RealClassic SCOTT THREE MODEL 3S
It wasn't until Edward Turner designed the Triumph Speed Twin in 1937 that the die was cast for the ohv parallel-twin format which would become the Universal British Motorcycle. Before that, British engineers were among the most ingenious and free-thinking in the world, producing an array of innovative, imaginative engine designs – and none more so that Alfred Angas Scott, founder of the Scott Motor Cycle Company.
Scott was a key figure in the evolution of the motorcycle as we know it today. He was a prolific inventor still acclaimed as the first serious exponent of the performance two-stroke, who had more than 60 patents to his name in recognition of his also dreaming up the kick-starter, the triangulated frame, the foot gearchange, rotary value induction, telescopic forks, and much else.
His experiments with two-stroke engine designs began in the closing years of the 19th century, and the first complete Scott motorcycle followed in 1908, with production of customer bikes briefly commencing at the Jowett car factory in Bradford, Yorkshire, before Scott founded his own manufacturing operation nearby in 1909. Its watercooled twin-cylinder engine, two-speed gearbox and chain final drive made the Scott stand out as an advanced design, and its light weight, reduced complication, and lower manufacturing costs resulting in an affordable price, were traditional two-stroke virtues which Scott as one of the first to capitalise on.
He demonstrated the worth of his products by racing them. However early Scott motorcycles were so powerful, with such strong acceleration compared to their heavier four-stroke rivals that, from 1909 to 1912, the ACU deemed the Scotts to be‘overly efficient'. It therefore imposed a handicap by multiplying the engine capacity by 1.32 for competition use, especially in the new Isle of Man TT races in which Scott's motorcycles appeared from 1909 onwards. Yet Scotts set the fastest laps in the first four Senior TTs held on the full 37¾-mile Mountain Course from 1911 to 1914, and rotary-valve Scott racers won the race in 1912 and 1913 – that first year despite the equivalency formula, which was then scrapped. However, like later Yamahas the definitive Scott two-stroke parallel twin with 180º crankshaft featured
