Ariel HT5 500
Ariel HT5 500
. .Sammy Miller's Ariel HT5 registered GOV132 was the genesisfor this model of Arial which achieved 161 international and nationalchampionship trials between 1958 and 1964. We don't know of any other singlemachine in any type of motor sport with a record like that.
There are now hundreds of copies of 'GOV 132' which areused every week in classic trials including Sammy Miller's own Ariel which isstill in regular use. Sammy Miller built 'GOV 132' when he was a factory riderfor the Ariel motorcycle company in Selly Oak, Birmingham and at which time hewas employed in the Ariel competition shop.
The standard 500cc Ariel trials motorcycle manufactured atthe time was known as the model HT5 and was based upon the single-cylinderoverhead-valve 500cc 'Red Hunter' Ariel. Once Sammy Miller had developed 'GOV132' from a standard HT5, everyone who liked to ride 500cc trials machineswanted a 'Miller' Ariel. Today, there are probably more copies of the SammyMiller Ariels than there were HT5 models built. It is still possible to buy aframe which is a replica of the original motorcycle and there were plenty of500cc Ariels of various models built over the years which provide the enginesand gearboxes. Usually the forks are Norton, the front hub is REH and the backone is often from an Ariel Leader. Wide ratio gear clusters (needed for trialscompetitions) are available as are the oil and fuel tanks, sprockets and all theother items needed to build one of these magical machines.