Phill every time i watch this Video i get idea how much i want a Silk ! At almost 62yrs old i have been in love with this Bike since 1976 when i first saw it , in a book . Well just wanted to say HI and i love the Channel. Good luck from Tennessee.
It’s a great looking bike! But I’d urge you to read through all the comments on the video, including some from owners, before you think of splashing your cash. It might give you a bit of a reality check! I hope you and yours haven’t been too affected by Helene, by the way. Sending all the best from the UK to TN.
@@3Phils Phil I am in Bristol tenn. And lost power for 4 days but not much damage. Less than 30mil. Erwin lost the whole town and Ashville is 70 mil. Away it is unbelievable ! You might have seen it . Phil thanks for the kind words.
I knew both George and Wendy Silk very well at the time - in fact my wife worked in the office at Dale Abbey. George was a member of the VMCC, as were we, and we were part of a crowd who went to the TT (I had a 1932 Scott TT Replica and my wife a 1928 Raleigh 250). Georeg also prepared a Velocette GTP 2 stroke as vintage trials bike which was ridiculously easy to ride - I once borrowed it and won a trial (I never was much of a rider but that GTP was a delight). Things got difficult at Silk when support industries that had once supplied the extensive motorcycle manufacturers shrunk as they fell by the wayside - Lucas for instance. Silks were/are very attractive machines but without a bigger manufacturing base they were toast despite George's hard work and enthusiasm.
Thank you for that personal insight, fascinating stuff. I recall looking at photos of the Silk in mags in the 1970s and thinking ‘Wow!’. Truly a great looking bike.
I might have some of those Superbike mags from that era. I’m going to have to dig deeper into my stash! Personally I think the Silk looks flippin’ lovely! Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils I've got some old superbike magazines . I'll have a look too. Unfortunately it is far too easy to get sidetracked looking at the pretty girls on the middle pages until you realise that they are all about 70 years old today!
Thanks Phil. A great video with a nice light bit of wit. I rememberbeing on the Isle of Man for the 1975TT and watching a chap dissassemble his almost new Silk in a barn. I think one of the cylinders had seized.
Thanks for the thanks! 😊 I know I don’t get everything right, but it’s a real boost when folk show their appreciation. If you read through the comments you’ll find a fair few gripes about the Silk! Not saying it wasn’t a heroic effort, but it seems the lack of funding showed.
George Silk lived on my street in Sandiacre. I distinctly remember walking past his house to and from school from about 10 to 15 yrs old and there would often be a Silk.or two outside his garage....I always thought they were slightly odd but really very cool looking even as greasy little kid....😊
I was offered a job by Silk, in 1975, after visiting the Darley Abbey factory. My father advised me not to go because he reckoned the company wouldn’t last long. Unusually for me, I took his advice and joined the RAF in 1976 instead. They let me fly jets and helicopters, so I got the better deal in the end.
Good call! My father advised me to go into insurance, I didn’t listen to him either. Amazing that you got to fly those incredible machines. Thanks for the comment. 😊
A mate, who rebuilt my Moto Guzzi Le Mans engine, had a Silk 700 on the bench when we delivered my engine. He was doing engine work for the owner in Victoria, Australia. Lovely original patina silver bike, with some really nice engineering touches. My Dad owned a Scott Flying Squirrel after his Ariel Square Four. he sold it to a bloke who wanted to race it as a speedway bike in Adelaide, South Australia…
Well, George Silk did come from a scrambling background, I believe, putting innovations like the eight speed gearbox you see him talking about in the video into scrambling bikes, and was (and potentially still is, he’d be 82 now and I wouldn’t want to mistakenly retire him permanently) passionate about Scotts, who themselves had a glorious period of winning success in the early part of the 20th century. Thanks for the comment. 😊
My Dad spent 4 years restoring a Scott Flying Squirrel 1947. The engine was smooth and had good power but it was a very heavy bike...the frame/forks and petrol tank were very overbuilt. He got rid of the ancient manually adjusted Pilgrim oil pump and fitted a modern Yamaha throttle controlled oil pump which made a big difference.
Yes, I think the Silk had one of those throttle-controlled oil pumps. Plus, of course, it was much lighter at just over 300lbs. Thanks for the comment. 😊
I was a motorbike obsessed youth in the 70's and remember reading about the Silk. As you mention, it had a number of very clever features that differentiated from the Japanese 2-strokes of the era. The closest I every got to one was seeing one idling away at traffic lights in the middle of Edinburgh one soggy day. It looked lovely. so compact and beautifully finished. A little more flash than my Suzuki 185.
Ah, the Suzuki GT185, I had a mate with one of those. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Silk in the flesh, so you’re one up on me! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Pete Watson wrote a memorable picee about the Silk in Bike magazine, he went on to be the editor of Bike and also of the new Classic Bike magazine.A very influential journalist.
I always wanted one . Never saw one in person just in Books . I read all i could get my hands on about it . I was not interested in the Small displayment but the Silk 700 S was something i wanted ! Well i can Dream .
As other ex-owners have complained here of lack of performance and overheating & seizing I'll describe what I found when I took my engine apart. First discovery was taking the cylinder head off. After loosing off the bolts and extracting them one by one when time came to remove the last one the head turned around with bolt. Never seen this before, normally some tapping with a soft hammer is needed to break the head-block seal. With the head off the reason was obvious, the head joint was covered with silicone goo not proper head gasket sealant. Worse still the excess had squeezed out half closing the water passages on the inside and presumably being trimmed off the outside. So the thermo-syphon effect was semi-blocked and the engine overheated. Next discovery was examining the cylinder block assembly. The block is an aluminium casting with pressed-in machined liners of either steel or cast-iron (sorry I forget which). The intake and exhaust passages of the cast block and liner did not line up, not misaligned by just a touch but by several millimeters. So the air flow through the intake and exhaust ports was severely compromised, hence the lack of power. I knew the previous owner had done some fiddling with the bike and blamed him for the silicone, but when ordering new parts from Silk I explained what I had I had found and there was a long pause at the other end before the comment about needing to get them out of the door fast. Draw your own conclusions. With the new parts came a recommendation of an engine builder who was sprinting a Silk and he did "blue-print" the engine for me but my heart had gone out of it and I later sold it still in pieces. I'm used to "high maintenance", I love Lotus cars and have had six of them aged from 1950s to 1990s, and Lotus engines in other makes of racing cars. You know their reputation, but I can live with their little foibles for the days when everything is on-song. The Silk, I'm sorry, was a lovely idea, great in principle and to look at, but not to own.
That’s a sad story, thanks for sharing it. The 70s were tough on small British motorcycle manufacturers, nobody wanted to invest in them, seeing as even Triumph was on its knees. I’m not making excuses for what you discovered, it’s shocking. When a business is just surviving on cashflow it becomes hand to mouth. Hesketh and Silk both seem to have been visionaries, albeit of very different kinds, but there was no money around to back their visions up.
I was a despatch rider in 1980 Based in Surbiton and distinctly remember seeing a silk parked up on the way into Molesey / junction of Walton Road and Easher Road.
I had a friend who owned one and let me have a ride on it - that would be back in 1979 if I remember right. At the time I had a yamaha RD250E, and the Silk was 40lbs lighter. Only a 4 speed box so acceleration wasn't sparkling but it went round corners like nothing I'd ever ridden before and it was a true joy to ride. They had a common fault of pin holes developing in the cylinder head, I understand, though I don't know the details.
Well what a great little video thanks for sharing. Got to say that looked like a pretty little bike and as for 2 stroke I really miss my 2 stroke days as a young fella. Our bike culture was a bit different here in Australia back in the 70s with big Japanese bikes filtering in and a ready supply of Japanese 2 strokes both road to trail.
Thank you for the kind comment there. 😊 My only experiences with two-strokes were a couple of mopeds and a Lambretta GP200, although I was always Silk-curious, and did slightly envy the geezers bombing around over here on their RD whatevers. Having spent some time in Straya, I guess the long distances and often unpaved roads must have had an influence the bike scene there in the 70s?
I too went to the Silk factory on a tour in the 70’s A friend asked, what he thought was a sensible enough question, ‘ why aren’t you using Allen bolts rather than slotted screws?’ They weren’t impressed at all! 🙄
@@daviddavies5347 We carpenters still occasionally encounter slot screws and bloody well curse them when we do then replace them with PZ2's. The principle is exactly the same in the mechanical engineering world, and I will not be told different. Chores turned into pleasure = superior results. I'm kinda glad these dinosoars vanished into the ether.
