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How many Scotts made it round the Banbury Run yesterday? There was a great turn out and all seemed to be going extremely well. I had a good run in on the 1929 three-speeder behind a cammy Norton and a Brough SS80 and stayed with them easily on the hills though they told me later they were not trying at all. I did run a full tank nearly dry in the 60 mile circuit (slim Flying Squirrel tank with oil compartment). Does that sound a bit rich?
Andrew
Hi,
Providing that your Scott isn’t four-stroking/spluttering on hard acceleration, and is generally running well, I would be inclined to leave the carburettor well alone. This modern brew masquerading as petrol seems to be very variable between the suppliers, but I would avoid the ethanol containing grades by using the top grade “Super Unleaded”, etc., or by using Murco petrol, which in most, but not all, parts of the UK, does not contain any ethanol in all grades.
The late Jim Best would often remark, “I like ’em to run a bit rich, ‘cos petrol is cheaper than pistons”. Running the slightest bit weak is very bad for any two-stroke, as they run too hot, which encourages piston seizures. With the Amal carburettor, the main jet size always used to be quoted as 170, for both 498 and 596cc engines, but that was with petrol that was very different to today’s stuff. I think that for a 596 engine a 200 main jet is about right, and for TT reps, Sprint Specials, etc., even 220, especially if using them hard. I’ve never really tried to accurately work out mpg on a Scott, but as thirsty as 35mpg has been mentioned on bikes used for fast road work, and about 60mpg in more gentle road work. I think that the slimline vintage Flyer tank holds about 1 and 3/4 gallons, so yours is probably a bit on the thirsty side, but if running well I would leave things as they are. Hope this helps.
Brian
I Recon you are about right Bryan 29 500 that i have is on a 190 main jet a tad rich on some of this t v o that is sold as petrol but goes ok. [ 55 -60 mpg. ]. Regards D F .
Very useful information on jetting and also on fuel consumption. Many thanks. This is the engine Ian Parsons built some years ago for sprinting with a sporty 500 cc cylinder block which (once had) chrome-plated bores and also oil feeds (Clubman’s Special or what? There are various odd numbers stamped on it)). It is mounted on a 600cc DPY bottom end so how the timing works out is a bit mysterious to me but it is extremely vivid and I don’t really expect fuel economy. I have ‘been there’ with the piston seizure problem and have set it up extremely carefully with an expert cylinder honer and borer using advice on the clearance at each point up the piston from the best experts!
Andrew
I too was surprised at the number of Scotts entered, a great turn-out. I completed the course no probs with my son as pillion but the engine only had 20 miles on it before I got there so it was a steady run round. I’ll get the fastest lap award off Mr Moag next year…!
As for fuel I use whatever is available, if the engine is in reasonable condition and carb/mag/plugs/timing somewhere near you won’t notice any difference on the road between fuels. 200 or 220 main seems to do most 600cc applications (180-200 for 500) on standard tuning and compression ratios of 8:1 or less. Start butchering your engine under the premise of tuning and you need to start again with everything.
Cheers,
Richard
Yup i found the same with my piano . thats me in the red jaket. d f .