[SwedScott]

Hi again

Just thought that somebody could be interested in my “anti spill device”. Made from a cheap plastic T pipe for hoses. There was just enough wall thickness to, after turning off the serrations, to cut a W 1/2” thread. Cut off the unnecessary end and block the hole.

Better leave it running overnight, once the oil have started running. There were much more in the jar next morning, but not a drop of spillage!

Best regards, Leif

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by SwedScott.

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[SwedScott]

Hi Folkert

Thanks for your answer. After asking around a bit more, I now intend to use Castrol D140 (GL3 rated), wich is a not an EP type oil. On the other hand I used Castrol EP 90 (GL4 rated) in Velocette gearboxes for many years, and didn’t notice any harm to the bushes. But as always, better safe than sorry! GL4 types of oil certainly contains less EP additives than GL5 (often used in rear axles). GL3 contains no EP additives, so it’s the safest choice of gearbox oil.

Best regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Hi Will

I just browsed through the posts and without really trying to get into your problem I noticed one thing. If you think it’s have something to do with the carburettor,  don’t forget the throttle cutout. It’s often overlooked and a too big cutout can lead to lean conditions and a too small can lead to rich. It mostly the region between idle and small throttle lift that’s affected. Every “stage” in a carburettor must perform faultless. Unfortunately I have no idea of what the right settings for your carburettor are.

Best regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Hi

Thanks, both of you, for your answers. They have one thing in common, that you recommend semi fluid grease. Certainly a good thing for gearboxes lacking, or with old types of “seals”. I once owned  a Douglas 2 3/4 H.P. Anything  but semi fluid grease would escape from the gearbox very quickly. My own thought is why a Scott gearbox equipped with modern radial seals should need grease lubricant instead of (heavy) gearbox oil?

Best regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Quite right Ted!

It will even, per definition, be an “original“  because it will be the one and only!

Velocette did the same, they used up old stock on certain models, so the model changes were sometimes very floating.

Best regards

Leif

 

 

[SwedScott]

Hi again

As an afterthought I can add a little story.

In my relative youth I stumbled over a bike that I wanted to buy, but I couldn’t raise the money for it. It was a racing style bike with a famous brand on the tank. It was built by a retired coach builder, very well built, might as well been a factory job. It although had an engine and gearbox that newer was used by that make. Next time I stumbled over this bike was at a jumble, many years later. Then it had become a “racing department special“. I just stood there musing, thinking you don’t know what i know. There’s no original part, from the factory stated, on this bike!

I think the moral is, we can’t always  stay clear of the “smart guys“ that’s inventing an history. But never buy anything with a “history“ that’s not VERY well documented in writing, if you pay extra for the history. If everyone followed this simple rule there would be no such “transformations“ as described above. Honest bikes built by honest people would remain just that!

This should however not deter anyone from building up a bike of their liking. Have fun while you can. We can’t possibly foresee what fools do after we are gone!

Best regards

Leif

 

 

 

[SwedScott]

Hi

A fake is per definition something that has been made to look, more or less, like an original in the purpose to fool someone. When building up a bike from a pile of junk I think that a amount of  “artistic licence“ is allowed, without calling the the result a fake! I have always tried to make the bikes (and other things) to something that pleases myself. If I would like to build something that resembles, for example, a former racing bike I would gladly do it. But I just would follow the general lines of the original(s), not every detail. Just like Lewis thoughts about the subject. Then nobody can call the result a fake!

Good Job Lewis, I know how much it is to create a nice, working bike out of  “a pile of junk“!

Best regards

Leif

 

[SwedScott]

Thanks Martin

I have seen some other of the this company’s products, handlebar levers etc, and they seems to be made to a high standard, not the usual “run of the mill” stuff. I probably order from them next time I buy taps.

This time I was in a bit of hurry, because of the unexpected breakdown of the present taps. Therefore I decided to renovate some old ones. It was a successful renovation, but that’s not always the case. Some old taps are just too far gone.

Sadly I have two more of the broken kind, so I probably will have to buy some more replacements, just in case.

Best regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Thanks Richard

I always use alkylate petrol in the bikes that only sees occasional use. Never mind the cost, it have several advantages over regular pump petrol. It doesn’t deteriorate easy, one maker states it’s good after three years. It also burns very clean and don’t leave any residue in the fuel system.

