I photographed this bike at the Classic Bike Show at Stafford in 2005 and had a chance to talk to the owner. Silk make the 700S using an engine based on the Scott two stroke twin engine in a modern frame in the '70s. The bikes looked great but were made in small numbers and were expensive.
This 500 was one of two built. They seem to have been built in 1988 some time after the factory closed using a prototype engine and were prizes in a Classic Bike magazine competition.
Nice bikes. Not seen this model before.
ReplyDeleteThe 'standard' Silk was fitted with a fully enclosed chain. The rubber chain gaiters were sourced, surprisingly, from MZ in Germany. I rememeber contacting the Scott Owners Club to see if they wanted a dozen sets of ES250 Trophy Sport chain rubbers that I had left over, bought from a German MZ dealer. They took them and I received a nice letter of thanks afterwards since a number of their members with a Silk had all but given up hope of getting new ones for their bikes as they didn't know where the originals had come from.