroil consumption front.
The Golden Arrow could have been developed into a superb machine, but as with so many Brits of that era, R&D, investment, continual improvement like the Japs was just not something within their compass… milk it and hope for the best 😕
Your comments about the Aerial Leader are ridiculous, even laughable spoken by someone in the 2020s who had no experience of them when they were new. When they first came out they were revolutionary, very comfortable and easy to ride with fantastic weather protection. Despite what you say they were considered fast back then and with older riders very desirable. The ultimate of course was the Arrow, particularly the Golden one, they were a real top rated sports bike in their day. I had one and was the envy of all my friends. The Leader well deserved that award.
I had a Arrow and totally agree with your comments.👍👍
A friend of mine had an Arrow.(I was on my second Triumph)
Nothing wrong with the Arrow..
Yup. I had a Golden Arrow. It was quick for the day & handled really well. Reliable too. Setting the timing was a pig, but once done. it was OK.
i totally agree. pride and clarks in brixton swlondon sold hundreds of them. mine was a golden arrow there was more than my one at the salt box and johnsons cafes.
Sorry the reply has taken so long. I’m gradually catching up. And yes my comments weren’t from when they were new. But I was comparing them to other 1950s bikes I had and knew. I hated the leader. But that’s just my opinion. We are allowed different opinions 😊 as you’ll see from other replies I argue “if the steering was so good why have we had no bikes with a single stem steering head and trailing link forks on any performance bikes since? “
You obviously weren't around in the 60's, I owned a Leader and it was great! 60 years ago they were quite fashionable. Looking at it now it looks very dated but hey that's progress, your opinions won't change how I felt when I got mine in 1965.
no to be fair, my experience was in the 70s and 80s riding old British bikes. and if it made you smile thats all that matters, i was just having some fun, i wasnt trying to change your mind :-) 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
it was bad then and it is now :)
@@MONTY-YTNOM lol
I WAS around in the sixties and remember the Leader as what we called an "old cobbler's bike". The Arrows were sleek and relatively quick, but I could never get used to the leading-link front suspension made the nose rise under braking. Opinions are just that, so I'm only expressing mine. Evidently, many people loved the Leader as they were everywhere.
@@jemshaw Im glad im not alone lol 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Hey !!! I had an Arial Leader and Arrow Super Sports !….they were good bikes even if they didn’t follow the trend of bikes at the time. The frame may well have been pressed steel but they brought the dirty bike image into the future. Having panel-work made them feel modern, and I absolutely loved the sound and smell of a two stroke twin ! But maybe you have to live through those times to really appreciate them.
I had a couple of leaders, took the panels off and put Arrow dummy tank on. Faster and handled better than my pals c15s and tiger cubs. So there!
You are spot on
I had the Arrow in 1960's great bike.😄👍
don't know where barebonesmc got his ariel from, mine was like a rocket and even when the Yamaha 250'scame out mine gave them a run for their money. The Jubilee 250 Norton was a bit of a pain, 70mph flat out, down hill, with a gale force wind behind it, It looked like a real Norton though.
@@geoffholme a pal had a jubilee, by jings did it rattle. As in extraordinarily tappetty!
In the 1960's a friend bought an ex post office BSA Bantam 125cc. He painted it black, put on clip-on handlebars and brought black leathers and black helmet to complete the look. A few months after he'd done all this I met him in a cafe. He was looking really crestfallen. He told me that going up an incline flat out when an old bloke on a Honda step through overtook him. To make matters worse the old guy was smoking a pipe!!
Well the Honda C-100 50 made about 4.5 H.P. with pushrod valves. It had the enviable reputation of being the most powerful OHV 4 stroke street bike made when it came out. That would have been over 90 hp if the engine was 1000cc.
The 1960 HD XLCH Sportster made what, about 45 hp?
British bikes were awful , I used to buy them for £3 from allotments in sheds sat there unwanted , would last a few days then broken down in a field ...No wonder we all went Honda 750 in the 70s , I had 350LC's mostly they used to blow off any Brit bike even a 750 commando was destroyed when ever I raced one , now people call them classics and they love them after they rode a jap bike for 40 years and left the Brits to go bankrupt ...
@@tauncfester3022 all hail the mighty cub 🙂 ua-cam.com/video/V2m6tF0rZKQ/v-deo.html
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
The post office didn't sell that bike while it was still capable of useful work.
Oh dear. I like the Ariel Leader.
My first bike, blinkers and dry in the rain! Just listen to this sneering anti British bastard!
When I were a lad....I wanted an Ariel Leader. Couldn't afford one, of course. Looked and still looks great.
It was just a bit of a laugh mate, and yes, i knew i would get stick (i actually expected more from the Gilera community) and if we all thought the same it would be a boring world, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc I dont believe you were only joking.
