Ariel. You may associate that name with the Atom – a bonkers barebones single-seater track car that made Clarkson look like this…

Clarkson driving the Ariel Atom

Alternatively, the name might spark fond memories of washing detergent or Disney’s red-haired mermaid that goes around trading her ability to speak with villainous sea witches.

Forget about that though, Ariel is a car brand first and foremost and the manufacturer of two of the daftest production cars in recent memory – the Atom and the Nomad buggy – but it has also dabbled in the world of two-wheels in the past too with its Ace motorbike.

Ariel Ace R

Ariel will soon be offering a hotter version of the bike with the Ace R, which uses a tuned 1,237cc Unicam Honda V4 engine.

Ariel Ace R rear

Numbers are sketchy for now but Ariel promises that the new bike will boast a “substantial increase in power over the standard Ace”, which produces 173bhp, hits 62mph from rest in just 3.1 seconds and can reach a ridiculous 165mph top speed.

Ariel Ace R Dunlop tyre

“The R has a lot of carbon, a lot of machined aluminium and a lot of power,” commented Tom Siebert, head of the Ariel Ace team.

Ariel Ace R

The brand was originally known as Ariel Motorcycles when it was in business first time round between 1902 and 1970.

Ariel Ace R

Exactly how Ariel can build on a bike as quick as the Ace will be revealed when the Ace R makes its world premiere at Motorcycle Live 2016 at the Birmingham NEC between November 19-27th.

Ariel Ace R

That show may be your best chance of seeing the bike in the flesh because production will be extremely limited; only ten will be built. You can dream…

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