@@kevinchamberlain7928 I was never a two stroke man but always admired Scott’s and the Silk was good but not my type of machine! I did look after an MZ which a friend, who worked abroad, used and must admit quite enjoyed that - BUT. I never told anyone! 🤣🤣
Mr. Silk seems to be an old school Allan Millyard ... Machining Fabulous Bikes in a shed at home, and an afterward stroll out for a pint , or cup of tea with cake... 😁
Ha! Yes, that seems like a fair comparison, with the exception being that Mr Scott restricted himself to just the two cylinders! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Rode a scots squirrel in Canterbury, mid-sixties. Beautiful bike. Sadly I was on a Honda, no oil leaks, electric starter. Where have all the motorbikes gone, long time passing.
I had a '48 Scott in the 60s - a lot to like about it - but I was never truly happy with the Pilgrim pump total loss oil feed.. It nipped up on me a couple of times - so it was probably my fault that I'd not set the pump correctly - but enough was enough and I sold it. Years later, I read that George Silk was marketing the Silk Scott.. a modern Spondon frame and quality components but with a Scott engine. Finally, with the help of Queens University, Belfast, George made his own engine - but crucially with a Yamaha-style Posi-Lube system - and was now making a complete machine. I bought a '79 Mark 2 Silk in the early '90s but with the limited production run of about 140-odd bikes, the continued availability of spares was always a problem. I had some work done on mine by the late Grahame Rhodes, son of noted Velo enthusiast Ivan Rhodes, and he fitted the last primary chain they had to my bike. It was a custom chain manufactured specially for the Silk.. (I seem to remember that Grahame worked for George at the time) Riding impressions? First of all, at only 306lbs it weighed less than a Honda 250 at the time - but with a watercooled 650cc 2 stroke engine in it! It flew - and it was by far the best handling bike I''ve ever ridden. I was living near the South Downs at the time and it excelled on those roads. Sadly, It had to go - always a question mark about spares. Hats off though to George Silk getting so much right. Think his problem was that he was under-capitalised.
Thanks for the comment, it’s great to hear from someone who actually owned one. 😊 Spares are often the issue with these specialist machines, aren’t they? By the way, I take my Trident over the South Downs frequently. Great roads if you don’t get stuck behind someone in a Toyota Yaris doing 30, or a pack of MAMILS straining to get up a hill at 2mph!
I had a number of two strokes back when I first started riding including a Yamaha RD 350 and Kawasaki H2 750..very different ride than our current bikes. Sad to see them go. We are seeing the same with air cooled bikes now, slowly disappearing. Progress.
My Dad (a Yorkshireman unsurprisingly) was a Scott fanatic, having a number in various states of disrepair in the garage. He crooned over Silks, but having some semblance of common sense and little spare garage space left to maintain it, bought a Suzuki T500 instead.
As a youngster, I recall a number of old timers claiming that the Scott was a very prestigious machine. Some of the Squirrel engines were sold to power the `Mignet` aka` The Flying Flea`- a tiny self build death trap of an aeroplane which claimed the lives of several pilots in as many months, before being swatted from the skies by the authorities. It was lethal, literally - indeed a flying coffin - the original pre- F104, `Widow Maker`. Anyhow, and by the way, thanks for the nice video on Bob `Hawkwind` Calvert
Crikey. I recall those old timers too, and all these years have laboured under a vague belief that the Scott had some prestige to it. Thanks for the eye-opening tale there.
In the mid eighties Yamaha had a concept 750 4cylinder 2stroke, Kawasaki had a concept 750 square4 2stroke, Suzuki had their Kettle 750 triple and Silk the 700s. Only Honda left out in the cold. But imagine if all these bikes went into production!!!! An absolute 2 stroke paradise!
I'd followed the Silk marque since they appeared on the UK market in the mid 70's. Someone in my home town had a Mk1 and used to leave it parked outdoors near Molesey lock. I'd see it and hear it from time to time, tearing along what was known as Murder Mile. The stretch of road that skirts Bushey Park in Surrey and culminates at Kingston Bridge. It sounded amazing, 'Like a sheet of galvanised tin roofing being torn in half', was how one journalist described it. Many years later, I went to see one in Banbury with a view to buying it back in the early 2000's. It was mint in black with gold pinstripes. This was a beautiful and clearly hand-built bike, packed with British bike pedigree. The owner let me start and ride it around his local streets. I returned slightly underwhelmed by the experience. I was expecting Yamaha performance with Brit bike looks. Allied to the fact that at £3k, it was a grand more than my budget. Foolishly I declined the opportunity. To this day I regret not finding that extra £1k. There was a period of time in the late 90's early 20's when this limited production run of bikes were being bought and sold weekly. They were a good price, around three times the original factory price by then. It bought you a piece of British motorcycle history for ordinary Japanese superbike prices. They rarely come on the market now, and when they do they're pricey, even as dilapidated project bikes.
Personally I’ve never seen or heard one in real life, so it’s great to hear eye-witness testimony like yours. I think it’s true to say there have been very mixed reviews from owners here in the comments, but there’s no doubt the Silk 700S looks the business. Thanks for the comment.😊
At a local pub bike meet recently, there was a Scott (possibly a Squirrel) present which got me thinking, just yesterday, that I ought to look up the Silk. Lo and behold, in one of those eerie internet coincedences, this pops up in my feed. I know those algos are good, but blymey!
interesting ! I'd never heard of Silk Bikes before. Okay I was only just about getting rid of stabilisers on my pedal bike made for infant school children in 1975 , but still !
I did a movie stunt on a Scott in a WWI battlefield scene after first attempting it on a '03 Kerry. Unfortunately the handlebars became detached on the Kerry after a weld let go, leaving me with 12" steel tubes in each hand. The Flying squirrel had no problem climbing the same deeply rutted, muddy hill, regardless of it's 30 year old tyres. Although I had just bought one of the very first 1977 GS750s in Canuckistan after devouring every motorcycling publication I could find, I don't ever recall hearing about the Silk?
That’s quite a story. I always wondered about becoming a motorcycle stunt rider, but not that seriously because I have quite a low pain threshold! There were apparently only about 138 Silks made, around the name number as the Hesketh I featured in a previous video. I had a comment on the Hesketh video from a guy who knew the bloke who owned the only Hesketh in Africa, so extrapolating from that I guess these small production run machines rarely spread beyond the UK. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils This was the severely abbreviated version. The owner of both bikes was Charlie Emmons, a Lancaster Flight Engineer during WWII and Berlin Airlift and Gracie Fields' cornet player, who ran them in the 'London to Brighton' until he was close to 90. I sold the GS to Director David Cronenberg where it remains in his collection, so I could buy the '79 CBX I totalled 44 years ago to the day. You made a good decision not to get into movies. I had to give up motorcycling (and movie making) after injuring myself on a sequel to 'The Transporter'.
Cripes, sorry to hear that. I’ve been planning a video with the working title ‘So You Want To Be A Movie Motorcycle Stunt Man’, if I get around to it would you be happy to have a chat? It strikes me that there’s a story there to be told.
@@3Phils I was on set of an Evel Knievel biography the day the planes hit the towers and have pursued that deception ever since. I pray to God for deliverance from evil, but never specified how.
The enclosed chain looks like it's borrowed directly from Bultaco. My Metralla had it. I've long been surprised why they weren't more universally adopted. The only other mass produced bike I can think of that had a similar system to the Bultaco was the Yamaha V-twin, XV1000 from memory.
The chain enclosure was the same as MZ motorbikes. Not sure where George got them - probably direct from MZ. My wife probably knows - she worked in the office.
@@belperflyer7419 MZ probably borrowed the idea from Bultaco, since the Metralla and its brothers date to the 1960s. The Bultaco came to mind since I'd owned one, and the related offroaders were reasonably common in Australia in the 1970s while MZs were scarce as hen's teeth.
@@fredrubble5024 MZ began in 1922, long before Bultaco. I know because that is what it says on the petrol cap of my 84 ETZ250, that I have had since new.
@@bruceparr1678 The fact that MZ predates Bultaco as a company doesn't mean they couldn't have borrowed an ideas from them. The bikes MZ produced in the 1920s would have been very different to what was made in the 60s and 70s.
I’ve a vague recollection a one off was made as a competition prize for a bike mag in the earlier 80s. The company who owned the rights then(whose name escapes me, well it was 40+ years ago) were better known for industrial metal stitching and high pressure steam leak sealing in situ. Furmenite was the company.
You’re quite right, and the competition bike was a 500cc I believe. The company you’re thinking of is Furmanite, which wouldn’t seem like a natural fit with motorcycles! Thanks for the comment. 😊
May I suggest, that the feeler gauge as the emblem of Scott Motorcycles is the coolest ever & makes the „Squirrel“ or even „Flying Squirrel“ name tag somewhat more bearable?