@@albion2742 lol. I said clearly right at the start this is just a bit of fun. I personally didn’t like either the style or that front end in particular. The front wheel always felt disconnected and frail to me. Others have raised the constant smokescreen and the terrible quality of the mounting bolts and internal threads. So I would say it was more exaggeration than joking. I was poking fun and exaggerating what I do see as a flawed design just as with the others. I just took things a bit further than usual with this video. If you watch my other videos you will see I do talk about the flaws as well as good points of most bikes. And whatever you personally (and the other leader fanboys) may think. The front end was VERY flawed. If it hadn’t been we would have had many bikes since with a single stem steering head and trailing link forks. NO PERFORMANCE BIKE SINCE has used either concept. That has to say something. And the fact they updated the stem so many times just reinforces that point. So yes you are right that I wasn’t completely joking. But yes. I was exaggerating and having a bit of fun. Sorry you didn’t see it as that. To put it in perspective I am a triumph owner. But I still poke fun at them regularly and sometimes take it to extremes (see the triumph video with the yellow warning sticker) I put a lot of work into these videos and so I think injecting a bit of humour occasionally is ok. Sorry it was taken so personally by the leader appreciation society😊 and I do actually love the way you have all shouted out so much to defend its honour 😊if we all thought the same it would be a boring world 😊 enjoy your day anyway mate and I hope you will take the time to at least look at some of my more serious videos just to see. Like I have taken the time to reply to yours and the other comments. You may find we have more in common than what sets us apart. We are all universally bikers after all 😊
I think you have done the Leader a serious disservice. It was designed as an about town city bike for the local commuter. Not an all out sports bike. So 50 miles an hour was a satisfactory speed for it. I mean if you really wanted to be a city speed demon you could have bought the Arial Arrow........lol
Top speed was approximately 75 mph
It was a bit of fun. I did say that. We all want different things 😊
Did you ever even ride an Arrow? I suspect not, or you'd know it was a bloody good, very quick & agile bike.
Try reading some of the many similar comments I’ve already answered. Yes I rode a leader. And much as we disagree I stand by what I said. Have any performance bikes been built with a single stem head or trailing link forks since? No. Why???
Nonsense. The Ariel Leader and Arrow were great bikes. I had an Arrow. It was exhilarating to ride, I wish I still had it. This guy is either nuts or he is a stirrer. He probably never rode one or even saw one.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply. if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂 yes i did ride one and hated it, but to be fair it was later, having said that, i was comparing it to the 2 A7's and TR25 I gad at the time so it isnt a blind comment. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
The Harley version of the Bantam was the Hummer not the Topper.
I didn’t say it was the Harley version of the bantam. I said it was built with DKW tech as the bantam was
As a young rider it was the only bike I didn't blow up !,
George Brown took speed records on a modified Arrow !.
they only didnt blow up because of the amount of oil in the premix lol thats why they smoked so much 🙂 yes i am joking 🙂 i have obviously hit a nerve with many people here 🙂🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
And Paddy O'Rourke did pretty good on a moded Arrow on the I,O,M
@@albion2742 the key word there is MODIFIED 😊😊
@@barebonesmc modified yes but to do that you need some good basics. The Ariel engine had some very good design ideas that were miles ahead of Villiers and AMF two strokes. Those two only lasted longer because management got behind them
@@malcolmgee6812😊 a fair point. But management isn’t what has stopped anyone using a single stem steering head or trailing link forks on anything since 😊that was my biggest issue with the design. The front end just felt vague and to say the least 😊 I just hated it. But we are allowed different opinions 😊 if you watch the other videos you may find we have more in common than what separates us 😊 #togetherwearestronger #ridefree
A bit unfair to BMW. It should have been mentioned that the BMW could legally be ridden without a helmet (at least in Germany), because it had a seat belt and a roll cage. Weather protection was also good with a windscreen and wiper. It could be ridden in a nice suit without changing into leathers, which was thought to be a necessity for a car driver even to consider two wheels. The list of faults is correct, but the stand deserves a mention. It was designed to be operated from the drivers seat without getting out of the machine. It did not work for very long.
It was neither a motorcycle nor a scooter, but a brave attempt by BMW to redefine two wheel transport. It failed.
Well I think it’s fair and I would have fired the marketing team at once.
It’s a large company with exorbitant funding for research, development and marketing.
Who ever dreamed up this story about people needing something like that has his head up his behind.
I’d say whoever gave the green light on producing the C1 had his head talked around by this futuristic A hole looker that watched to much science fiction movies. 😉
Without a helmet. ONLY in Germany. In every other country in the world a helmet was mandatory.
Don‘t forget it had a seat belt and a roll cage. It was more a car on two wheels. Apart from the UK and Sweden it was legal to ride (drive?) it without a helmet in all European counties. Extensive safety checks were made and the C1 passed them all.
@@brahandWhy do you write this rubbish? Are you stupid, ignorant or just lazy?
@@1CP578LP and it was still a box of kaka that could not get out of its own way.
How do you lane split in a C1? You don’t.
Standing in a traffic jam, burning up in the sun, sniffing exhaust fumes? No thanks.
Bad idea but a good learning experience for BMW.
I have just looked at the comments below. As a teenager in Scotland in the 60`s, I saw the Ariel Leader and thought it was a beautiful bike. Although I never owned a bike until the late 70`s for a while, I have always like the Leader. I was greatly amused at the comments. So many about the Leader prove that it was a popular bike in Britain.
a loyal following for sure 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
My brother had a Leader, he liked it and later got a Ariel 4 square with a sidecar. That bike did not like starting in the winter, plugs out onto a gas ring, back in the engine then it would fire. My first bike? Ambassador Villiers 250 twin. Lovely, held it's own against the 4 stroke 250s. Good handling too. Went from Harrow to Falmouth, down the A30, stopping only for fuel. Had to dodge the sheep on Bodmin Moor. Came back 10 days later. Felt as though I'd only done 50 miles!
