[lewis onions]

Although I always thought otherwise, I’m now not sure that Percival Brothers & Webb Limited had any association with H C Webb & Company Limited. They were in similar businesses but the former was operating out of Summer Row, Birmingham producing and repairing gears before the war. Summer Row is in central Birmingham near to the College of Food and Technology  and some way from Witton.  I haven’t been able to find any connection at all, save that Percival Brothers & Webb, now operated  by Autocycle Engineering out of Netherton (deepest Black Country and another place entirely from Birmingham) are known for being very capable of carrying out girder fork repairs.

[lewis onions]

I have received a number of emails via this site suggesting that it would be a great gesture ( and good publicity for the Club) to get Captain Tom Moore back on a Scott for his 100th birthday. Whist I am sure that we could find a suitable bike, I am a little at a loss as to how it could be arranged for the bike to get to Tom  through the current lockdown rules. If anyone has any ideas I would be pleased to hear from them. I understand that Tom lives in Marston, Bedfordshire  so a local member might be better able to oblige.

[lewis onions]

Zoran, forgive the delay in replying but when I was in the garage at the weekend I found I had a bare Enfield rear hub. It has undergone some welding to the fins which hold the cush rubbers but might still be the basis of a serviceable full rear wheel. Scottparts could supply a rear sprocket and the other missing items could be fabricated revelation easily(apart from the brake plate). I might even be able to throw in a dust cover !
If you are still looking for a wheel and are interested, let me know and I could send you/post some photos.

Regards

Lewis

[lewis onions]

Phil – you need to have access as an editor of the site to post pictures to the gallery, although you can post pictures to the Forum if you wish. If you want your own pictures posted to the gallery you can email them to me and I will oblige. This applies to anyone who wants to post pictures to the any gallery of any sort, so please feel free. I am looking forward to receiving pictures from the Southern Gallery for example.

There has been another raft of modifications undertaken on the site today.

[lewis onions]

I note all of the criticism of this site. Whilst I acknowledge that there were initial problems, I have tried to address enquiries concerning access quickly and in the majority of cases believe that problems have been dealt with promptly. To be fair, many of the problems can only be described as user error.

The position of webmaster in the Club is vacant at present. The site is designed to be accessible and can be edited or amended by anyone who is given access. Perhaps one of you would like to volunteer to take the post or simply to assist and put right the problems you are complaining of?

[lewis onions]

Good afternoon Stuart.

I am pleased that you now have access to the forum following our exchange of emails this morning and that you have had no difficulty in posting photographs.

I suggest that the first step is to identify the model you have by asking Ian Parsons to check the records in the club archive. I saw this bike when it was for sale on ebay but I cannot recall all of the details which were evident from the photographs posted as part of the listing. The tank is painted correctly for a 1929/30 Flying Squirrel of which there were two main varieties – Tourer and De Luxe. The Tourer used a Webb rear hub and the De Luxe an Enfield cush hub. I think what you have is a Webb rear hub but I am not sure, the brake-arm mechanism is very unfamiliar. Another difference between the models was the type of front forks – Tourers used Webb middle-weight forks and the De Luxe Scott’s own design of fork.

The Scott catalogues have not been digitised and uploaded to the members area of this site at present but if you contact the club archivist,Dave Bushell, he should be able to copy the 1929 catalogue to you which should include the wheel and tyre dimensions. Have a look at the Scott Technicalities site which also has detailed descriptions of each of the models (www.scotttechnicalities.com.au)

The engine number you have quoted is for a 497 cc short stroke from (I believe) 1927. Many Scotts have had engine replacements over the years.

The radiator has been re-cored or is a later replacement.The original would have been a honeycomb-type consisting of many small tubes soldered together.Graham Moag (who runs the Club spares scheme) manufactures new radiators and therefore is likely to have the dimensions you need to make a new one. I wish you luck as it will be a painstaking process!

Many vintage Scotts have speedometers. The catalogue offered customers the Bonnisken but you will know that examples now often change hands at over £1500. Other contemporary makes come up for sale but often the drive mechanism is missing.This usually comprises a sprocket which attaches to the spokes of the front wheel and a small gear mounted on the forks or the wheel spindle which engages with the sprocket. Later Scotts had a Smiths Speedometer driven from a drive contained behind the front brake plate.

Welcome to the world of Scott Motorcycles! I hope that you will have a lasting and enjoyable relationship with your bike. I am not sure whether there are any other owners in Hong Kong so your bike might be a first.

Please feel free to ask more questions as you need to.

