With daughter’s visit now showing an ETA of around 17.30 hrs I decided to nip up to Lanark for the Scottish Classic M/C Show. I’m not really into shows as such and I find it hard to take that this is my second show this year. One every twenty years is more my thing.

The fact that the organiser is Robbie Allan who I rode trials with thirty years ago was one factor that got me there and here’s me in the early eighties picking my way out of a deep ravine near Stonehaven with both feet still on the pegs for once —

Due to the wayward life I’ve led I don’t have many bike pics from previous times so you will have to forgive me if that one pops up now and again.

This next photo doesn’t come out much though. Tis myself with my PINK Honda NC30 VFR400 in the paddock at the North West 200 twenty years ago —

The connection? Today’s guest of honour at the show was TT winner Jim Moodie and he rode my NC30 back then. So did I of course and here she is lining up for an overtake coming out of the hairpin at Knockhill with yours truly aboard — and number 80 didn’t get past me and that’s a girlie we are lapping —

I enjoyed meeting Jim again after all that time – he looks as fit as ever and still trains on his moto-crosser at speeds that put some of our current day stars to shame. I would add that the phsycadellic pink was Jim’s choice of colour. Would you guess – it stood out from the pack on television screens!

While we are name dropping here’s another one from the past and present I bumped into at the show —

Yes it’s Ian Simpson – he rode another of my VFR400’s to victory in the early nineties. No doubt he was searching through the auto-jumble for some TZ350 parts as he is still racing one of those at the front in the ICGP race series on Europe’s race circuits.

There was a decent showing of classic bikes on display but I wasn’t tempted to get my camera out till I spotted this fine fellow —

A Bultaco 250cc Trials bike from the late seventies/early eighties. A 325cc version of this was my first and probably my best trials bike. With hindsight I should have stuck with it instead of dabbling in Ossa’s and fourstroke Honda’s.

Now this single seat BMW PD 850GS BMW also rings a bell —

It was a red and equally smart version of this that I bought on American e-bay with the intention of riding across the States and north to Alaska. A ruptured pelvis put the kybosh on that idea and I shipped her home instead. She was last seen in deepest Cornwall.

For me the star of the show was outside amongst the race machinery —

Built pre-war by a Rolls Royce employee –  Mr Jones of Derby. A 500cc four cylinder horizontally opposed twostroke made in England long before our Japanese friends ruled the world with their Hondasaki’s and Yamasuki’s. This baby was supercharged and had good results at the TT as well as being ridden by Bill Lomas who went on to be World Champion.

With all this and shaftdrive too she was a work of art — mmm — I think I would re-route the R/H pair of plugleads before firing her up otherwise they will soon fry on those hot exhausts —

Footnote; Super-charging was banned on race bikes after the war.

In retrospect a nice day out but I don’t want to make a habit of going to shows – I’d much rather be riding 🙂

Scottish Classics