Great addition mate thanks. I only remember the ambassador vaguely to be honest 😊
How can you contend that the Ariel Leader and Arrow (and Arrow Sport) were terrible, bearing in mind that 000s were built and sold between 1959 to 1965? On the contrary, it was a really innovative design that more than delivered, in terms of performance, durability and performance, relative to other British machines of the period. The tragedy was that BSA (who owned Ariel) not only killed the Leader and Arrow, but the immense potential of the chassis, developed to house a prototype 4-cylinder, 4-stroke engine that, had it been developed in 1965, would have have given BSA the kind of technical lead they required to compete with Honda.
One Ariel salesman put the engine into a conventional frame to do his customer visits. The factory got so many enquiries from dealers that when he went on holiday they crushed it.
Innovative designs don't go with small bikes because the margins are too low to justify the learning curve.
"that, had it been developed". But it wasn't, and that was the problem with the British bike industry, and perhaps more broadly, British manufacturing as a whole. Honda etc DID develop.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂 remember, if we all thought the same it would be a boring world, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
@@awtistiaeth4699 All It needed was Twin Carb's and an extra gear in the box ?,
Mine went like stink , Used to pull away in second and let the rev's climb, Much FUN>
@@billthomas6873 I'm sure it did. The UK undoubtedly had good bikes and good engineers. It seems to the management that let most Brit manufacturers down.
The Aeials were revolutionary. Trouble was no one liked or bought them. But the Japanese took the idea of pressed steel chassis and ran with it.
Styling killed many bikes over the years. I still hated that front end though lol😊
The leader was OK - very sedate handled ok but the brakes were naff
A bad bike would not have been voted machine of the year two years running
The brakes? Did your one have brakes? Never found them on the 3 leaders I owned. Gave up trying to make them work better, a grappling hook and a chain was the trick.😆
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂 remember, if we all thought the same it would be a boring world, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
pmsl, made me giggle
Most, if not all British designers, in those days, would have passed their 11 plus.
And???😂
I had an Arrow. True, the 6 volt electrics were poor and the 6" brakes also, however the handling was superb, you could take an S bend hands free (not much traffic then). Mildly tune it and it would go to 70 before changing up into top gear (as a mate on his BSA Lighting would confirm), and this on the standard Avon Speedmaster tyres available then.
Oh those bl£&dy speedmasters 😂😂😂
The arrow was my first bike which I passed my test on at 16 yrs old.
@@lebourg50 I LOVED MY ONE .
Just LOVE to meet you!!!!!
I am a bit of a lone wolf but you never know 😊 where are you?
The Ariel Leader was way ahead of its time as far as body design and weight distribution. If only engine design had been as forward-looking - a water-cooled, fuel injected 2 or 4-stroke might have given the British motorbike industry another fifty years of life, before the inevitable crash we’re seeing now.
Inevitable crash in British motorcycle output.... Triumph are building 100,000 bikes a year
@@jimmys6566 'Triumph' is not the truimph company of old, it is in its third iteration, now with a private owner. . With factories in three other countries is it still a UK company?
@solentbum As a solent bum it may be difficult to understand that Honda, despite building cars in 9 countries is still Japanese
@@jimmys6566 In what country are those Trumpets built?
@@albion2742 looks like 130,000 bikes in the current year
My best mate had an Ariel Leader, which he used as an all year round commuter. I borrowed it on several occasions and never had a problem. It was far from pretty and not the best of its class, but it did its job. As for the rest of the bikes, it's a matter of opinion and taste, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
indeed mate 🙂 if it makes you smile, ride it, if it doent? ride it until you have something better 🙂 i was just having some fun 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Any chopper is far worse than any of these. We had someone with a Leader in the Grampian Classic Motorcycle Club and he seemed to keep up with the rest of the pack on straights and bends.
So did a friend of mine till the iffy front suspension put him in a ditch on a right hander. Those links wore rather quickly. I later saw one whose front end had been entirely remodelled to fit conventional teles.
Good old Peter, think he still rides it
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂 remember, if we all thought the same it would be a boring world, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
As a schoolboy I looked in awe at the Ariel leader and it’s sporty version the Arrow
Compared to the Adler. Aermacchi and others it was just not sporty at all in my eyes but if we all thought the same way it would be boring 😊
I’ve never been a motorcycle guy… i’m basically here for the sarcasm!
@@trainnerd3029 lol. Welcome mate😊 if you haven’t seen it search my channel for the triumph video with the yellow warning on 🤣🤣
Many years ago, about 53 to be precise, I owned an Aerial Golden Arrow 250, and my older brother owned the Leader 250. Mine would show an indicated 84mph with me flat on the dummy tank, but it was a Smiths speedo, so probably not at all accurate. Brakes were, to put it mildly, interesting. You learnt to always plan an escape route in case you couldn't stop. Open the throttle and you couldn't see the road behind for the blue smoke from the total loss oiling system, but it was comfy and I was 16, so I loved it.
Now that is probably one of the most balanced opinions so far 😊😊 cheers mate 😊👌👍 have a great week
I remember the Ariel Leader as my next door friends uncle had one, they also made the arrow.
