lewis onionsI think that you might have to make your own. However you could try Cross & Morse (www.crossmorse.com/en/our-products/roller-chain-drives/standard-roller-chains).
lewis onionsI’ll have to get back into the garage this afternoon, Richard, as I am at work. I’ll let you know then.
Cheers
lewis onionsHi Richard
To confuse you, see the attached photographs. Top is a new Ken Lack example and bottom salvaged from a wreck.
I think that you can have as much chain as is necessary to wrap around the drum and set straight but not under tension to the kick start lever.
Good Luck
lewis onionsThe 1938 catalogue is available in the Documents Archive section. Specification includes “Rims Chromium Plated.”
lewis onionsSo let’s start with considering what we’ve got. In essence there are the constituent parts of two wrecked Scotts and an accumulation of several parts I have assembled from purchases at the Annual Gathering, through Yowl, over “internet auction sites” and occasionally by word of mouth. The parts are:
Two frames – numbers 3433 and 3186 both 1923 vintage, I believe, for oil-in-frame bikes. One came with a selection of items bought at Bonhams Stafford Show sale in 2016 and when it was retrieved from hanging in the rafters of my garage, proved to be severely corroded and potentially bent. The second, acquired more recently, seems to be straight and far less pitted and so will be used for the project.
One complete 2-speed gear – I cannot remember where I obtained this from – which will need rebuilding but comes complete with the HI/LOW gear pedal and the frame brackets. The Bonhams items included another incomplete gear which might provide spares.
One set of narrow forks for stirrup front brake and with front lamp bracket – these might be 1913/14 but I suspect that whoever had them before might have added the lamp bracket as part of a veteran project as the engine which came with them has been altered – as I will explain later. In any event they came attached to a severed head stem from frame number 1396 which might be veteran but is more likely 1919/1920.
One complete engine (number 6678) which is 1923. This is a flat-top engine with spark plugs in the back of the barrels. It has been altered by removal of the rear water inlet tube and plugging of the water entry in the barrels. I assume that this was done to permit the fitting of a water dome and produce an engine which gave the appearance of a 1912 model bike – hence the alterations to the forks. This is a Standard 532 cc engine which should have cast iron pistons, but disassembly showed it to have Hepolite aluminium pistons of +60.
Another incomplete engine (number 6475) also 1923 flat top but with twin angled sparking plug holes in the top of the barrels. It has a set of cranks and flywheel loosely assembled but no pistons or rods. This is a 486 cc Squirrel engine despite the lack of an “S” suffix to the engine number and the barrels at least seem reasonably thick-walled although the crankcase has evidence of welding which might have been because of damaged caused by a broken chain.
A set of 532 cc barrels which have been lined and are at standard bore 73 mm. I bought these as a potential spare for my 1913 at the Gathering many years ago.
A Thomson- Bennett magneto.
A re-furbished large size AMAC carburettor.
A set of “tiller” type handlebars.
The rear sub-frame and carrier of the Bonhams wreck with chainguard and mudguard attached, also severely pitted and rusted through in parts. Also, a new chainguard produced by John Rose some time ago.
Two blank “Top hat” profile mudguards – plain blades obtained from Renovation Spares when another pair was sourced for the 1911 re-build.
Two petrol tanks both with the wide twist-open caps. One is dented and damaged but that with the Bonhams wreck is serviceable.
A new oil tank (from where I am not sure) and two stainless straps complete with sporty cut-outs from Richard Duffin a few years ago to fix the tank to the down-tube.
Several radiators, all in less than good condition but one which seems to be a good contender despite having a bruise (rather than a dent) on one corner. This will be tested soon as the lack of a radiator is most likely to set us back, I think.