Not really a feeler guage. Being a bit anoraky I must insist it is a limit guage. And there's nothing wrong with squirrels, roasted with garlic, truffles and mangle wurzels they are delicious.
Ha! I had a mate from Texas who used to swear by squirrel pie! Used to shoot the darn things himself, too. And from a fellow pedant, albeit a literary one rather than an engineering one, I should point out that ‘guage’ is spelt ‘gauge’. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils Guage is wrong. I must of (sic) pressed the wrong buttons in the right order. Writing by hand I never spell incorrectly. Fifteen years of education and that was beaten in to me but keyboards do odd things to my thoughts.
I bought what must have been one of the last Silks made in early 1979. It was nothing short of a disaster. The engine wouldn't rev out and the claimed top speed of 105 was pie in the sky. The gear change mechanism included a welded up assembly which cracked leaving the bike stuck in bottom gear. The bike went back to the factory three times in all; piston seizure, the previously mentioned gearbox issue and the complete failure of the electrical system, a layout that could be charitably described as primitive. No fewer than four radiators were replaced in the 15 months that I owned the thing - seemingly incurable engine vibration caused cracking of the mounting brackets despite the rubber mounting to the frame. These were just the highlights, the full list of issues is too long for anyone. When the bike went back to the factory for the third time, I wrote to George Silk requesting that he sell it to the first person looking to buy one. This he did and I used the proceeds to buy a Guzzi Le Mans which gave me 15 years and 145,000 miles of glorious trouble free riding.
My only, sort of, positive memory of the Silk was being pulled over by a motorcycle copper. He jumped off his bike, a Norton Commando if I remember correctly, and came rushing over. 'Bloody Hell mate, I've read about these but I've never seen one! What's it like?'. I just sat there like an idiot muttering some banality while he walked around the bike in state of high excitement. With a cheery 'Thanks mate!' he dashed back to his Norton and roared off. I like to think it made his day.
Ha! That makes me wonder if one of today’s motorcycle coppers would be bothered, or even know / be interested in what they’re looking at. Speaking of chaps on bikes in uniform, I had a commentator a few weeks back who had been in the White Helmets, if you remember them? Used to love their displays.
I owned one for a few years, Frame 49 & Engine 51. Really superb handling, gearbox was hmmm, adequate, but the engine was a real let-down. Won't catalogue all its problems but after it seized flat-out which turned out to be 90mph on the clock, not 110. When ordering new pistons and liners was told by Silk Engineering that "build quality was compromised by the need to get them out of the door because we needed the money". Thanks to that Spondon frame and suspension it did not throw me off and the engine half re-energised at walking speed to allow me to ride home and not have to walk. Interesting but flawed.
Living in North Yorkshire at the time of Silks hay day, I often saw them around the village in which we lived, as it was home to a famous bike cafe. They were seen as really quite exotic and the owners tended to be aloof. They had a distinctive burbly growl and tended to be licking on quite rapidly. I found them interesting to look at with quite unusual features, which I liked. The cooling system works on the thermosyphon principle, as in hot water rises naturally, so in a closed system will circulate naturally without the need for a pump, this was probably seen as an aid to reliability. However, it wouldn't be adequate in a high performance engine, unless the radiator was massive. Not good for packaging on a bike!
@@tagomago2178 No, it was Squires, or the coffee bar. It first opened in the 50s and was called Squires, it was a transport caff but the local motorcyclists adopted it as their meeting placeband it became extremely popular, so popular that hundreds would turn up on summer weekends and eventually the locals got sick of the noise and dangerous antics of some riders. So it moved out of the Village, Sherburn In Elmet, and the owners bought a freehold pub a few miles up the road and converted it into a proper biker meeting place. That was in the late 80s but it's still going strong today. Well worth a visit if you're in North Yorkshire.
@@turboslag Thanks for interesting history. Been past it a few times but not stopped. The place I mentioned was just outside Skipton and ceased to be a "Rockers Cafe" in the early 70`s, becoming a restaurant instead. Anyhow, calling in at Sherburn in Elmet sounds good now the weather is favourable. Cheers
@@tagomago2178 You won't regret it! They do superb frothy coffee, or tea, whatever is your taste, and I can highly recommend the chip butties! It's on the B1222 either leaving Sherburn or going, depending on your approach, just by a railway bridge. It's like the Ace cafe of the north!
Regarding Scott`s use of the name "Squirrel", I have a very dim recollection of a schoolboy being informed by an ancient one, that the name related to the smokey exhaust trail of the two stroke, as it shot off into the distance. This being akin to a Squirrel`s tail. Concerning Alfred Scott himself, he seems to have been a bit of a "Renaissance Man", having apparently been an Artist, Musician, Cave explorer and willing to try out diverse Engineering ideas. Pity he went prematurely. Seems like an interesting guy.
Oh yes, a squirrel’s tail being not unlike a plume of smoke. Ingenious! I didn’t have time to go into all of Alfred Scott’s many achievements in the video, but I read on Wikipedia that he died at the nothing age of 48 after contracting pneumonia driving back home from potholing in his wet clothes. Also, courtesy of Wikipedia, that Capt. Tom of NHS walking fame won many trophies racing Scott Squirrels in his youth. They don’t make ‘em like that nowadays!
If you read about "Thermodynamic cooling" you will see that all cars had it in the -30 and -40, mostly because it is very simple. Hot water rises above cold water.
Thanks for spotting that up! I think I might have the Healey article somewhere - I’ll have to dig deeper into the cardboard boxes of old lawnmower parts in my shed. Hopefully it’ll have the Silk test with it.
The way the gear lever works has nothing to do with the "gears being installed upside down" and they weren't. Gearboxes don't have an orientation , up or down . Gear selection is controlled by the selector drum and a designer is the one that chooses which way he wants it to rotate
As I say in the video, I am a mechanical numpty. Perhaps I should have made it clearer that most ordinary motorcyclists regarded it as being upside down because it was the opposite to what most manufacturers / designers were doing. Thanks for the comment. 😊
The selector was a flat plate, not a drum. It was installed vertically, different to the Velocette 'box which was horizontal. All the gears, shafts and clutch were Velocette. The actual change was OKish, but the cast aluminium (?) lever broke at the base of mine resulting in another limp-home Silk trip.
I’ve always thought that, but then another question arises in my limited-capacity brain - surely that makes the chain harder to lubricate? Thanks for the comment. 😊
remember readng aout it in bike mag. it then not long after vanished from reality which i thought was abit of a shame being as i liked 2 strokes .it did cost a bucket load of cash though
It was still half the price of the Hesketh, though. It was a strange time for British bike enthusiasts, the big names had gone or were on the way out, and these small, almost hobby projects were our only hope. It was a shame they amounted to very little in the end. Thanks for the comment. 😊
I went to the works in the 70s for a test ride and took out the experimental bike . Unfortunately it was a bit of a dog (smoked a lot and felt a little home made) though it handled well. Still have the original catalogue from that visit.
Judging by the footage I’ve seen, they do seem to be on the smokey side. Pleased, though, to hear confirmation that it handled well. Thanks for the comment. 😊
The only thing that stopped me buying a Silk was availability. There was a waiting list but I wanted a performance bike _now_ so I bought a Ducati 900SS instead.
I think I would have gone for the 900SS too, if I’d had the choice and was in your position. But I’d have never been able to afford a new Silk in the first place. I was tempted to buy one secondhand in the 1990s, but for the reasons I outline in the video I passed, and ended up with a Commando. Beautiful looking bikes, though. Thanks for the comment. 😋
Well l owned the Japanese alternative to the Silk 700 the Suzuki GT750 which despite its 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine it was a very smooth motorcycle to ride and boy did l ride my GT750 including a couple of trips to Adelaide from Sydney a very good touring bike and would so easily cruise at 160kph that's 100mph and the GT750 would do that easily
Thermodynamic cooling just means that when water gets hot it expands, the density decreases, causing it to rise. The converse happens as it cools in the radiator.
@3Phils There's more. I found a former owners testimony online "And there we have the answer to that question. I sold my Silk 700S because the cooling system simply didn’t work. Even in winter, I was constantly aware of the likelihood of seizing the engine and in fact managed to do just that a few times. I don’t keep bikes I can’t ride, so I sold it. One of 138 made, beautiful and a joy to ride, but finally… useless."
@jonahwhale9047 This confirms my suspicion that thermodynamic cooling only works for engines of low power density like Ford model T and huge stationary engines. Engineers would love to delete those expensive and leak prone water pumps if they were not necessary for compact high power engines, but your experience proves that they are.
To me the headline attraction of this bike is the weight - 308lbs. The easiest way to gain performance from a bike is not by hotting up the engine but by losing weight. Three horsepower more than a Triumph 750 Bonneville and 100lbs lighter. What's not to like (apart from the price)?
