c1929 Scott Flying Squirrel 500cc Motorcycle

Description

The story of Scott Motorcycles dates back to 1908, when Alfred Angus Scott patented his first motorcycle frame and a new 333cc engine based on his original vertical two-stroke twin of 1904. Scott's motorcycles rapidly gained a reputation for innovation and speed, not to mention the high quality construction and have been described as 'The Bugatti of Motorcycles' over the years, high praise indeed. The legendary Flying Squirrel can trace its origins back to 1922, the first bike designed under new management, and by 1925 this was joined by the Super Squirrel and even faster, more powerful Flying Squirrel of 1926. Scott somehow survived the Depression years and branched out into smaller capacity machines in the 1930s but when production resumed post-war it was the large capacity Flying Squirrel that formed the mainstay of Scott's model range in the late 1940s. A new type of telescopic front fork replaced the girder forks soon after the resumption of production, then coil ignition, a roll-on stand and detachable rear mudguard from 1949 but only detail improvements were made thereafter and the company went into voluntary liquidation in late 1950. Scott soldiered on under new ownership, relocating to Birmingham in 1956 and these bikes remained in production until the end of the 1960s.