Missing from this collection was both front and rear wheels. However, Richard Blackburn re-made rear hubs a few years ago and I snapped one up at the time. Thinking that I would never locate a suitable rear sprocket I took the plunge and approached a local engineering company with its roots in the aero industry, but which has recently branched out into the manufacture of parts for classic vehicles. (Grange Square ……). They have manufactured a complete new sprocket using an original I was able to borrow as a template and fitting it perfectly to the Blackburn hub. The exercise was not cheap but without it the project would have been stalled, potentially for more years. Sod’s Law dictates that only weeks after commissioning the new sprocket I was able to acquire a complete rear wheel – so there’s another project in the offing now!
So the only major missing component is now the front wheel. I have a varied selection of hubs but nothing which fits the purpose at present. I have a 4-inch Webb front brake which might be used but considering the other useable components I feel that a stirrups brake is the way forward (and a suitable cotton-reel hub likely to be easier to source or re-manufacture).
But this is not going to be a re-build to the catalogue specification of any early 1920’s model Scott, so what will it be? I have my ideas but will leave that to my next posting – anyone with suggestions is welcome….
lewis onionsIf I had been required to give my occupation I would have reverted to my original qualification – plate, cutlery and ovenware washer, second class (thoroughly trained by Trusthouse Forte at a service station on the M6).
One of my colleagues at work is shortly to marry a Sergeant in the West Midlands Police. When she related my story to him he remarked that I was lucky not to have been stopped by a “Jobsworth” (his word not mine) who might have decided to confiscate the bike. Further investigation of Warwickshire’s policies led me to the “Anti-social behaviour Unit” which reported:
Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Police have joined forces to establish a new initiative called Dob ‘em in (really ?). The new scheme encourages residents to report incidents of antisocial behaviour involving motorbikes. If the nuisance rider turns out to be uninsured, the police will have the power to confiscate the bike and have it crushed.
Now that would not have been such an amusing story !
lewis onionsI have done quite well recently with stuff coming in. Two oil drippers from India arrived within 10 days, a seat pan from Hungary took 7 or so and magneto pickups from Austria took only 5 working days. Still no sign of the two Ensign tyres I inadvertently ordered directly from China though !
lewis onionsHere’s the illustrations from the Book of the Scott 1937 edition – strange it appeared in 1936 – 39 editions but not in those issued in 1930 or 1931 . Didi it take that long to sell the back stock of these bikes?
lewis onionsNearly there! with a fair wind the Scott Single might be completed in 10 days or so.
The wheels are in and the gearbox selection seems to work well although neutral is a little difficult to select as you need to balance the lever on the edge of the notch for 2nd gear without forcing the lever too far forward and into 1st. I guess that the bike is unlikely to jump into gear, but we will see when I get it out on the road.
The rear sprocket has proved to be a little distorted and causes the rear chain to run about 1/4 inch untrue. The wheel itself is true and as the catalogues boast that the maximum speed of this model is “estimated to be 50mph” (i.e. a lot less than 50mph) I don’t expect that the issue will cause any problems. The chain is not chafing on the frame or elsewhere on the bike so I can live with it.
The bike was designed , of course, a bit of an assembly of spare parts. The front forks and front hub are left-over from the 2 speed bikes and the rear hub is the Webb design used in the Flying Squirrel Tourer offered 1929/30. I have no prior experience with this hub and if the pulling power of the engine is not responsible for the distortion (!) then the only other explanation is that the bike was crashed sometime, although there is no other sign of crash damage.
Although the seat seems to be what antiques experts refer to a “marriage” between a Lycette top and a Terry sub-frame a little application of brute force served to force the new springs into line and the cover seemed to be serviceable at least. I am lucky enough to work a short walk along the cut (that’s a canal to those not fluent in Brumagen) from R K Leighton Classic Motorcycle Seats (www.rk-leighton.co.uk 0121 359 0514) and I took the opportunity to wander over to seek Andy Leighton’s opinion and help with the saddle one day during the recent big freeze. Andy decided that it would be a shame to re-cover the saddle and suggested a repair by replacement of the strap fasteners which I was happy to go along with. I asked Andy if he was busy and he forthrightly went on to explain that he really was………20minutes later I set off back along the cut. The work was done in a few days although complete re-covers are taking at least a month.