The weight was a surprise to me, and would definitely make it an attractive proposition. My Triumph Trident from the same era weighs about 200lbs more!!
I only ever saw a couple of the Silks, I thought they were very well made I remember reading a test in one of the bike mags in the 1970s and the tester commented how well it handled compared to the ill handling Japanese bikes at the time, another british bike that should have done well with better investment.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there - no proper investment. That said, nobody was really investing in 2-strokes in the late 1970s. And here in the UK there was very little money around to invest in anything tbh. Thanks for the comment. 😊
There is no thermodynamic wizardry involved in the Silk's cooling, just basic high school science, which was the point. It works because hot water is less dense and occupies more space than cold water, so when the engine heats the water around the cylinders, it naturally rises towards the radiator while the cold water in the radiator naturally sinks towards the cylinders. Et Voila ! water circulation without a pump.
Pretty machine in all colors. Never heard of the 70s roadbike, but did see a vintage "Flying Squirrel" at the Guggenheim traveling motorcycle exhibit. Thought it looked great. Would have loved to ride one of Silks, and I expect it would be silky smooth. Too bad the British motorcycle industry couldn't compete with the Japanese, but glad to see Triumph back on the scene, altho I think that some of their bikes are butt-ugly and impractical.
The Racing & Sporting M/c Shows at the RHS showrooms in Greatcoat St . London , were a great draw for me in my early teens . An avid MCM reader and often a contributor to the Tips and Tricks section . I was way too young to hold a licence , but had read and digested Jennings and Bossaglia courtesy of my local library and was already tuning 2 strokes as 2 of my older brothers were riders .I was already familiar with 2 strokes from Ariel , Villiers and in a variety of scooters which I was already porting and tuning , but to see the new British entry at the show was interesting if a little disappointing as this Great British hope had to compete with the cheap Japanese imports already arriving in the UK . At the time we had seen multi cylinder/multi carb Reed and rotary valve engines on the race track and this tech was not present on yet another twin cylinder piston ported 2 stroke . The designers of the engine , to me , had missed the point and clearly failed in producing what the young wage earners wanted at the time , more technology and with that comes more cylinders and more carbs in a package that can be developed into a weekend race bike which would have helped it survive for a while despite the 1974 oil crisis . A great looking frame was not good enough if the engine had limited development capability for racing . It was doomed to fail and fail it did .
You left out the genesis of the SILK 700, the 636cc Silk Scott special that used a modified and tuned Scott DPY engine, a Velocette gearbox and a Spondon frame. Less than 25 were made. I have number 20.
Yes, sorry about that. I had to do a bit of glossing over for the sake of brevity. Those machines were what the owners of the Scott trademark got all hot under the collar about, I believe? Which led Mr S to develop the Silk? Amazing to own No. 20 out of 25 or so! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Thanks for the supportive comment. 😊 I’ve had one or two people mentioning the background music. It’s a tough creative choice and I fully understand that folk who are really into these motorcycles would prefer less frivolity and more ‘meat’. Other, more casual, UA-cam viewers might find themselves more engaged with music in the background. There have been way more views of this video in the first 24 hours than any other the channel has done, so I guess, on balance, there are more ‘frivolous’ viewers than serious enthusiasts. A lot of time and effort is put into getting the audio mix between commentary, music, and background noise balanced and each video is tested on various devices to see what it sounds like, ahead of publication. It depends what you’re viewing on, to some extent. That said, I struggled to edit in a clean audio of the Silk ticking over, so apologies if you were disappointed.
It was calculated on the Bank of England’s inflation calculator. Mind you, you could argue the Bank of England’s bloody useless too! 🤣 Thanks for the comment. 😊
You can't understand that warm fluids rise and cool fluids fall to displace them? How are you making a video? Thermosyphon cooling systems are just the primitive systems all early liquid cooled engines had. Other "features" the Silk had was an obsolete crossflow (deflector piston) scavanging system like an old reel type lawn mower with a Villiers engine might use. That's how they managed to get 48 hp and not 70hp from a 650cc two stroke
There were definitely that sort of thing… we know of that type with extra vooom and Grubble, wubble, Dubble... Even if Yorkshire! Who know. We have that sort of stuff, complete with foreign type. Crikey!
Don't forget that the Scott was really the Yamaha LC from over a century ago. A water cooled two stroke twin and from the earliest days it had a two speed foot change gearbox and a hand operated clutch when most bikes didn't even have a gearbox or a clutch, just a direct drive from the crank by a leather belt. And it had an early form of telescopic forks and oil injection rather than petrol/oil mix. Mr Scott was a reet clever bugger as they might say in Yorkshire.
My husband worked there and built the engines for these.
Phill every time i watch this Video i get idea how much i want a Silk ! At almost 62yrs old i have been in love with this Bike since 1976 when i first saw it , in a book . Well just wanted to say HI and i love the Channel.
Good luck from Tennessee.
It’s a great looking bike! But I’d urge you to read through all the comments on the video, including some from owners, before you think of splashing your cash. It might give you a bit of a reality check! I hope you and yours haven’t been too affected by Helene, by the way. Sending all the best from the UK to TN.
@@3Phils
Phil I am in Bristol tenn. And lost power for 4 days but not much damage. Less than 30mil. Erwin lost the whole town and Ashville is 70 mil. Away it is unbelievable !
You might have seen it .
Phil thanks for the kind words.
I knew both George and Wendy Silk very well at the time - in fact my wife worked in the office at Dale Abbey. George was a member of the VMCC, as were we, and we were part of a crowd who went to the TT (I had a 1932 Scott TT Replica and my wife a 1928 Raleigh 250). Georeg also prepared a Velocette GTP 2 stroke as vintage trials bike which was ridiculously easy to ride - I once borrowed it and won a trial (I never was much of a rider but that GTP was a delight).
Things got difficult at Silk when support industries that had once supplied the extensive motorcycle manufacturers shrunk as they fell by the wayside - Lucas for instance. Silks were/are very attractive machines but without a bigger manufacturing base they were toast despite George's hard work and enthusiasm.
Thank you for that personal insight, fascinating stuff. I recall looking at photos of the Silk in mags in the 1970s and thinking ‘Wow!’. Truly a great looking bike.
I seem to remember that Superbike magazine tested one? I was 16 in 1977, and I thought the Silk was soooo cool. In fact - I still do!!!!
I might have some of those Superbike mags from that era. I’m going to have to dig deeper into my stash! Personally I think the Silk looks flippin’ lovely! Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils I've got some old superbike magazines . I'll have a look too. Unfortunately it is far too easy to get sidetracked looking at the pretty girls on the middle pages until you realise that they are all about 70 years old today!
I don’t know, Joan Collins still looks great for 91!
@@3Phils I didn't know that she was still alive.
@@philhawley1219 😂😂 tenemos, 70 años, tenemos...
I drooled over pictures of that bike as a fourteen year old.
Keep it clean, p-lease! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Thanks Phil. A great video with a nice light bit of wit. I rememberbeing on the Isle of Man for the 1975TT and watching a chap dissassemble his almost new Silk in a barn. I think one of the cylinders had seized.
Thanks for the thanks! 😊 I know I don’t get everything right, but it’s a real boost when folk show their appreciation. If you read through the comments you’ll find a fair few gripes about the Silk! Not saying it wasn’t a heroic effort, but it seems the lack of funding showed.
Barbers museum has a beautiful example of a Silk. I have a real soft spot in my heart for 2 stroke road bikes and these bikes are gorgeous!
I’d love a trip to Barber’s, it looks awesome! Nice to hear they have a Silk there. Thanks for the comment. 😊
George Silk lived on my street in Sandiacre. I distinctly remember walking past his house to and from school from about 10 to 15 yrs old and there would often be a Silk.or two outside his garage....I always thought they were slightly odd but really very cool looking even as greasy little kid....😊
Amazing story! I’ve never seen one in real life, but they’ve definitely got a great look to them. Thanks for the comment. 😊
I was offered a job by Silk, in 1975, after visiting the Darley Abbey factory. My father advised me not to go because he reckoned the company wouldn’t last long. Unusually for me, I took his advice and joined the RAF in 1976 instead. They let me fly jets and helicopters, so I got the better deal in the end.
Good call! My father advised me to go into insurance, I didn’t listen to him either. Amazing that you got to fly those incredible machines. Thanks for the comment. 😊
So you had the need for speed; good for you!
I looked through all my 1970's mags but sadly no Silk motorbikes. Not surprising for Penthouse. Plenty in silk though.
Hehe!
@@3Phils I imagine silk panties will be as smooth as a silk motorbike though😂
That's so funny, thanks for the laugh😉
ROFLMAO !