As you see in the comments I’ve been crucified for including it 🤣🤣
Kawasaki made the Samurai 250 in 1966
Ah but there were 2 samurai 250s. The A1 twin and then the S1 triple 😊both given the samurai name 😊
I owned an Ariel Leader it was good enough to keep up with Bonneville's and Dominators on twisty roads and I OFTEN PASSSED THEM ON CURVES, IT WAS GREAT HANDLING BIKE, i DO AGREE ABOUT THE SHITTY BRAKES, IT WAS THE ONLY BIKE i HAVE OWNED THAT i COULD LIGHT A CIGARETTE BEHIND THE WINDSHIELD WHILE RIDING AT 50 MPH. sorry about the caps.
I have to give credit to the passion shown by all the fans 😊 the only other community that has responded with similar passion is the BMW air head owners 😊😊my experience is just that 😊 I just hated that whole front end 😊
Whoa, this made my day, thank you Barebone.
I started riding in the late 60’s on a BSA250. Got me to work and back in all weathers. Moved up the a Velocette 500, a marked power upgrade. Rode that all weathers including snow. I was young and didn’t know any better. Then I went to 4 wheels for a while. Now in the USA I only have an FJR 1300, bigger engine than my first car an A35! The technology improvements, tyres and reliability are amazing with phenomenal brakes. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Just wanna say I like the narration you made for this, well done. Also, i feel the same with virtually every point you made on these bikes LOL
Cheers mate much appreciated 😊 hope you will climb aboard 😊👍
I visited Paris a few years ago, and was surprised to see BMW C1’s all over the city. On every street, by the dozens.
I guess Parisians have no taste then🤣🤣🤣
What a load of tosh the Ariel arrow and leader were a quantum leap in design..a leader was tuned by herman meyer and achieved 126 mph. And these handled very well compared to their contemporaries and were faster than some 500 four strokes. If you are going to make videos like be sure you know what you are talking about 😊
Saw one racing at Oulten Park, made a lovely noise with expansion boxes on and the smell of Castrol 'R' phooaar!
Try reading some of the many similar comments I’ve already answered. Yes I rode a leader. And much as we disagree I stand by what I said. Have any performance bikes been built with a single stem head or trailing link forks since? No. Why???
Please don't suggest that the Honda Cub was inspired by the Ariel Leader....the Cub was in prototype Stage well before the Leader was made..
the Cub was/is a work of Genius.
100 million plus Customers proved that and are still doing so..
It is!
The Honda cub was inspired by NSU. The forks were pretty much a copy of those on the NSU Quickly moped .
wherever the original styling cues came from (probably several places) they were all going a similar route, both will have changed during prototype, Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂
Whoops a bit of pushback on the leader there
lol. Indeed 😂😂 I’ve got thick skin though 😂😂
Just listening to the section on the Leader, I never owned one but did some work on one for a workmate. As a learner limited to 250cc my bike was a BSA, and I remember clearly the surge of power once I got that motor firing on both pots. Certainly not dull or boring.
I’ve had some stick off this one lol. I was just having some fun 😊
Manufactured for 7 years. That's a failure?
Did I say it was a failure? But maybe ask why no trailing link forks or Single downtube steering head have been successful since?
Alf Hagans son, Tony, sprint raced the Golden Arrow many years ago, and I saw him and dad at a sprint meeting at RAF Debden
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
Sorry but I think you are thinking of George Brown and Tony ?.
Very entertaining video, love your sense of humour 😊
Glad you enjoyed it mate 😊 if you like the funny side look for the triumph video with the warning label 🤣🤣🤣
The only machine that surpassed the Aerial Leader with appalling handling and smoke output on 16 to 1 petroil, was the Aerial Arrow.
I’m glad someone agrees 😂😂 I have had some stick lol
This was very entertaining and still informative. Thanks BAREBONES 🙂
The Leader was used by the police in Sheffield and other cities. Why? Because it was a good reliable patrol bike, easy to ride and to start. They didn't need a high performance engine. They needed a reliable one , easy to maintain and repair (no valve train to mess with!)
I was riding a Honda Cub in 1965 and the Leader who booked me had no trouble overtaking and stopping me. 😅
i thought it was because it came with its own smokescreen and could deposit an oil slick to catch out unwary criminals on the run? 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Yep Visions were slow. I backed off mine at 112 cause I was getting nervous looking for cops!
Didn’t say they were slow did I ? Just too big imo but we all want different things 😊
The ariel arrow was a nice bike to ride. A 250 two stroke twin with decent weather shielding and engine covering made it a pleasure to own.
If we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate 😊😊
The Ariel Arrow and Leader were decent commuter bikes for the day and a viable alternative to Italian scooters if you wanted a bit of protection from the weather (and rather more comfortable and stable). It was an oddity of course, that frame, but it was practical.
If it made you smile that’s all good in my book mate 😊
My brother owned an Ariel Leader and a Ariel Arrow had the Leader for 12 years used it every day for commuting 30 miles round trip never let him down. He regards it very fondly even though he had stacks of motorcycles
if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
You are hilarious in your turn of phrase. Subscribed and shared with my mc group.
Welcome aboard mate, enjoy the ride and cheers for the support :-) I do my best, im not so good at not going off script :-)
High sarcasm alert was warranted , but well deserved !!! I spent 24 mins sat next to my Wife ( she likes this channel too) sniggering almost constantly at your commentary. The Harley Topper I immediately renamed the 'Flopper'. It looked like a plastic bread bin my mother had, with some wheels attached. The BMW C1 my wife said looked like a mobility scooter. The Victory (lack of) Vision looked like a Honda Goldwing that had been bummed by a Cylon.
