The Ariel Ace - After 50-Years Waiting
It's been 50 years coming, but this is the all-new Ariel Ace motorcycle. It's quite some upgrade on the last motorcycle produced by Ariel, what was the Ariel Arrow back in 1965, but the company has made giant leaps in order to put this new motorcycle into production.Ariel, a English company based in Somerset, where they also build the Atom sportscar, the Ariel Ace motorcycle is set to be rolling off the small production line at the rate of two or three a week. The Ariel Ace is powered by the 1237cc V4 engine from the Honda CFR1200 what's an excellent choice of power-plant. The Honda VFR1200 engine also means that the Ariel Ace's final drive is by shaft drive, also the swingarm and electronics are all integrated.
Ariel promise a top speed of 266km/h, although as the Ariel Ace is a naked-bike you probably won't ride it at that speed anyway..
The Ariel Ace is packed with modern technology, gadgets and quality components. Designed by Ariel themselves, the six piece perimeter space fairing takes almost 70 hours to produce from billet aluminum before it gets wleded together and anodized. The steering head angle is adjustable via eccentric bearing holders, giving the rider the opportunity to tune the motorcycle to suit personal preferences.
With the Ariel Ace the customer is invited to spec out the motorcycle in a range of options. Modular design means that the bodywork and seating can be chosen from a range of available materials and seat height – it also means there's no such thing as a standard Ariel Ace motorcycle. For example, the fuel tank size is offered in three different sizes, there's a choice of seats, three footrests can be chosen and there's an option to fit BST carbon wheels. But the choice of front suspension is most intriguing. There's an option to run a conventional setup with Ohlins forks, or a Girder system that uses a milled aluminum frame and is matted to an Ohlins TTX shock. The use of Honda gubbings is reassuring, while components like the Swedish suspension, race Technologies dash and bespoke carbon parts give the motorcycle a quality feel like few others.
Over time, Ariel will add new parts and components to the range, meaning that the Ariel Ace can grow with an owner – or change if it gets sold. At the moment Ariel could not inform us about a Thai distributor but that can change quickly.