A mate, who rebuilt my Moto Guzzi Le Mans engine, had a Silk 700 on the bench when we delivered my engine. He was doing engine work for the owner in Victoria, Australia. Lovely original patina silver bike, with some really nice engineering touches.
My Dad owned a Scott Flying Squirrel after his Ariel Square Four. he sold it to a bloke who wanted to race it as a speedway bike in Adelaide, South Australia…
Well, George Silk did come from a scrambling background, I believe, putting innovations like the eight speed gearbox you see him talking about in the video into scrambling bikes, and was (and potentially still is, he’d be 82 now and I wouldn’t want to mistakenly retire him permanently) passionate about Scotts, who themselves had a glorious period of winning success in the early part of the 20th century. Thanks for the comment. 😊
My Dad spent 4 years restoring a Scott Flying Squirrel 1947. The engine was smooth and had good power but it was a very heavy bike...the frame/forks and petrol tank were very overbuilt. He got rid of the ancient manually adjusted Pilgrim oil pump and fitted a modern Yamaha throttle controlled oil pump which made a big difference.
Yes, I think the Silk had one of those throttle-controlled oil pumps. Plus, of course, it was much lighter at just over 300lbs. Thanks for the comment. 😊
I was a motorbike obsessed youth in the 70's and remember reading about the Silk. As you mention, it had a number of very clever features that differentiated from the Japanese 2-strokes of the era. The closest I every got to one was seeing one idling away at traffic lights in the middle of Edinburgh one soggy day. It looked lovely. so compact and beautifully finished. A little more flash than my Suzuki 185.
Ah, the Suzuki GT185, I had a mate with one of those. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Silk in the flesh, so you’re one up on me! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Pete Watson wrote a memorable picee about the Silk in Bike magazine, he went on to be the editor of Bike and also of the new Classic Bike magazine.A very influential journalist.
i had a scott flying squirrel 1960 great ride great fun
I always wanted one . Never saw one in person just in Books . I read all i could get my hands on about it . I was not interested in the Small displayment but the Silk 700 S was something i wanted !
Well i can Dream .
As other ex-owners have complained here of lack of performance and overheating & seizing I'll describe what I found when I took my engine apart.
First discovery was taking the cylinder head off. After loosing off the bolts and extracting them one by one when time came to remove the last one the head turned around with bolt. Never seen this before, normally some tapping with a soft hammer is needed to break the head-block seal. With the head off the reason was obvious, the head joint was covered with silicone goo not proper head gasket sealant. Worse still the excess had squeezed out half closing the water passages on the inside and presumably being trimmed off the outside. So the thermo-syphon effect was semi-blocked and the engine overheated.
Next discovery was examining the cylinder block assembly. The block is an aluminium casting with pressed-in machined liners of either steel or cast-iron (sorry I forget which). The intake and exhaust passages of the cast block and liner did not line up, not misaligned by just a touch but by several millimeters. So the air flow through the intake and exhaust ports was severely compromised, hence the lack of power.
I knew the previous owner had done some fiddling with the bike and blamed him for the silicone, but when ordering new parts from Silk I explained what I had I had found and there was a long pause at the other end before the comment about needing to get them out of the door fast. Draw your own conclusions. With the new parts came a recommendation of an engine builder who was sprinting a Silk and he did "blue-print" the engine for me but my heart had gone out of it and I later sold it still in pieces.
I'm used to "high maintenance", I love Lotus cars and have had six of them aged from 1950s to 1990s, and Lotus engines in other makes of racing cars. You know their reputation, but I can live with their little foibles for the days when everything is on-song. The Silk, I'm sorry, was a lovely idea, great in principle and to look at, but not to own.
That’s a sad story, thanks for sharing it. The 70s were tough on small British motorcycle manufacturers, nobody wanted to invest in them, seeing as even Triumph was on its knees. I’m not making excuses for what you discovered, it’s shocking. When a business is just surviving on cashflow it becomes hand to mouth. Hesketh and Silk both seem to have been visionaries, albeit of very different kinds, but there was no money around to back their visions up.
I was a despatch rider in 1980 Based in Surbiton and distinctly remember seeing a silk parked up on the way into Molesey / junction of Walton Road and Easher Road.
I had a friend who owned one and let me have a ride on it - that would be back in 1979 if I remember right. At the time I had a yamaha RD250E, and the Silk was 40lbs lighter. Only a 4 speed box so acceleration wasn't sparkling but it went round corners like nothing I'd ever ridden before and it was a true joy to ride. They had a common fault of pin holes developing in the cylinder head, I understand, though I don't know the details.
It’s great to hear from someone who has actually ridden one, especially as you’ve confirmed the handling was great. Thanks for the comment. 😊
Well what a great little video thanks for sharing. Got to say that looked like a pretty little bike and as for 2 stroke I really miss my 2 stroke days as a young fella. Our bike culture was a bit different here in Australia back in the 70s with big Japanese bikes filtering in and a ready supply of Japanese 2 strokes both road to trail.
Thank you for the kind comment there. 😊 My only experiences with two-strokes were a couple of mopeds and a Lambretta GP200, although I was always Silk-curious, and did slightly envy the geezers bombing around over here on their RD whatevers. Having spent some time in Straya, I guess the long distances and often unpaved roads must have had an influence the bike scene there in the 70s?
I too went to the Silk factory on a tour in the 70’s A friend asked, what he thought was a sensible enough question, ‘ why aren’t you using Allen bolts rather than slotted screws?’ They weren’t impressed at all! 🙄
I can imagine the response! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Excellent question which revealed a reluctance to make even slight changes which could massively enhance the bike. No wonder they went under.
@@kevinchamberlain7928 Absolutely, I can remember, the fact I remember now makes the point, there response! Basically it almost finished the visit! 🙄
@@daviddavies5347 We carpenters still occasionally encounter slot screws and bloody well curse them when we do then replace them with PZ2's. The principle is exactly the same in the mechanical engineering world, and I will not be told different. Chores turned into pleasure = superior results. I'm kinda glad these dinosoars vanished into the ether.
@@kevinchamberlain7928 I was never a two stroke man but always admired Scott’s and the Silk was good but not my type of machine! I did look after an MZ which a friend, who worked abroad, used and must admit quite enjoyed that - BUT. I never told anyone! 🤣🤣
Another Beautiful motorcycle from Great Britain
England has a real nack for making beautiful motorcycles ❤️
Mr. Silk seems to be an old school Allan Millyard ...
Machining Fabulous Bikes in a shed at home, and an afterward stroll out for a pint , or cup of tea with cake... 😁
Ha! Yes, that seems like a fair comparison, with the exception being that Mr Scott restricted himself to just the two cylinders! Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils Mr Silk, I think you mean. You must have a flying squirrel in your head!
Once you’ve heard of one, you can never unhear it! 🤣
Rode a scots squirrel in Canterbury, mid-sixties. Beautiful bike. Sadly I was on a Honda, no oil leaks, electric starter. Where have all the motorbikes gone, long time passing.
Gone to wreckers every one. When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?
Anything framed by Bob Stevenson was brilliant, he could make a can of beans steer
The Silk looks very nice.
Gorgeous machine, a classic bike that's value kept up with inflation. Even had a race shift pattern before it was trendy. Cheers Phil.
Thanks BD. Yes, the race shift pattern was definitely appealing to enthusiasts!
The rearsets on my KH 400 made it 1 up 4 down, and it took at least 5 minites to get used to it!
Thank you for this video. I had seen pictures of these but knew nothing about them until now.
It’s a pleasure! Thanks for the comment. 😊
My favorite was the Van Veen 1000ocr had it on my wall as a teen it looked good and was really newthinking!
I have a very, very faint memory of seeing that in one of the bike magazines in the late 70s. What a stunning looking bike, thanks for reminding me!
I had a '48 Scott in the 60s - a lot to like about it - but I was never truly happy with the Pilgrim pump total loss oil feed.. It nipped up on me a couple of times - so it was probably my fault that I'd not set the pump correctly - but enough was enough and I sold it.
Years later, I read that George Silk was marketing the Silk Scott.. a modern Spondon frame and quality components but with a Scott engine.
Finally, with the help of Queens University, Belfast, George made his own engine - but crucially with a Yamaha-style Posi-Lube system - and was now making a complete machine.
I bought a '79 Mark 2 Silk in the early '90s but with the limited production run of about 140-odd bikes, the continued availability of spares was always a problem.
I had some work done on mine by the late Grahame Rhodes, son of noted Velo enthusiast Ivan Rhodes, and he fitted the last primary chain they had to my bike. It was a custom chain manufactured specially for the Silk.. (I seem to remember that Grahame worked for George at the time)
Riding impressions? First of all, at only 306lbs it weighed less than a Honda 250 at the time - but with a watercooled 650cc 2 stroke engine in it! It flew - and it was by far the best handling bike I''ve ever ridden. I was living near the South Downs at the time and it excelled on those roads. Sadly, It had to go - always a question mark about spares.