Pmsl lol. My mum had the same bread in I reckon 🤣🤣🤣 I think the victory could make a great boat if you turned it upside down 🤣🤣🤣 say hi to your wife too 😊 have a great week 😊👌👍
I did enjoy my Aerial Leader, It was my commuter, my fun bike was a DBD32 and the Leader was so good at the job I used it for, that the oft temperamental BSA only got Sunday time which really did suit me.
I was just having a bit of fun mate 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment. Ride Free 🙂
I did consider a 200cc C1, specifically for a commute 6 miles each way where none of the roads allowed more than about 45mph in practice. It just wasn't enough for my car engine to get warm in winter. But then came the test drive and the centre of gravity is so high it is an absolute PITA. Other typical Italian manufacturing and design faults (the badge is genuine BMW, that's it, the engines are Rotax and the rest is Bertone) were just additional nonos even though it was cheap.
The CX125 was designed to get the absolute maximum speed out of a limited 125 with aerodynamics. (The 29BHP version could exceed 100mph, and if your rich Italian teenager didn't derestrict it the moment he got it home, there was something wrong with him.)
I once assisted someone with a complete rebuild of a Leader engine. The split crank was especial fun as well as being a weak point and of course after the rebuild the new N/S oil seal promptly failed sucking oil from the chaincase into the LH cylinder. At least any following German warships would have been unsighted by the smoke. All you can really say about it is "Not quite as bad as a Velocette Valiant."
Americans by the way have an appalling record of inaccessible spark plugs. Our patent agent at one time also did work for Champion and he remarked how the car industry was constantly demanding more life out of plugs (without paying more of course) so they only needed to be changed at engine out or body dismantled services. Harley as with most of their abusive commercial practices were just ahead of the trend.
A great comment cheers 😊 someone always adds something I missed 😊😊😊
Have to disagree about the Leader. When I was at school a teacher had one. It was very reliable and he said the screen was so well designed that on the move the rain went straight over his head. A friend had the closely related Golden Arrow the "sports" version using the same chassis. I rode it several times it handled and went well by the standards of those days. The engine was quite tuneable and at Ernie Earles a four cylinder 500cc version used by sidecar racers including Ron Langston.
You arent the first and wont be the last mate 🙂if we all thought the same it would be a boring world , 🙂 this isnt my usual video, i was just having some fun 🙂hope you will have a look at some of the others and find we probably have more in common than we differ on 🙂. Ride Free 🙂
I only ever saw one C1 on the road. Surprising considering I owned a BMW bought from dealers CW Motorcycles, Dorchester, they did all the servicing and Dorchester/Weymouth was part of my regular rides.
Maybe you just blanked any memories out 😂😂😂 they weren’t common for sure😊
A: I do agree the CX125 should have been a bigger bike but otherwise love almost everything about it. B: There is a central theme in your videos: You hate enclosed bikes in general. C: Thank for being so polite about my designs. 🤣
hmmm, i do love the Paso though lol, the CX125 was one of those " what might have been moments for me, imagine it with the 600 single from the Nordwest in it :-)
@@barebonesmc On that we can fully agree. Good to hear about the Paso but on average .... 🙂
@@barebonesmc And in the CX 125's defence: It came out in the middle of an Italian 125 cc arms race and should in that respect be applauded for not being the next "race replica". That already makes it symphatetic to me. And there WHERE plans to incorperate the same technology in other, bigger bikes. But then it bombed badly. Therefore the next 125 cc Gilera became a watered down version with the same bodywork. In short: Buyer conservatism breeds stagnation.
Being 87 years of age, I remember well the Leader & the Arrow, which I thought were great bikes for the time. Very popular too.....
If we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate 😊 it is a polarising bike 😊
Thanks for reminding me of the BMW C1, I'd quite happily forgotten about it.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 sorry 🤣🤣
My Dad bought a leader when they first came out, his pals used to say "how's your scooter doing"? He loved it - a massive leap over the Villiers engined 2 strokes available. He and mum toured Scotland and Skye with it, no motorways.
He got rid of it due to my appearance, and he never let me forget it.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
I had a Topper in Jr. High and really enjoyed it. I and a friend, even larger than me, had it up to 60mph with both of us on it. Speed certified by the officer that pulled us over.
🤣🤣🤣👌💪 must have been downhill with a tail wind 😊🤣🤣
My friend had the Arrow 200 and 250. Both great bikes. Exceptionally good bikes and handled very well.
people keep saying it but it just wasnt my experience, and i keep asking for any other examples of bikes built with a single stem steering head or trailing link forks made since as a performance bike and no one has come up with any
I used to service BMW C1s. The most common problem was replacing/repairing the centre stand lowering/retracting mechanism. It used cables and was overly complicated and thus easy to get the sequence for placing the machine on and off the centre stand wrong, breaking cables and bending various components. As to handling, it needed getting used to. However the 125 was gutless and I doubt if they would do a high mileage before the engine expired as they had to be ridden on the stop everywhere.
