Scott Two-Stroke Twin (R34), 1913
1913 · Scott Motorcycle Company, Saltaire, Yorkshire · 486cc water-cooled two-stroke twin
Rotating view of a 3D model built for Manx Road Racer. A reconstruction from period photographs and drawings, not a surviving machine.
Alfred Scott's motorcycles looked like nothing else in the paddock. The engine was a two-stroke twin, fully water-cooled from 1911, with a radiator ahead of the cylinders. It sat low in an open frame, with a two-speed gear and chain drive.
Scott's first TT entry in 1911 ended in retirement, though Frank Philipp set the fastest lap. In 1912 Frank Applebee won the Senior and set the fastest lap, the first TT win for a two-stroke. Some in the trade thought a twin that fired twice as often as a four-stroke single was an unfair rival.
The 1913 Senior was run in two parts on different days: three laps first, then four more. Ninety-seven riders on thirty-two makes started the seven laps, 262½ miles. Tim Wood, on this machine, led at the end of the first part and went on to win at 48.28 mph. Applebee was heading for second on another Scott until a puncture on the last lap, leaving A. R. Abbott's Rudge as runner-up.
Wood's winning machine survives. It was shown at Motorcycle Live at the NEC, Birmingham, in December 2021.
Facts
- Race: 1913 Senior TT, 7 laps, 262½ miles, run in two parts
- Result: 1 Tim Wood (Scott), 48.28 mph
- Earlier: 1912 Senior TT won by Frank Applebee (Scott), first two-stroke TT win
- Engine: 486cc two-stroke twin, water-cooled, two-speed, chain drive
Sources
- National Motorcycle Museum, "The TT-winning 1913 Scott R34 at this year's Motorcycle Live"
- Manx National Heritage, iMuseum, "Tim Wood (Scott), 1913 Senior TT"
- Manx National Heritage, iMuseum, "1912 Senior TT"
- Grace's Guide, "Scott Motor Cycle Co"
- Cycle World, "The Greatest Race of Them All", April 1969
- Motorcycle Timeline, "1913"