page_title: Ariel Motorcycles
section_title: Components Ltd.
hierarchical_section_title: Ariel Motorcycles / History / Components Ltd.
caption_attribution_description: English: Deferred Share of the Components Ltd, issued 1. September 1911 Deutsch: Aktie der Components Ltd vom 1. September 1911
context_page_description: Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then motorcycles in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970.
  Ariel made bicycles before making motorcycles, and also made cars. Car production began in 1902, moved to Coventry in 1911 and ceased in 1925.
  The 'Ariel' name was reused in 1999 for the formation of Ariel Ltd, a sports car producer.
context_section_description: In 1902, Ariel produced its first motorcycle, which had a Kerry engine with a magneto ignition and a float carburettor. That year, Ariel was taken over by Components Ltd, owned by Charles Sangster. Sangster built a three-speed, two-stroke motorcycle sold as the "Arielette", but he stopped production on the outbreak of the first world war.
  In 1918, Sangster's son Jack began managing the Ariel division of Components Ltd and developed a successful motorcycle with a 4 hp White and Poppe engine. Jack increased the range of motorcycles to include 586 cc and 992 cc machines. A range of motorcycles was made until 1926 with engines bought in or assembled to others' designs, until a new designer, Val Page, joined Ariel from JAP. That year Page created a pair of new engines which used many existing motorcycle parts, then redesigned the motorcycle for 1927. These new models are known as Black Ariels (1926–1930) and were the basis on which all Ariel four-stroke singles were based until their demise in 1959 (except the LH Colt of the mid-1950s). During the Black Ariel period, the Ariel horse logo came into being, as did the slogan 'The Modern Motor Cycle'.
caption: Deferred share of Components Ltd, issued 1. September 1911
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