Cheers mate. A mechanics eye is always good 😊💪
Your British voice makes this ten times funnier
Glad you enjoyed it mate 😊. If you like the funny side look for the triumph video with the warning sticker on the thumbnail 😂😂 I was on one that day 😂😂
@@barebonesmc im 5 days late but ill take a look lol
@@Maximus20778better late than never mate😊 enjoy 😊😊
The BMW C1 also has overly-small wheels. They are the size of 50cc children's scooter wheels. Most scooters for adults come with at least 14 inch wheels. The windscreen was also useless as it did nothing to stop rain from soaking you while driving, and only made the bike tall and top-heavy and thus terrible for handling.
They did just get it wrong lol
OMG the Harley scooter is started by a pull-cord like a lawnmower HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😂🤣
🤣🤣 I reckon a fair few lawnmowers are faster n handle better too 🤣🤣🤣
The ugliest weirdest bikes are the ones that will be collectors items in the future.
Sometimes for sure😊
Valentine Page didn't design the Triumph twins, that was Edward Turner. Page designed the earlier Triumph Tiger range of singles as well as various Ariels.
Ok. I’ll do some digging on that. It’s not my understanding but I’ve been wrong before 😊
Val Page designed the first Triumph parallel twin, the 650cc 6/1 made from 1934-6. It was replaced by Edward Turner's 500cc Speed Twin.
@@pashakdescilly7517 so we were both right and both wrong sort of 😂😂😂 thanks 😊 I actually love being put right like this. Thanks for the respectful way you told me I was wrong 😊 both of you😊
@@barebonesmc Only a geek would know of the 6/1. Yup.
@@pashakdescilly7517 The 6/1 unusually had a gear driven primary drive, not a chain so the crankshaft rotated backwards. Much like the front crank in the Square Four also conceived by Page and Turner.
I had an Ariel leader and overall it was a decent bike for the period. It did come with a clock but that was an extra. At the time that was quite usual, even the heaters in some cars were an extra before 1960. It had loads of luggage space, especially if, as I did, you paid for the extra paniers. You actually failed to mention at all it's worse fault which was clouds of 2 stroke smoke and frequent oiling up of the plugs.
Both problems could be avoided by reducing the oil mix but that usually resulted in a seized engine if you put it under any sort of stress.
I think it would have made an excellent bike for 007 as the smoke from the exhaust would have choked anyone chasing him. Or maybe as a getaway bike for a bank heist since the number plate would be completely hidden during the getaway.
I never went anywhere without at least 2 sets of plugs as they often needed changing.
Apart from that a great bike for commuting, shopping or touring with it's huge luggage capacity and excellent weather protection
As I said mate it was just a bit of fun :-) mine was experience as a swap for a test many years back (i was considering switching from a TR25 Trophy Trials, but i hated it, and went to an A7 instead whicj i know many hate, but to me was far better than the leader, a different class of bike 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
The other day I was talking to this geezer and I said to him "Were you responsible for the Speed Twin?" to which he responded "No, that was my dad." And it was too! But his name was not Val Page junior.
The clever compact parallel twin with the centre flywheel and 2 bearing crank is supposed to be a Page/Turner design, the 6/1. But the Triumph Speed Twin and its engine, which was considerably cleaned up and improved, was the responsibility of Edward Turner.
youve put me right between you :-) cheers
long live the noddy bike :-) it will find its place in time :-)
Great selection, some absolute shockers there. Objectively, the worst by a country mile is the Harley Topper, but man, that Victory is an absolute horror show.
The Topper was rubbish engineering and awful to ride. The Voyager is just an aesthetic challenge, riders liked them. Did you know Arlen Ness had a big hand in the body design?
@@pashakdescilly7517 No, I didn't know. It's still absolutely hideous, though. It's the most clumsy, stodgy, 'more is less' bit of bike design I've ever seen.
that is very well put mate 🙂Cheers for the comment. Ride Free 🙂
The BMW C-1 was the answer to a problem that only buying a car could resolve.
At least the quasar had a 750(ish) engine 🤣🤣
The worst bike I ever owned was a 1959 Fuji Rabbit. In some ways beautifully designed, like, for a scooter of the time, the engine access. But boy you needed it. It vibrated like a pig. And the way components failed demonstrated how the Japanese of the time were very much on a learning curve with materials technology.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂 another one i hadnt heard of :-)
Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
BMW had plenty of experience with scooters before the C1, they built Italian scooters under licence in the 50's and bubble cars but apparently couldn't be successful designing their own scooter.
we passed a gang of Isetta's in Switzerland this year on tour 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
I thought the Rajdoot 250cc 2 stroke twin was awful but these indian made two stroke got me and a swedish lady two up from Colva Beach to Anjuna arouñd 75 miles round trip. I hired a TVS in 2012 and it did 45mph and 100 mile as round trip. A 160cc single doing well over 100mpg.They cost 50000 rupees new in 2011. Very reliable, simple like suzuki single 4 stroke so v cheap for exploring. TVS are now Norton owners. Im impressed. Well done TVS
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Yes, you are wrong. I have 3 Victories, including a Vision. Didn't think I would like them when saw them at Bike Week. Then I rode one. Probably the smoothest and most comfortable bike ever built. They also run like a bat out of hell!
I came here to enjoy the tears of people's who's bikes are mentioned, you did not disappoint.
The only Victory I have ridden seemed top-heavy. Ran great, tho. Gobs of power
As I said at the start. All a bit of fun. With the vision. Just not my think and would hate the roads I ride. I do think it would make a great boat if you turned it upside down though 🤣🤣
The C1's: Last year I spotted an ad for a handful of them and all were broken!
