Technicalities

[Steven Enticott]

Hello All – I’m a Scott member from Australia and have read with interest the debates over the electronic version of technicalities.

I’m a simple man with simple needs, can anyone lend me a copy (I’m in Melbourne Australia) and I will electronically photocopy it into .pdf format and burn it to CD.

Yes the quality will be poor, it will be unsearchable, not referenced etc but it will be something, which is much better than the nothing most of us young (who are also the future of the club) members have.

I have been a Scott member for a few years now and much to my frustration have never seen nor been able to buy a copy of this publication and natuarlly am very keen to learn more about my bike.

It’s not that hard to do and I will be happy to burn off other copies for other members (within reason) – What is the copyright situation with this?

If anyone can help me out it would be appreciated

[Roger Moss]

I think I explained that I am at a spares comittee meeting on Sat 13th with club chairman, Martin Hodkin, John Underhill, Andrew Marfell, Gill Swan, Ian Parsons and myself. I promise that I will bring this matter up and urger that a pro active decision is made. If no decision is made then I will contact Neil Levings, who has copied this before for other members, and see if he can help. Just be patient till next week and I will report back
Kind Regards
Roger Moss

[Steven Enticott]

Thanks Roger – You may have mixed me up with the “efr215” posts on Technicalities… I was just offering my contribution to the debate…Appreciate your efforts this coming Saturday…Good Luck…

Just another point – The Scott’s Club future is in its younger members and attracting new younger members. To have Technicalities available to those new to Scott as a way of attracting/sustaining new members would be an invaluable tool.

Selling the CD at a reasonable price will cover the cost “user pays”, or a special levy, or just asking the members for a donation to the cause(count me in).

Simply the CD version is essential, its the way of the future! As I’m sure you and many others are aware.

Regards

[efr215]

I’m efr215, I made a cods of entering my info when I signed up, put it down to fast women, late nights or just plain dumb, take your pick!

For what it’s worth my name is David Elgar and I live in Essex, UK, you can e-mail me at dnelgar@tesco.net if you ever feel the urge. The efr215 refers to my Scott’s number. I am new to Scotts but not to bikes, I won’t mention the other make in this company, I remember what Lofty Avis had to say to a callow apprentice on that matter! (But I still have that bike.)

Regarding this PDF business, I think I am about 70% there as far as method is concerned. I also think I know how to make searchable CD’s although I have yet to prove it.

I just wanted to make two observations:

1/ An awful lot of the utility of a computerised “Technecalities” will be lost if it cannot be searched.

2/ From what I have learned so far I don’t think that the cost of having it done commercially would be justified in view of the limited use of computers by the membership.

I’ll leave it up to the Club’s officers to decide what to do about it but in the mean time I’ll plug on with my effort, if it works I’ll offer it up for consideration. If I’m sucessful I can run off copies as and when needed at cost.

[Roger Moss]

Hi all
Believe me, I still remember the painfull learning process!
I will do everything I can to get as best a resolution as possible, but it is a bit of an uphill battle.
My son Richard suggested that the scanning and processing might possibly be a good project for a hard up student at a price we could afford. It would also help to keep aforesaid student away from the temptations of pubs and loose women!
I will report back early next week, but be patient as I have taken on a night shift job for three weeks. I was forced into it, — they were so cruel,– They offered silly money!
Kind Regards
Roger

[efr215]

Further to my last post, I’ve had a breakthrough and can now make searchable pdf files.

Anybody want to be brave enough to loan me a clean, (preferably as it will make life easier for my OCR program), part or whole Technecalities?

[efr215]

I can definately do searchable PDF’s now. I can do layouts very simular to the originals with a little extra effort. I have yet to prove to my satisfaction that I can insert diagrams perfectly but with a little more time…

I will then do a trial disc with just a few pages and submit it for review.

It is the OCR that is the bottleneck so if someone could come up with a good clean original copy it might help improve the recognition percentage.

Any offers?

[Roger Moss]

Yes you are correct. In order to get an efficient OCR you need both a good copy and a very good scanner working at high resolution. This then means the process is lengthy. It is not a case of if the job can be acheived, but how long it will take and how much it would cost!
I think it is far beyond what a generous spirited person can do, and so have looked to get a fair commercial quote. The senior members of the club management comittee are unwilling to fund such a project unless it is done for peanuts, so at the moment we have an impasse.
I have tried to find other ways to fill the gap in the short term and suggest you read the new posting “Report on Spares Scheme meeting”
If you wish to comment under that posting, please do so.
I think local members should remember that it is their club and if they wish things to be different, they must made their voice heard at the next AGM.
Kind Regards
Roger

[Roger Moss]