Regards

Lewis

[lewis onions]

1. Obtain cork gasket paper or rubber;
2. remove petrol cap;
3. Place petrol cap on paper/rubber;
4. Take Stanley Knife and (carefully, knives are sharp – ask a parent to help you)cut around the cap;
5. Make hole in cut-out disc (for breather)using suitable punch/bradawl;
6. Place disc inside cap – trim to fit if necessary;
7. Replace petrol cap with disc;
8. remove oil cap – begin again at (3).

[lewis onions]

Good Morning Roy

It is intended that the website will be expanded to include the Silk literature that was in the old site. There is already a models guide page which gives brief descriptions of various models including the Silk Scotts and Silk machines, however it is not at present accessible by a link. Try searching the word “models” in the search facility (top right) and this will direct you there.

Regards

[lewis onions]

Thanks Brian and Barrie – the barrels are off (again) and it appears that the rods are long stroke (5.813 inches). The ring gaps are variable between 0.110 and 0.121. I guess that this might be the problem. Back to the drawing board !

[lewis onions]

An update on the current frustrating issues with this engine.

The barrels were re-bored to +0.080 and new pistons and rings fitted. When reassembled there was a noticeable escape of air from around the cranks when an airline was attached via the carburettor inlet so the engine was disassembled again and the cranks removed. This disclosed a number of problems: the crank had been put together with a woodruff key which was too long for the key-way which meant that the cranks were held apart; 0.098 of shims had been added; the glands were dished and so were not sealing in the cups; and the gland springs were both left-handed. Reground glands were blued and lapped in before reassembly with a shortened woodruff key, new left and right hand springs all with 0.012 end float.

The engine was refitted in the frame and ignition timed, checked and re-checked. The BTH Mag-generator was producing large fat blue sparks. The Binks carburettor has been rebuilt and the float level set as prescribed. So all was ready….

Or seemingly not. The engine stubbornly refuses to fire or run by kick stater or on rollers. The plugs quickly become warm and there is a faint smell of burning petrol but nothing more.

After many frustrating attempts using varying starting procedures – drenching the pistons with oil, liberally dousing everything in petroil, squirting neat petrol into the carburettor or down the spark plug holes there was still no sign of life whatsoever.

To make things worse, reverting to the Snap On compression tester the engine still only seems to be able to struggle up to 50 psi compression (at least we’ve doubled the original readings!) and observing the pistons on the up stroke through the transfer ports suggests that air is leaking back past the rings

Does anyone have any ideas before I push the thing into the canal and have done with it?

[lewis onions]

And would you need a two-speeder gear change pedal with either of the projects ?

[lewis onions]

Much rotating with rollers produced two starts of the engine which appeared to run quite well when warmed up. However even then, expecting that the piston rings might get free after some running , there was simply no way of starting the engine on the kick-starter.

So – off came the barrels to disclose the problem(s). The gudgeon pins were absolutely solid in the pistons and the little ends so that they could only be removed, even after the application of much heat, with a hammer and drift. The barrels are worn to a taper and the pistons are +60 thou with skirt to bore clearance at TDC .014″. Strangely there are two piston rings (one above the other) in the lower groove. All the internals suggest that the whole thing has been sat for a long time without moving.

Time for a re-think. I am considering having the barrels sleeved and using new pistons ..but I am looking in to the stores in the garage first !

[lewis onions]

PS. I have suggested that my wife put an order in for one of your roller-starters for my Christmas present !!

[lewis onions]

Thanks Alan

Not so frustrating this morning ! We followed your suggestion and added a generous helping oil to the pistons via the transfer ports and through the oil ports – we are starting without the pilgrim pump at present. After easing the oil around with several hand turns of the kick-starter we replaced the ports, the carb. and added long-reach spark plugs. Three kicks and the engine fired and ran with the expected plumes of smoke. Regrettably this proved to be another false dawn as even repeating the procedure wouldn’t cause the engine to run again although the first kick each time did cause the engine to fire.

Further investigation suggests that the engine is blowing rather than sucking through the carb. inlet and yet more investigation shows that air is escaping past the left-hand piston as it moves up the barrel, noticeable through the transfer port where the oil can be seen and heard bubbling- the right-hand does not seem to be doing the same. The engine has been stood for a number of years but seems to have been rebuilt – the piston rings appear new and the water jacket is newly painted.

Am I right to suspect that a top-end (re)re-build is necessary ?

[lewis onions]

I am just about to start on this job on my TT rep so I would be really interested in the drawings or photographs too, please.

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