Hi Corduroy,
You're a seasoned campaigner in Model 45's. I just had a quick look back at your previous Scotty you did and it just oozes class. So you can see the value in this particular machine. Just the cutter sprocket is worth the bucks you paid for the whole unit.
As far as age is concerned, these are still in the same boat as the Briggs powered Scotty's and that is with the engine build date that's stamped into the air cowling of the engine, but as yours is missing you'll never know. All I can say is that it is an early 90's machine as it has the forward facing clutch lever and has no screw holes in the rails for the attachment of the plastic clutch cover that was fitted in the later "reds", first forward and then rearwards at the end of 45 production.
There really wasn't anything different between the earlier units and the later ones apart from the slight change of the handle bar assembly which was a bit tighter together at the top and felt a bit more uncomfortable than the earlier machines that felt a bit more relaxed.
Catcher rubbers were changed to bolt on opposed to push on when Rover took over. Different hand grips and also some other really minor cost cutting things but nothing that one would really notice.
Cheers,
BB