Hats off though to George Silk getting so much right. Think his problem was that he was under-capitalised.
Thanks for the comment, it’s great to hear from someone who actually owned one. 😊 Spares are often the issue with these specialist machines, aren’t they? By the way, I take my Trident over the South Downs frequently. Great roads if you don’t get stuck behind someone in a Toyota Yaris doing 30, or a pack of MAMILS straining to get up a hill at 2mph!
Thanks for the video.
Thank you, you’re too kind. 😊
I had a number of two strokes back when I first started riding including a Yamaha RD 350 and Kawasaki H2 750..very different ride than our current bikes. Sad to see them go. We are seeing the same with air cooled bikes now, slowly disappearing. Progress.
I used to love the smell of 2-stroke in the morning. Thanks for the comment. 😊
My Dad (a Yorkshireman unsurprisingly) was a Scott fanatic, having a number in various states of disrepair in the garage. He crooned over Silks, but having some semblance of common sense and little spare garage space left to maintain it, bought a Suzuki T500 instead.
I was 16 in 1980 and bloke in my village had one all my mates wanted rd's but I wanted the silk still do
As a youngster, I recall a number of old timers claiming that the Scott was a very prestigious machine. Some of the Squirrel engines were sold to power the `Mignet` aka` The Flying Flea`- a tiny self build death trap of an aeroplane which claimed the lives of several pilots in as many months, before being swatted from the skies by the authorities. It was lethal, literally - indeed a flying coffin - the original pre- F104, `Widow Maker`. Anyhow, and by the way, thanks for the nice video on Bob `Hawkwind` Calvert
Crikey. I recall those old timers too, and all these years have laboured under a vague belief that the Scott had some prestige to it. Thanks for the eye-opening tale there.
Had no idea about , about this Silk, just thought after Scott there wasn't anything. Love Scott and larger 2 strokes.
Really enjoyed this.
Thank you!
There was a 700S hung on the wall of a bike shop in Gloucester, Cheltnam or Stroud (can't remember which) 40 odd years ago. I thought it looked great.
In the mid eighties Yamaha had a concept 750 4cylinder 2stroke, Kawasaki had a concept 750 square4 2stroke, Suzuki had their Kettle 750 triple and Silk the 700s. Only Honda left out in the cold. But imagine if all these bikes went into production!!!! An absolute 2 stroke paradise!
It would have been great! If a little smokey! Thanks for the comment! 😊
A friend of mine had an original Flying squirrel and it’s quirky party piece was going into reverse if you stalled it then re started.
I'd followed the Silk marque since they appeared on the UK market in the mid 70's. Someone in my home town had a Mk1 and used to leave it parked outdoors near Molesey lock. I'd see it and hear it from time to time, tearing along what was known as Murder Mile. The stretch of road that skirts Bushey Park in Surrey and culminates at Kingston Bridge. It sounded amazing, 'Like a sheet of galvanised tin roofing being torn in half', was how one journalist described it. Many years later, I went to see one in Banbury with a view to buying it back in the early 2000's. It was mint in black with gold pinstripes. This was a beautiful and clearly hand-built bike, packed with British bike pedigree. The owner let me start and ride it around his local streets. I returned slightly underwhelmed by the experience. I was expecting Yamaha performance with Brit bike looks. Allied to the fact that at £3k, it was a grand more than my budget. Foolishly I declined the opportunity. To this day I regret not finding that extra £1k. There was a period of time in the late 90's early 20's when this limited production run of bikes were being bought and sold weekly. They were a good price, around three times the original factory price by then. It bought you a piece of British motorcycle history for ordinary Japanese superbike prices. They rarely come on the market now, and when they do they're pricey, even as dilapidated project bikes.
Personally I’ve never seen or heard one in real life, so it’s great to hear eye-witness testimony like yours. I think it’s true to say there have been very mixed reviews from owners here in the comments, but there’s no doubt the Silk 700S looks the business. Thanks for the comment.😊
Interesting , thankyou
At a local pub bike meet recently, there was a Scott (possibly a Squirrel) present which got me thinking, just yesterday, that I ought to look up the Silk. Lo and behold, in one of those eerie internet coincedences, this pops up in my feed. I know those algos are good, but blymey!
Ha! We’re all definitely living in The Matrix! Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils Everything is connected. Keanu went to my High School.
It's not a coincidence. The UA-cam algorithm frequently reads my thoughts. Sometimes even before I've thought them. Spooky.
There’s one on display in Derby Museum of Making that’s actually set in an old silk mill.
I knew a motorbike fanatic from Birmingham called Silk, and I always wondered whether there was a connection.
Always been a bike to dream about. (Yes: I am THAT old!)
Old bikers rock! 👍🏍️
Wow 1000cc two stroke triple that must have been a wild ride on drum breaks and single ply tires
The cooling system works on the thermo syphon system.
interesting ! I'd never heard of Silk Bikes before. Okay I was only just about getting rid of stabilisers on my pedal bike made for infant school children in 1975 , but still !
Ha! We like the idea of passing motorcycle wisdom on down the generations! Thanks for the comment. 😊
I did a movie stunt on a Scott in a WWI battlefield scene after first attempting it on a '03 Kerry. Unfortunately the handlebars became detached on the Kerry after a weld let go, leaving me with 12" steel tubes in each hand. The Flying squirrel had no problem climbing the same deeply rutted, muddy hill, regardless of it's 30 year old tyres. Although I had just bought one of the very first 1977 GS750s in Canuckistan after devouring every motorcycling publication I could find, I don't ever recall hearing about the Silk?
That’s quite a story. I always wondered about becoming a motorcycle stunt rider, but not that seriously because I have quite a low pain threshold! There were apparently only about 138 Silks made, around the name number as the Hesketh I featured in a previous video. I had a comment on the Hesketh video from a guy who knew the bloke who owned the only Hesketh in Africa, so extrapolating from that I guess these small production run machines rarely spread beyond the UK. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils This was the severely abbreviated version. The owner of both bikes was Charlie Emmons, a Lancaster Flight Engineer during WWII and Berlin Airlift and Gracie Fields' cornet player, who ran them in the 'London to Brighton' until he was close to 90. I sold the GS to Director David Cronenberg where it remains in his collection, so I could buy the '79 CBX I totalled 44 years ago to the day. You made a good decision not to get into movies. I had to give up motorcycling (and movie making) after injuring myself on a sequel to 'The Transporter'.
Cripes, sorry to hear that. I’ve been planning a video with the working title ‘So You Want To Be A Movie Motorcycle Stunt Man’, if I get around to it would you be happy to have a chat? It strikes me that there’s a story there to be told.
@@3Phils I was on set of an Evel Knievel biography the day the planes hit the towers and have pursued that deception ever since. I pray to God for deliverance from evil, but never specified how.
Wonderful and a housed chain. No dirty bike and trousers anymore.
It’s to protect the chain from outside filth not to protect the outside from oil splatter.
@@davidmatthews3093 for sure it's two for the price of one.
The enclosed chain looks like it's borrowed directly from Bultaco. My Metralla had it. I've long been surprised why they weren't more universally adopted. The only other mass produced bike I can think of that had a similar system to the Bultaco was the Yamaha V-twin, XV1000 from memory.
The chain enclosure was the same as MZ motorbikes. Not sure where George got them - probably direct from MZ. My wife probably knows - she worked in the office.
@@belperflyer7419 MZ probably borrowed the idea from Bultaco, since the Metralla and its brothers date to the 1960s. The Bultaco came to mind since I'd owned one, and the related offroaders were reasonably common in Australia in the 1970s while MZs were scarce as hen's teeth.
@@fredrubble5024 MZ began in 1922, long before Bultaco. I know because that is what it says on the petrol cap of my 84 ETZ250, that I have had since new.
@@bruceparr1678 The fact that MZ predates Bultaco as a company doesn't mean they couldn't have borrowed an ideas from them. The bikes MZ produced in the 1920s would have been very different to what was made in the 60s and 70s.
@@fredrubble5024 Here is a 1956 MZ riding through Germany a few years ago. It has a fully enclosed chain. ua-cam.com/video/b4H0ZyhF8eM/v-deo.html
I’ve a vague recollection a one off was made as a competition prize for a bike mag in the earlier 80s. The company who owned the rights then(whose name escapes me, well it was 40+ years ago) were better known for industrial metal stitching and high pressure steam leak sealing in situ.
Furmenite was the company.