My actual problems is that the petrol taps seems to last shorter time than the petrol itself! As alkylate petrol (and modern pump petrol) is very “dry”, this seems to make all petrol taps with metal/metal sealing to seize. One could of course add some oil to the petrol, but why should one be forced to do that just to protect the taps? Some years ago I bought a pair of, rather expensive, petrol taps with an inbuilt ball valve. They seemed to be the solution. This year the ball in the valve was loose in the sealing, something had failed inside. Typically the assembly was pressed together with no possibility to fix the fault. I might hacksaw one in half, just of curiosity, to see what failed, but this would not help me a bit.

So the question remains, why does seemingly nobody makes petrol taps that last? With today’s excellent sealing material and coating techniques it wouldn’t be too hard. Maybe the makers thinks it’s bad economy for them that people don’t have to buy new taps every two or three years?!

I have been toying with the idea of making my own taps, but this feels like a bit over the top and will certainly take much time from other, more sensible projects.

Best regards, Leif

 

[SwedScott]

P.S.

The questions concerns all pattern petrol taps, not just the ones in the thread size that fits our Scott’s. This week I spent a more than whole day refurbishing a pair of old Enots petrol taps for another bike, because I couldn’t find a good alternative. I would rather do something more useful than renovating taps! It’s even hard to find some old ones that worth renovating, most are in a very sorry state.

D.S. Leif

[SwedScott]

Hi Folkert

The thing you probably are after is the positive stop mechanism. It was invented by Harold Willis at Velocette and was licensed to Scott. The only difference, as far as I know, between the Scott and Velocette items are the length of the operating arm and the number of notches for the gear change (Velocette items are four speed).
Do you have the rest of the parts for the foot change mechanism and just need the positive stop mechanism? I have no spare, but might be able to find some sketches made by a friend of mine, of the original Velocette one. I don’t know if they reproduce very well, although. I can ask him if he got them as a file and is willing to pass them on. Even if the mechanism is fairly simple, it would be rather complicated to make one new and some of the parts needs to be hardened, too.
I’m only looking into the forum occasionally at present. I have too much other things to do, so don’t be surprised if this matter will take some time!

Best regards Leif

[SwedScott]

Thanks Oldguy

Yes, I make up some more, to save hassle later. I just wanted an appropriate figure how much I should mix up, and now I got it!

Best regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Hi again.

An afterthought, if the advance/retard housing isn’t changed too, the lever will work the other way around, with full retard on stretched cable. Not the best solution I must admit, one can start on full advance, but not ride home on full retard, if the cable breaks.

An autojumble tip on the subject of BTH magnetos, if the A/R cable is on the left side, with the breaker housing facing you, it’s a anticlockwise magneto and the cable on the right side means a clockwise magneto. Much easier than finding the arrow on a dirty magneto! But there might be exceptions from this rule, as from any rule, so beware! Strangely many Lucas magnetos are quite opposite in this department!

Regards, Leif

[SwedScott]

Hi

Sometimes changing the cam ring is unnecessary. BTH camrings are stamped in the bottom of the wide slot on the backside. The letters R and L are self explanatory and many are stamped both R and L wich must mean that they can be used for any rotation.The breaker plate and slipring will have to be changed although.

But this is only a part of the picture, the magnetos internal timing must be right for the new rotation too. It would draw out too long to explain this here, but in “Technicalities” there is a very good explanation over this subject. Let’s just say, in my opinion,  sometimes it okay and sometimes it not, but everything can be fixed by someone who know his magnetos.

I’m not too familiar with the dynamo side of the BTH magdyno, even if have had one standing on a shelf for over a decade. Heavy Package with little Dynamo output, I think. The magneto part is of the usual excellent BTH quality. Even the magnetos they built for stationary engines held such high standards, it seems.

Best regards

Leif

[SwedScott]

Yes, they really could make stamps and put them to good use in days gone by. Just look at a B&L hand oil pump. They even managed to stamp the B&L “mascot” on round surfaces. How on earth did they manage to do that properly?!

Webb forks, original or not, are a minefield for the hunter of a complete forks or parts. Sometimes the difference between forks fitted to different makes and model were very subtle. I guess that they were made to specification from the motorcycle maker. Even small differences in link length can make a great difference to the forks geometry, I have found our by experimenting with a wood mock-up. In my case trying to adopt WD Triumph forks to a Velocette. I was very surprised by the results myself! So if a Webb type forks, in otherwise good order, don’t perform as expected, try to compare all measures against another that’s known to be right for your model.

A lathe is a thing that you later think about; how did I manage without it before I got it?!

Best regards

Leif

 

 

 

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by SwedScott.

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