We all know about the Ariel Atom – the legendary two-seater open sports car made by a British firm. What many people don’t know is that Ariel actually started its business by making motorcycles. The company went bankrupt and shifted its business to cars, but they have just come out with a brand new motorcycle called the Ace. The Ace builds on the long standing relationship between Ariel and Honda that began with the Ariel Atom. The new motorcycle features a Honda 1237cc V4 engine and drive system combining the best high and low volume engineering, materials and production values together with a bespoke build system that has never been seen before on a production motorcycle.
The unique way that Ariel builds vehicles allows each motorcycle to be tailored and fitted to individual customer choice to give them exactly the bike they want and to personalise it to their own use and taste. From low riding cruiser, through street and naked machines, to super sport bikes the Ace will be built to owners’ specific requirements and desires. Adjustable footrests, brake and gear lever plus different seat heights and handlebar configurations allow the Ace to be personally fitted for each rider, whatever their size, to give the perfect riding position. Performance from the Ace has been aimed at the average rider being able to extract comfortable and consistently attainable performance from the bike, with a top speed of 264kmph and 0-1000kmph figure of 3.4 seconds. Mapping and fuelling is carried out to Ariel specification although overall power output remains similar to the Honda VFR at just over 170bhp.
The Ace features a machined aluminium frame, options of suspension and different fork designs including Ariel’s own girder front end, Honda VFR1200 V4 engine in manual or DCT form, shaft drive, three different seats with pillion options, three different fuel tank capacities, bodywork options, handlebar and clip on variants, different footrest and control positions, wheels, tyres plus different finishes, materials and colours. The Ace will be launched sometime next year, and there has been no announcement on prices just yet, but we are happy to see the Ariel bring back their motorcycle division.