You’re quite right, and the competition bike was a 500cc I believe. The company you’re thinking of is Furmanite, which wouldn’t seem like a natural fit with motorcycles! Thanks for the comment. 😊
Remember those and got reminded of Hesketh
Have you watched our previous video on Hesketh, a couple of weeks ago? If not, we recommend it!
Should take a look at 'Cotton' next 😊
I’d forgotten about Cotton. Thanks for reminding me! 😊
May I suggest, that the feeler gauge as the emblem of Scott Motorcycles is the coolest ever & makes the „Squirrel“ or even „Flying Squirrel“ name tag somewhat more bearable?
You may! I hadn’t realised that, so thank you for the comment. 😊 Also, I like the way the Silk logo pays homage to the way silk thread is spun. Neat!
Not really a feeler guage. Being a bit anoraky I must insist it is a limit guage.
And there's nothing wrong with squirrels, roasted with garlic, truffles and mangle wurzels they are delicious.
Ha! I had a mate from Texas who used to swear by squirrel pie! Used to shoot the darn things himself, too. And from a fellow pedant, albeit a literary one rather than an engineering one, I should point out that ‘guage’ is spelt ‘gauge’. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils Guage is wrong. I must of (sic) pressed the wrong buttons in the right order. Writing by hand I never spell incorrectly. Fifteen years of education and that was beaten in to me but keyboards do odd things to my thoughts.
@philhawley1219 You had all the right letters, just not in the right order. 😉
In the early 70s I went to Silk Factory in Derby, with a club probably BSA owners club? ( I've been to bed since then ) It was very interesting
I bought what must have been one of the last Silks made in early 1979. It was nothing short of a disaster. The engine wouldn't rev out and the claimed top speed of 105 was pie in the sky. The gear change mechanism included a welded up assembly which cracked leaving the bike stuck in bottom gear. The bike went back to the factory three times in all; piston seizure, the previously mentioned gearbox issue and the complete failure of the electrical system, a layout that could be charitably described as primitive. No fewer than four radiators were replaced in the 15 months that I owned the thing - seemingly incurable engine vibration caused cracking of the mounting brackets despite the rubber mounting to the frame. These were just the highlights, the full list of issues is too long for anyone. When the bike went back to the factory for the third time, I wrote to George Silk requesting that he sell it to the first person looking to buy one. This he did and I used the proceeds to buy a Guzzi Le Mans which gave me 15 years and 145,000 miles of glorious trouble free riding.
Interesting. They look great in the photos, but then so did my Royal Enfield. Thanks for the comment.
My only, sort of, positive memory of the Silk was being pulled over by a motorcycle copper. He jumped off his bike, a Norton Commando if I remember correctly, and came rushing over. 'Bloody Hell mate, I've read about these but I've never seen one! What's it like?'. I just sat there like an idiot muttering some banality while he walked around the bike in state of high excitement. With a cheery 'Thanks mate!' he dashed back to his Norton and roared off. I like to think it made his day.
Ha! That makes me wonder if one of today’s motorcycle coppers would be bothered, or even know / be interested in what they’re looking at. Speaking of chaps on bikes in uniform, I had a commentator a few weeks back who had been in the White Helmets, if you remember them? Used to love their displays.
'Hanging by a thread' Ouch! I'm sure there are more squirreled away somewhere...
Yes, I went a bit nuts!
@@3Phils 🤣
I see what you did there.
I owned one for a few years, Frame 49 & Engine 51. Really superb handling, gearbox was hmmm, adequate, but the engine was a real let-down. Won't catalogue all its problems but after it seized flat-out which turned out to be 90mph on the clock, not 110. When ordering new pistons and liners was told by Silk Engineering that "build quality was compromised by the need to get them out of the door because we needed the money". Thanks to that Spondon frame and suspension it did not throw me off and the engine half re-energised at walking speed to allow me to ride home and not have to walk. Interesting but flawed.
Fascinating. Another case of a bike that looks great but doesn’t necessarily live up to the looks? Thanks for the comment. 😊
Living in North Yorkshire at the time of Silks hay day, I often saw them around the village in which we lived, as it was home to a famous bike cafe. They were seen as really quite exotic and the owners tended to be aloof. They had a distinctive burbly growl and tended to be licking on quite rapidly. I found them interesting to look at with quite unusual features, which I liked. The cooling system works on the thermosyphon principle, as in hot water rises naturally, so in a closed system will circulate naturally without the need for a pump, this was probably seen as an aid to reliability. However, it wouldn't be adequate in a high performance engine, unless the radiator was massive. Not good for packaging on a bike!
Interesting that Silk riders were perceived as being aloof. I wonder if Hesketh riders were even aloofer? Thanks for the comment. 😊
Tomato Dip Cafe ?
@@tagomago2178
No, it was Squires, or the coffee bar. It first opened in the 50s and was called Squires, it was a transport caff but the local motorcyclists adopted it as their meeting placeband it became extremely popular, so popular that hundreds would turn up on summer weekends and eventually the locals got sick of the noise and dangerous antics of some riders. So it moved out of the Village, Sherburn In Elmet, and the owners bought a freehold pub a few miles up the road and converted it into a proper biker meeting place. That was in the late 80s but it's still going strong today. Well worth a visit if you're in North Yorkshire.
@@turboslag Thanks for interesting history. Been past it a few times but not stopped. The place I mentioned was just outside Skipton and ceased to be a "Rockers Cafe" in the early 70`s, becoming a restaurant instead. Anyhow, calling in at Sherburn in Elmet sounds good now the weather is favourable. Cheers
@@tagomago2178
You won't regret it! They do superb frothy coffee, or tea, whatever is your taste, and I can highly recommend the chip butties! It's on the B1222 either leaving Sherburn or going, depending on your approach, just by a railway bridge. It's like the Ace cafe of the north!
Not forgotten I wanted one, never had the money. I still don't have the money 😞
Neither do I. ☹️ Thanks for the comment. 😊
Regarding Scott`s use of the name "Squirrel", I have a very dim recollection of a schoolboy being informed by an ancient one, that the name related to the smokey exhaust trail of the two stroke, as it shot off into the distance. This being akin to a Squirrel`s tail.
Concerning Alfred Scott himself, he seems to have been a bit of a "Renaissance Man", having apparently been an Artist, Musician, Cave explorer and willing to try out diverse Engineering ideas. Pity he went prematurely. Seems like an interesting guy.
Oh yes, a squirrel’s tail being not unlike a plume of smoke. Ingenious! I didn’t have time to go into all of Alfred Scott’s many achievements in the video, but I read on Wikipedia that he died at the nothing age of 48 after contracting pneumonia driving back home from potholing in his wet clothes. Also, courtesy of Wikipedia, that Capt. Tom of NHS walking fame won many trophies racing Scott Squirrels in his youth. They don’t make ‘em like that nowadays!
If you read about "Thermodynamic cooling" you will see that all cars had it in the -30 and -40, mostly because it is very simple. Hot water rises above cold water.
Also LE Velocettes
Which is why you see them boiling over so frequently.
PPPHIL'S there was a Bike mag with The silk and Heeley(sq4) in it....the Heeley only thou for under a grand.Could have been MCM
Thanks for spotting that up! I think I might have the Healey article somewhere - I’ll have to dig deeper into the cardboard boxes of old lawnmower parts in my shed. Hopefully it’ll have the Silk test with it.
The way the gear lever works has nothing to do with the "gears being installed upside down" and they weren't. Gearboxes don't have an orientation , up or down . Gear selection is controlled by the selector drum and a designer is the one that chooses which way he wants it to rotate
As I say in the video, I am a mechanical numpty. Perhaps I should have made it clearer that most ordinary motorcyclists regarded it as being upside down because it was the opposite to what most manufacturers / designers were doing. Thanks for the comment. 😊
The selector was a flat plate, not a drum. It was installed vertically, different to the Velocette 'box which was horizontal. All the gears, shafts and clutch were Velocette. The actual change was OKish, but the cast aluminium (?) lever broke at the base of mine resulting in another limp-home Silk trip.
Enclosed chain drive, we should see more of them.
I’ve always thought that, but then another question arises in my limited-capacity brain - surely that makes the chain harder to lubricate? Thanks for the comment. 😊
The most produced motorcycle in the world still has an enclosed chain drive. The Honda Cub.
@@3Phils I'm sure they could figure a small reservoir to occasionally drip oil onto the chain inside the case.
@gerry343 Sort of like a Scottoiler? 🤔 I wonder if that’s why they’re called Scottoilers?
@@3Phils I'd forgotten those, but I thought somebody had made something similar.
remember readng aout it in bike mag. it then not long after vanished from reality which i thought was abit of a shame being as i liked 2 strokes .it did cost a bucket load of cash though
It was still half the price of the Hesketh, though. It was a strange time for British bike enthusiasts, the big names had gone or were on the way out, and these small, almost hobby projects were our only hope. It was a shame they amounted to very little in the end. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils cheers for the content that brings back a few memories from back when the world was less insane!
