1938 Ariel Red Hunter 500cc single cylinder road race AHRMA racer

Up for sale is a 1938 (I believe) Ariel Red Hunter Road Racer.   I acquired this bike from the prior owner / builder Kurt Yeager.   Kurt was a West Coast AHRMA road racer #128 and vintage mx racer as well. I bought his bike and parts collection last year mostly for his 1953 Norton Manx.  He also had a CZ road racer. a Parilla Wildcat road racer and a couple of older Maico mx bikes.

I already sold the dirt bikes and the Parilla and CZ road racer the already so the Ariel is next to go.

Kurt is about 75 years old and does not remember things too clearly at this point.   I am told he raced the bike in the late 90?ˆ™s and early 2000?ˆ™s at Laguna Seca and Sear Point/Infineon here in Northern California.  There is still a VMoto tech sticker on the front number plate from 2003!

I don?ˆ™t have too much information on the bike other than what I have from his notes over the years and a fairly thorough once over to get the bike running again.

After I had drained the stale gas out of the tank and cleaned the Amal GP carb and remote float bowl I brought the bike to Ken Armann?ˆ™s British Motorcycle repair in Campbell. Ca. to get the bike running on his roller starter.   After inspecting and cleaning the Lucas Racing Magneto and a few other minor adjustments we put in on the roller starter and after sitting idle for at least 10 years fired up and made that wonderful large British single sound!

The bike has been modified to be competitive in its class in vintage road racing.   It has:

?·      An Amal GP carb with remote float

?·      A Lucas Racing Magneto

?·      Lightweight aluminum Excel rims laced with stainless steel spokes to the period correct brakes

?·      Just about every nut has been dished out for weight reduction and most all nuts that can be safety wired have been.

?·      Has rear sets with the shifter turned around for a road race stance

?·      Has a Smiths tachometer on is which works

?·      Road race handlebars with a compression release mounted on them.

?·      Single seat with pillion pad

?·      Aluminum rear fender.

?·      Straight pipe exhaust

?·      Lots of compression and a big fat spark!

The bike starts. runs. shifts and stops.   Clutch works very well (will roll in gear with the clutch in).

The only obvious thing that needs attention in my mind is that the float seems to be sticky in that it will seep when the fuel tap is turned on so I will include an AMAL GP carb rebuild kit with the bike and hopefully that takes care of the issue.

 Sold on a bill of sale with prior title information included.   Mileage is unknown - no speedo - ebay requires mileage.

$250 paypal deposit required with the balance paid by wire. Bank check or cash.

I will update this listing with better pictures when the weather here allows.

Can deliver to the Las Vegas auction in early January for $150 or anywhere along the way from San Jose to Las Vegas if need be.

On Dec-03-14 at 20:11:32 PST. seller added the following information:

 Hi again. In corresponding with a few people it was brought to my attention that this may be a 1939 350cc motor versus the 1938 500cc motor I was lead to believe from the seller.   Please use the serial number on the motor to vefify this.   I am not an expert on pre war Ariels so please use you knowledge.   I have over 2400 positive feedbacks and no negatives so I never intend to mislead anyone. Tomorrow I will check the file I got with the bike to look for any other clues and will update the auction with any news.   Maury 408 656 5883. Bike is sold with a bill of sale only.   If I find any other title information in the file I will include it bus assume it is only a Bill of Sale for now.   I know there are people in the States that can get titles for export but I have never done that!I did ship a CZ Road Racer to the UK recently without a title without issues though.   I can put you in touch with the guy who ships regularly to the UK on a bill of sale if needed.

On Dec-03-14 at 20:19:50 PST. seller added the following information:

 From another knowledgeable Ebayer:Gooday. There was no BH frame - Framecode BP was used on 500 & 600cc models in 1945. 1946 & 1947. also on 350cc models for 1948. Engine code NH was used in 1957 only on the competition HS models.

On Dec-04-14 at 09:08:45 PST. seller added the following information:

 I have now posted a video of the bike being started for the first time.   Since ebay will not allow link you have to go to youtube and search for 1938 Ariel Rebirth.   Nice little clip.

On Dec-04-14 at 09:15:37 PST. seller added the following information:

 Another more knowledgeable than me ebayer sent:  Gooday Maury. have a full list of the Ariel frame & engine codes & the years of the codes I sent in the previous email are correct. Your frame code BP is for 1945 46 & 47 only. And the code on your crank cases is correct for a 1957 HS model which was a factory scrambler model which had an all alloy engine. The previous owner must of fitted the cast iron topend on the cases****PS engine code for a 1939 model is CE for 500 & 600cc & for a 350 the code is BEAnd in the bikes and parts I received there was a 1957 Scrambler frame so maybe that is where the motor came from!

On Dec-05-14 at 20:09:30 PST. seller added the following information:

 Latest feedback:I checked the casting number for the cylinder on the Ariel. A7 478. and it is a 500 cc barrel. This is also noticeable in that the Ariel has the thick cylinder base flange whereas the 350 has the thinner flange. The motor looks to be 500cc. Note: a 350 cylinder casting would be A8 135.

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