Sometimes they do just get it wrong lol 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
I'll agree that the Vision is perhaps the ugliest thing in two wheels... It's also far and away the most comfortable long distance tourer I've ever had the pleasure of riding.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂 and if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Opinions are opinions and everybody has one. This list reflects your opinions and you are welcome to them. I have my own opinions and counterpoints.
1. With the C1, BMW tried to tap in a nearly non-existent market, as had Ariel with the Leader and Honda with the Pacific Coast. It didn't help that it was plagued with the usual incomplete development typical of pretty much every new model BMW launches.
2. The Gilera existed for the Italian market where high-performance 125s were the norm. Before EU regulations put and end to the party, these were 30hp 125s capable of 160km/h. To say that it should never have been built judging only on the castrated UK version is a bit parochial.
3. The Ariel Leader simply was not monstrous.
4. The Topper was not based on the DKW 125 RT, but the Harley-Davidson Hummer was.
5. When the Vision first came out I was a bit like you, but I have since come to love the Buck Rogers styling. You're misrepresenting the Rotax connection. Rotax is actually a subsidiary of a Canadian company, Bombardier, aka BRP. As such, BRP's products such as Can-Am bikes and trikes and Bombardier quads, UTVs, snowmobiles, and boats are exclusively equipped with engines developed and built by Rotax. Polaris does equip some of their own recreational products with Rotax engines, but Rotax was never involved with the development of Victory motorcycle engines. Oh, and you can turn a Vision around without the need for a forklift because is has a reverse gear. Your comments on performance and handling are just bad faith and unsupported by facts.
Some fair points ( number 2 " Parochial" ade me giiggle lol.) as i said, i was just having some fun mate, Re turning the vision around, youve obviously not spent the time i have in small villages across Europe where a reverse gear would make no difference because it is simply too long to turn around in these roads. that was one of the reasons i passed on the Mean Streak to be honest and the vision is about a foot longer 🙂and if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, if i spoke wrongly about BRP/Victory im sorry, im not perfect, who did develope the engine? but i do my best and re the Harley DKW bit, i wasnt specific to the model, but it was DKW tech, Harley had done no 2 stroke development before that as far as i am aware? 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
The Leader was aimed at those who wanted to ride a motorcycle without becoming covered in leaking oil so normal from most bikes. An alternative to the Italian scooters, you could ride it in city clothes, with no need for dirty Belstaff jackets etc.
Meanwhile there was a massive under-investment by the owners of the British Motorcycle industry , just as Japanese bikes were becoming world leaders.
I like dirty Belstaffs 🤣🤣🤣
I am an 85 year old gent, so I was around when the Ariel Leader came out. I was riding a BSA 650 flash at the time and my late wife a Vespa scooter that was getting a bit old, She wanted something else as a commuting bike without the paraphernalia of wearing full protective rain gear to work, We looked at a Leader and read up the details that they had been designed for commuters to be able to travel to the centre of a City such as London and park easily and enter their offices without changing their dress attire, That did appeal to my wife who was in nursing at that time and who took it out for a nice long test run while I waited for her to return and chatted to the salesman who inadvertently let slip some problems. But when I studied the Leader closely I started to see some of the problems you have outlined. Needless to say my wife who actually liked it and found it when new, an easy bike to ride did not buy one but opted for another reliable Vespa. It is a shame that BSA did not put more thought into the construction of the Leader and just let the designer have control of the concept which should have been a success.
As you can see I upset a whole community on that one lol 😂😂 cheers for adding mate 😊
I'm not sure how the victory vision came last. Yes it does look impractical etc, but at least you could take it on a long highway run. The only place you would want to ride the topper, is at a historical motor show to display it still ran.
It wasn’t really a first or last on this one mate. Just a collection 😊 I prefer the backroads personally 😊😊
The victory looked like a lavish speedboat. At best!
Pmsl. Turn it upside down and that might actually work 😂😂😂
I really cannot see where there is a fault with the arial leader motor bike, i have one of these and it never once ever gave me any trouble at all, it was comfortable to ride economic and was easy to take care of.
The design might not be what you like but nobody is sayingnyou have to own one.
I did like the idear that the engine was enclosed, as tbe sice panels were easy to take of and put back on
It did what a motor bike is ment to do, it got me from A to B with no trouble what more do you want ?????%
Cheers for adding one of the more eloquent critiques mate😊 as you will see in the comments many agree with you. But equally many do with me. It is a polarising bike for sure. The response honestly surprised me but I do give credit to the people who love it for defending it 😊 it was just a bit of fun 😊 have a great week
You vehicle enthusiast brits always have a way with words. The H-D Topper reminds me of vintage coolers.
It was already destroyed by that time.Edward Turner didn't do it any favours when BSA went down in 71.