I did promise to make the conclusions of this meeting public. I posted an account, but a fellow attendee questioned my right to do so, without all other persons present having the opportunity to scrutinise and amend as they see fit. It was also pointed out that their recollection of proceedings did not completely tally with mine. In this case, I have withdrawn my posting, I apologise for any offence unintentionally caused and will not comment further on this matter.
Any statement can be issued by others after the due consultation processes have taken place.
Perhaps I have become too used to working with freedom of immediate decision and a zest to achieve results.
I do not find the constraints of working as part of a committee comfortable.
I shall tender my resignation from Spares Scheme Technical Committee but will continue to offer technical advice to the spares scheme on an informal basis at any time.
I must discipline myself to be more quiet and get on with making a living

[chris wastell]

Don’t give up Roger. The silent (lazy perhaps) majority need blokes like you. We can’t all be experts who have owned loads of Scotts for years and years and know everything there is to know about them. There are hundreds of people in this club, something that we should ALL bear in mind.
More power to you.
PS: I have a copy of Technicalities so it matters not on a personal level whether or not this thing gets done. Fact is we have the money now. We will all be gone in 40 or 50 years time and the money will still be sat in the bank.

[Roger Moss]

If any member needs help he only has to ask.
If I can help, it will, as usual, be my great pleasure.
The very best part of life is the folks you meet– the owners!
Kindest Regards
Roger

[Rod Norris]

Roger,
I did wonder when I read your article on the meeting you had whether it would raise a few eyebrows. Working in a committee environment is always slow & tedious and tends to wear out and frustrate the more enthusiastic and energetic members.
I for one welcomed the report but thought perhaps it should had a disclaimer. As minutes at a meeting are only accepted by the next meeting that’s quorate then a long time between meetings would mean no reports to the membership for quite some time.
You should not resign from the technical committee of the spares scheme. The committee would be reduced in quality and it would serve no visible objective.
The technicalities will have to be done by us here. You cannot expect the older members of the club who will have paid in for years and alot will have recieved little in return (or at least that will be a perception of some). They will not want to subsidise a system from which they will derive no benefit.
Some of us did suggest we would offer our services, free of charge, to reproduce technicalities. I think it needs someone of considerable experience to go through a copy of it and decide what should be printed, as I believe it incorporates some advice that has generally been accepted as incorrect. The remainder could be photocopied and a share sent to those who are willing to participate along with a copy of the disc containing the work already done. Several of us have offered our services before and it looks like we now have an extra person willing to devote some time to this project.
Now my wife’s condition has eased, I am willing to offer my help on this as I have a high quality scanner and can get stuff photocopied at work.

[Roger Moss]

I was an uninvolved member of the SOC for years, as I am in at least six other clubs and societies. I had no restrictions on my actions and comments. I raced my bike and helped others along the way as far as I was able. If you look at the Bevelheaven website, you will see a group of like minded folks exchanging experiences and info. No formal structure. Immediate and interactive. Just people to people with nothing in between. My idea of the perfect group!
As regards Technicalities. A person is needed with enough comittment to lead a group to bring it to fruition. I am not that man! The business of serving Scott owners is barely viable compared with my previous aerospace work but I am resolved to continue with it, at least in the short term, as I enjoy meeting and helping owners. I must, however, not forget that my first duty in using my time is to pay my bills.
So who will take up the challenge?
Best Wishes and Kindest Regards
Roger

[Gill Swan]

I am very sorry to hear from Roger that he has decided to resign from the Technical Panel although I can respect his reasons for making the decision. When I first asked for a Technical Panel to be formed I did not envisage a formal committee structure, rather an informal group of interested parties who would be able to offer sound technical advice on those matters that I was not competent to deal with. I have never professed to have any technical ability but I am doing what little I can to run the Spares Scheme as I see best with the limited resources available.

I have watched with interest the debate regarding the ‘Technicalities’ that has taken place on this message board. Personally I have yet to be convinced that the ‘Technicalities’, as it stands, is what is needed by new owners of Scotts. However, I would be more than happy to support the proposal to get the back issues of Yowl put onto CD in searchable PDF format. As you are aware Steve Bowles has already done this for the first ten years so it now needs someone to pick up the batten and take this task forward. It would then be possible to have the ‘Technicalities’ indexed within the magazines. I have looked at getting this done professionally but the cost is prohibitive. It was agreed at the meeting that, with Steve’s approval, copies of this CD as it stands could be made available for purchase through the Spares Scheme but first I have to sort out the Acrobat licence agreement.

When I asked Roger if it was possible to remove his Report of the meeting of the Technical Panel from the Message Board it was not because I was trying to stop him informing members of the progress that was made regarding technical information at the meeting. I just did not want this to be seen as the full report of what I considered to be a useful meeting where some progress was made in acknowledging that more information needed to be made available to members. To this end John Underhill has been good enough to supply me with copies of technical articles written by J.H. Kelly (Scott Motors Ltd) entitled ‘Special Hints on Scott Engines’ and ‘Scott Gearbox and Clutch’ together with copies of a couple of Service Sheets reprinted from 1954 issues of “Motor Cycling”. Copies of these will be available through the Spares Scheme shortly and I will also try to get them put onto CD rom.

A full report of the meeting of the Technical Panel will appear in Yowl.

Gill Swan

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