Ariel Motorcycles Huntmaster Fh 1955
Charles Sangster sold the Ariel division of his company, Components Ltd. to BSA in 1951 and joined the board of BSA.
Immediately after the Second World War, Ariel had developed parallel twin motorcycles to compete with the Edward Turner-designed Triumph ‘Speed Twin’ but subsequent to BSA acquiring the company, the Ariel 498cc Fieldmaster and 648cc Huntmaster models were equipped with engines based on BSA parallel twins, the Huntmaster’s being an A10 with a reshaped timing cover, Ariel’s traditional dry clutch and a Burman gearbox. Accordingly, it featured the A10’s caste iron cylinder barrels and head, pushrod-actuated overhead valves and an Amal Monobloc carburettor. The duplex frame was suspended on telescopic front forks and a swinging arm at the rear, and had lugs to enable sidecar fitment on either side.
The Huntmaster was introduced in 1954 and discontinued, along with all other Ariel four-stroke models, in 1959 when the company shifted to producing the two-stroke Leader and Arrow models. A high-performance model, the Cyclone, was based around the BSA Rocket Goldstar engine. The factory claimed a top speed of 90 to 95mph (145 to 153kph) for the Huntmaster, with fuel consumption of 65 to 70mpg when cruising at 45mph (72kph).