Back in the early 60s I was a teenager. Some of my mates were bikers. They would tell me of their hate for the Ariel. Their preference was for the Triumph and BSA range.
my bike history is complex lol, but i was never a fan of the early Triumphs, but my view was skewed by Meriden days, had 2 BSA A7's, one a full clubman spec, loved one, hated the other, no guesses lol 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
There was nothing wrong with the Aerial Leader or Arrow. I had one and it was reliable
If we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate 😊 it is a polarising bike 😊
I remember the Arial Leader being around in 63, never owned one but thought they were fast and light two stroke bikes. There was some chap who regularly raced a heavily modified one sans the outer panels. Just another one of my many misconceptions cruelly exposed I guess.
ei think they could be made to go faster, but only with tuning as far as i see it, and certainly not with the bodywork on. what came from the factory wasnt my cup of tea, and i think the European engines were far better at the time personally, but it was a bit of fun 🙂
In spite of all the negatives I still think the Ariel Leader was a brave attempt to produce a modern motorcycle. Designed to win over car drivers and scooter riders, I think it failed mainly because the engine was way too small, a 500cc two stroke twin would have been more appropriate in my opinion. No one can say it’s not a unique if flawed piece of motorcycle design though.
It was just a bit of fun 😊
Please do some proper research. Enclosed bodywork was a thing of the 50s... cars were too expensive. Velocette LE, Velocette Vogue and that rubbish Vincent Black Prince tried and only made the film '1984' as a symbol of the future. Peter Inchley only won the Barcelona 24hrs, Thruxton 500 and first sub 14 second ¼ mile on an Ariel Arrow, the Leaders younger brother. ...pretty special ancestry
We all have our likes and not mate😊 if we all thought the same it would be boring 😊
The HD Topper is a real shame for the brand, it looks like someone took a tool box, put a lawnmower engine in and bolted wheelbarrow tyres on in his farm shed.
lol. I thought a bread bin. Someone else called it a Lego bike 🤣🤣🤣
I had a Arrow super sport it was quicker than the 500 cc AJS that I had to sell because I had not past my test . My Dad rode after I migrated to cars.
i was just having a giggle mate, and with all the comments i obviously hit a nerve 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
A Victory 106 engine has the performance of a snail?? I hardly think so. Personal bias, or baiting the audience maybe? Jeez
lol, now you see you didnt listen, i actually said the bike had the performance of a snail DESPITE the engine being so good, purely and simply because the bike is so heavy, power to weight is more important than pure power any day, and to be fair, compared to many engines it is still relatively low on the highest power board
Its' goofy design aside, the quality of some parts on the Victory Vision was abysmal. The auxiliary switches would have been at home on a 60's BSA. The saddlebags had very little room in them and an unusual interior design that made placing items in them a planning exercise . That said, the Vision is destined to become a collectors item.
We shall see I guess on the future classic status 😊
Mr. BAREBONESMC- I cannot fault your choices (although I have no experience with any of these machines). If you have a chance I would suggest a review of an Orange County Choppers motorcycle as I reckon your comments on one of these machines might be interesting.
Maybe one day lol. Not a good one among them 😂😂😂
"all the power of a drained double A battery" , brilliant phrase, I'm going to have to slip that into my standard list of analogies !
(Along with things like "as fast a dead quadriplegic tortoise ", you can borrow that one ! 🙂 )
dont forget a back end that looked like a hippo with diarrhea lol onr of mine similar to yours above was like calling a dead rabbit slow if i remember lol, i do go off script lol
😂😂😂 ha ha ha ha ha
All the power of a fully drained AA battery 😂😂
😂😂😂 glad I made you smile mate 😊😊
OK, so I now own a 2022 R1250RT, which I love. Good weather protection, panniers, a rear rack, adjustable head light, novel front suspension, and a comfortable ride. Fifty years ago I bought my first of three Ariel Leaders, which had good weather protection, panniers, a rear rack, adjustable head light, novel front suspension, and a comfortable ride.
Never had a problem with the chassis, and because the whole bike was made of steel, it would withstand collisions with taxis and buses admirably. I think my Beemer is no more than a grown up Ariel, bit quicker sure, but they're related in concept.
To hear my lovely old Ariels slagged off like this breaks my heart. Sigh.
Sorry mate. I was just having a laugh. And if it makes you smile that’s all that matters 😊 we all have our own experiences and perspectives 😞 one of the bikes I owned and hated is now stupidly collectible with a ridiculous price tag n I saw a cultus for sale at £8500 the other day which blew my head. I stick to positive videos in general but as I said I was just having a giggle. Have a great day. N don’t take me too seriously. I don’t 😊
Forgiven. 😂
@@andrewclark9499 🙂 have a good un mate, autocorrect turned Vultus into Cultus lol, not sure what a cultus is PMSL
The Gilera CX125 has 30 bhp and does over 100mph, I don't think it was ever learner legal in the UK as it is well over the 14.8bhp limit, so it's silly to pretend that it isn't suitable for a learner when at least in the UK it was never intended to be.
all of the ones i ever came across were 12HP restricted to be honest, only ever seen a full blood one on track, if what you said was right, who do you think they thought would buy it? i think 99% of people after being restricted to 125 and 12HP, would NOT go out and buy another 125 after their test?
You can be sarcastic all you like about the leader but mine was great for going to town on a saturday night dressed tidy without getting cowshit on me on our country roads.
If it did the job and made you smile that’s all that matters mate😊👍 we all want different things 😊
I quite liked the Ariel Leader - a low power version of the Vincent Black Prince ;-)
My brother had one that he was given. At the time I had a Norton 650SS (I still have it) and preferred to use the Leader to nip to the shops - I'd be there and back in less time than it'd take me to start the magneto-ignition high compression Norton.
In the late '50s a friend's father bought a DKR Dove - _that_ should have been in your list.
Sorry its taken me so long to reply 🙂i will have a look 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