I went to the works in the 70s for a test ride and took out the experimental bike . Unfortunately it was a bit of a dog (smoked a lot and felt a little home made) though it handled well. Still have the original catalogue from that visit.
Judging by the footage I’ve seen, they do seem to be on the smokey side. Pleased, though, to hear confirmation that it handled well. Thanks for the comment. 😊
The only thing that stopped me buying a Silk was availability. There was a waiting list but I wanted a performance bike _now_ so I bought a Ducati 900SS instead.
I think I would have gone for the 900SS too, if I’d had the choice and was in your position. But I’d have never been able to afford a new Silk in the first place. I was tempted to buy one secondhand in the 1990s, but for the reasons I outline in the video I passed, and ended up with a Commando. Beautiful looking bikes, though. Thanks for the comment. 😋
Well l owned the Japanese alternative to the Silk 700 the Suzuki GT750 which despite its 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine it was a very smooth motorcycle to ride and boy did l ride my GT750 including a couple of trips to Adelaide from Sydney a very good touring bike and would so easily cruise at 160kph that's 100mph and the GT750 would do that easily
Yes, I’ve heard that ‘the kettle’ was a great touring bike. A bit heavier than the Silk though. Thanks for the comment. 😊
@@3Phils Definitely much heavier than a Silk and not forgetting that the Scott was the first water cooled two stroke
My old man had two squirrels. They were cheap motoring in the late 50s.
I viewed them as a gentlemans RD 400
Thermodynamic cooling just means that when water gets hot it expands, the density decreases, causing it to rise. The converse happens as it cools in the radiator.
Aha! That explains it then! Thanks for the comment. 😊
@3Phils There's more. I found a former owners testimony online "And there we have the answer to that question. I sold my Silk 700S because the cooling system simply didn’t work. Even in winter, I was constantly aware of the likelihood of seizing the engine and in fact managed to do just that a few times. I don’t keep bikes I can’t ride, so I sold it. One of 138 made, beautiful and a joy to ride, but finally… useless."
Oh dear. Thanks for flagging that up. Of course, it may have been a one-off.
@jonahwhale9047 This confirms my suspicion that thermodynamic cooling only works for engines of low power density like Ford model T and huge stationary engines. Engineers would love to delete those expensive and leak prone water pumps if they were not necessary for compact high power engines, but your experience proves that they are.
To me the headline attraction of this bike is the weight - 308lbs. The easiest way to gain performance from a bike is not by hotting up the engine but by losing weight. Three horsepower more than a Triumph 750 Bonneville and 100lbs lighter. What's not to like (apart from the price)?
The weight was a surprise to me, and would definitely make it an attractive proposition. My Triumph Trident from the same era weighs about 200lbs more!!
Spill the beans on the TRIUMPH Diana.
Ha! One day I might! Thanks for reminding me. 😊
when i was 15 i saw one and said to myself i will one of them when im old enough three weeks they went skint 😪
😢
Id forgotten the.Silk.until.now. There was.also a pretty trick British dirt bike called Cotton. Silk and cotton?
I only ever saw a couple of the Silks, I thought they were very well made I remember reading a test in one of the bike mags in the 1970s and the tester commented how well it handled compared to the ill handling Japanese bikes at the time, another british bike that should have done well with better investment.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there - no proper investment. That said, nobody was really investing in 2-strokes in the late 1970s. And here in the UK there was very little money around to invest in anything tbh. Thanks for the comment. 😊
There is no thermodynamic wizardry involved in the Silk's cooling, just basic high school science, which was the point. It works because hot water is less dense and occupies more space than cold water, so when the engine heats the water around the cylinders, it naturally rises towards the radiator while the cold water in the radiator naturally sinks towards the cylinders. Et Voila ! water circulation without a pump.
The finest motorcycle ever made.
Pretty machine in all colors. Never heard of the 70s roadbike, but did see a vintage "Flying Squirrel" at the Guggenheim traveling motorcycle exhibit. Thought it looked great. Would have loved to ride one of Silks, and I expect it would be silky smooth. Too bad the British motorcycle industry couldn't compete with the Japanese, but glad to see Triumph back on the scene, altho I think that some of their bikes are butt-ugly and impractical.
Wonder if Allen Millyard could do something with one?? lol
The Racing & Sporting M/c Shows at the RHS showrooms in Greatcoat St . London , were a great draw for me in my early teens . An avid MCM reader and often a contributor to the Tips and Tricks section . I was way too young to hold a licence , but had read and digested Jennings and Bossaglia courtesy of my local library and was already tuning 2 strokes as 2 of my older brothers were riders .I was already familiar with 2 strokes from Ariel , Villiers and in a variety of scooters which I was already porting and tuning , but to see the new British entry at the show was interesting if a little disappointing as this Great British hope had to compete with the cheap Japanese imports already arriving in the UK . At the time we had seen multi cylinder/multi carb Reed and rotary valve engines on the race track and this tech was not present on yet another twin cylinder piston ported 2 stroke . The designers of the engine , to me , had missed the point and clearly failed in producing what the young wage earners wanted at the time , more technology and with that comes more cylinders and more carbs in a package that can be developed into a weekend race bike which would have helped it survive for a while despite the 1974 oil crisis . A great looking frame was not good enough if the engine had limited development capability for racing . It was doomed to fail and fail it did .
You left out the genesis of the SILK 700, the 636cc Silk Scott special that used a modified and tuned Scott DPY engine, a Velocette gearbox and a Spondon frame. Less than 25 were made.
I have number 20.
Yes, sorry about that. I had to do a bit of glossing over for the sake of brevity. Those machines were what the owners of the Scott trademark got all hot under the collar about, I believe? Which led Mr S to develop the Silk? Amazing to own No. 20 out of 25 or so! Thanks for the comment. 😊
My grandad had a nasty accident on a Squirrel, the bike not the tree rat.
Thermosiphone, like the model t.
Moose and Skweerille 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
am I crazy or have they started building these again..
I don’t think so. I didn’t come across any signs of a revival when I was researching the video.
Nice video. Thanks. drop the background music. Unnecessary, just interferes
Thanks for the supportive comment. 😊 I’ve had one or two people mentioning the background music. It’s a tough creative choice and I fully understand that folk who are really into these motorcycles would prefer less frivolity and more ‘meat’. Other, more casual, UA-cam viewers might find themselves more engaged with music in the background. There have been way more views of this video in the first 24 hours than any other the channel has done, so I guess, on balance, there are more ‘frivolous’ viewers than serious enthusiasts. A lot of time and effort is put into getting the audio mix between commentary, music, and background noise balanced and each video is tested on various devices to see what it sounds like, ahead of publication. It depends what you’re viewing on, to some extent. That said, I struggled to edit in a clean audio of the Silk ticking over, so apologies if you were disappointed.
A modern Scott.
Those time related value of money calculators are bloody useless. They are always way low
It was calculated on the Bank of England’s inflation calculator. Mind you, you could argue the Bank of England’s bloody useless too! 🤣 Thanks for the comment. 😊
You can't understand that warm fluids rise and cool fluids fall to displace them?
How are you making a video?
Thermosyphon cooling systems are just the primitive systems all early liquid cooled engines had.
Other "features" the Silk had was an obsolete crossflow (deflector piston) scavanging system like an old reel type lawn mower with a Villiers engine might use. That's how they managed to get 48 hp and not 70hp from a 650cc two stroke
And was also how the original Scott's shifted their water around.
Thanks for explaining that so nicely. 😊
There were definitely that sort of thing… we know of that type with extra vooom and Grubble, wubble, Dubble... Even if Yorkshire! Who know. We have that sort of stuff, complete with foreign type. Crikey!
JUNK.
THE PISTONS WERE FITTED FOR OPPOSITE ENGINE ROTATION.
CLATTERED LIKE A DUSTCART
A friend of mine had a Silk. It couldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding.
And Heeley
First rd
Silk was an excellent machine!
Don't forget that the Scott was really the Yamaha LC from over a century ago.
A water cooled two stroke twin and from the earliest days it had a two speed foot change gearbox and a hand operated clutch when most bikes didn't even have a gearbox or a clutch, just a direct drive from the crank by a leather belt.
And it had an early form of telescopic forks and oil injection rather than petrol/oil mix. Mr Scott was a reet clever bugger as they might say in Yorkshire.
@philhawley1219 Aye lad, ‘ee were reet champion that Mr Scott.
@@philhawley1219also the first to use a kick starter.
Sales figures limited due to being overpriced