The 300 cc Squirrel was offered with a choice of carburettor – a Villiers or an AMAL – and the catalogue pictures all show a Villiers. Villiers carbs changed little in design throughout their production, merely appearing in Mk1 , Mk2 or Mk3 form. The carb on my bike was a Mk3 dating from the 1940s/50s and as spares are readily available it was decided to retain this rather than source a Mk2 which was made of brass but very similar. Disassembly disclosed not only that the carb was a hotchpotch of different parts, but also that the insides were entirely gummed up with 30 year old petrol residues.
One feature of Villiers carb is that the choke is integral with the carb body rather than operated from a lever , being a small thumb lever device which closes the air intake. I was surprised therefore to find the “Arrangement of Controls” diagram which appears in mid-1930s editions of The Book of the Scott (which incidentally have the helpful words “Referring to Twin-Cylinder Models Only and illustrations of the Single Cylinder Model – useful !). This shows what seems to be a Villiers-type double lever labelled “Air” and “Throttle” although I am not sure that such levers were ever available , nor that there was an “Air ” facility unless, of course, Villiers produced a bespoke carb for Scott’s purpose.
In any event the carb I have will operate on a single throttle lever to the left hand handle bar. The carb came with a large bell mouth pot-rivetted to the carb body and although this looked very sporty it offered no protection against sucking in stones, bees or trouser legs. Consequently a Villiers air filter with integral choke was sourced from Villers Services , Brierly Hill for the very reasonable price of £28.
The mudguards have been replaced with new items beautifully made by Simon of Renovation Spares, Redditch (call Simon on 01527892344, he is very approachable and reasonably priced). The guards are 5 inch “D” section as used on Flying Squirrels and the rear guard is in two pieces to permit the removal of the rear wheel. I was sceptical at first that this was original but Simon insisted that it must be when saw and copied it exactly. The removable section locates with two pins which insert into the beaded edge of the fixed portion and a stepped overlap in an extremely neat way. The front guard is identical to the type used on later 2 speed models and both front and rear are valanced, which Simon has copied extremely well.
This weekend the remainder of the painting should be available including the tank, which I am excited to see. The tank paining has been copied from the example in the National Motor Cycle Museum and should be a work of art.
More to follow, including a road test perhaps!
lewis onionsVery sorry to hear that news. I will always remember the photograph he showed me of himself balancing at the end of the boom of a construction crane – with no safety line. The photograph alone sent a shiver down my back!
lewis onionsGood to hear from you Ted. I’d forgotten that you knew John Paul. Unfortunately he died before I could talk to him about the bike.
lewis onionsThanks to Dave Bushell for pointing out that the scanned copy of the 1946 catalogue in the archive was in fact the 1947 catalogue! I have rectified the issue and copies of both are now available. The 1946 catalogue shows a bike like Kev’s with Brampton Forks.
lewis onionsChris – if you have a rear mudguard with a removable section at the back, I might be able to assist . See the attached picture of the old mudguards from the Scott Single I have replaced (rear one is on far right). I am not sure whether it is the same profile and width as that on your bike – let me know what you think.
lewis onionsI have downloaded a copy and read through 20 absorbing pages already. A great read in an easy style with many humorous observations. Priceless!
lewis onionsAccording to Jeff Clew’s book (The Yowling Two Stroke) the Scott works made 12 pre-production bikes towards the end of 1946 – six with Brampton girder forks, like yours and six with Webb Forks. Jeff Clew had one of the Webb forked bikes himself but Cyril Quantrill of Motor Cycling magazine test- drove a Brampton Fork bike when he visited Shipley that year. You might be able to find a copy of his article for reference and you might just find that you have the test bike!
Refer to the documents in the Document Archive for details – the 1947 catalogue shows the bikes with Dowty forks but might be of some use. The 1958 version of the Book of the Scott will also yield some information. Keep us informed of how you get on and feel free to ask for any help here.
Lewis
