Hi All

Your right Lewis, I did have the right forks and they were in good nick but the radiator was not, gold paint it later transpired!

Well I suppose before I get to unloading the bike and making a start the first thing I needed to do was come up with a plan. Should I stick with the idea of a modern and upgraded Scott, try to modernize it further. Should I leave it as it is just get it running and ride it for a bit or should I go the whole hog and restore it to its original state. I think it was Ernest Shackleton who said something like “achieving something is usually quite easy its deciding what to achieve that is hard”. I am note sure that applies to Scotts but I felt at the time like it applied to me.

I should also say I am not a stranger to bikes or at least 2stroke bikes, I have restored my share, I have tuned some two strokes and I have raced a few as well. I don’t / didn’t have a lot of experience with machine tools, at the time I didn’t have a lathe but I had a good workshop with the normal tools and a drill press, that sort of thing. (if it gets to hard or complex I would prefer to find a friendly expert)

It was a face book and another Scott enthusiast whos post guided me in the right direction, someone suggested that I obtained a copy of the original brochure for the 1929 Scott and that I got an idea of what the bike should have looked like. You can buy these from the National motorcycle museum or order them from Bruce Main-Smith & Company and I am sure before long we will have them on this website. Anyhow I opened the pages and suddenly there it was my bike or at least my bike as it had been (photo attached). Although at the time I hadn’t a lot of appreciation for what was involved in putting it back to original condition I made up my mind then and there that’s what needed to be done. The maroon was going to have to go!

Take care and keep safe everyone

Edward Irving

Photo of the tank attached

Be safe everyone, take care please

Next instalment tomorrow

Your absolutely right Leif sometimes you have to compromise and the tank was the first.

I should add that if anyone has a tank for a 1929 tourer and wants to exchange it for a wonderfully painted tank for 30’s flyer or anything else for that matter I would be very grateful to hear from you.

The first thing that blew me away was the amount of detail you miss when things are painted. All of the wonderful Webb dampers are carefully stamped with patent numbers the frame had stamps and number on bits I hadn’t seen before. It was interesting to see what care and attention to detail these men and I am sure women of old put into building these wonderful machines. I must add that I didn’t have the wheels vapour blasted they where never painted maroon and although they are tatty and rusty in places I felt I could always go back to them later if needs be. So next job, on with the paint and before I new it my bike was black. Somehow I felt that if all else fails I have left one Scott a bit better condition than I found it.

The forks where complete and when back together very well, the bushes where in good condition and apart from having to buy some knurled washers and a few new dampening pads there where no problems. What was hard was finding information about the Webb Forks used on Scotts. I do not know how many times I used the internet to try and work out if all Webbs are the same, if medium Webbs are right for a Scott. It would appear that every manufacturer under the sun copied Webb and you are never sure what your buying. Finally salvation came from the velocette  owners club who pointed me in the right direction. There I one or two things I learned, there are a few people making new parts for Webb hubs, you can get hold of most parts now and there is a contact in the Velocette club and who advertises in their magazine making new parts. I also learned of Jake Robins or Robinson who has a business on the south coast and can make complete new forks in the Webb style. Finally I learned that knurled washers are really expensive and that I needed a lathe !

The next problem was the steering head, one of the original tapered bearings was shot and it wasn’t the standard inch bearing it was an old Timlin bearing 1764X which was obsolete. I remember demolishing a Timlin factory in Daventry and there being bearings all over the place if only I had picked a few up I might not be in this situation. Of course the problem was easily fixed by suggestions on face book and making contact with a few bearing factors. Bob your uncle stealing head went into frame, forks on and I had something which was starting to look like a bike.