Great day out yesterday..!! :)
I entered the ol' Heskesaurus in the Scottish Classic Motorcycle Show... It's a relatively small affair, hosted by the Ayr Classic Motorcycle Club (https://sites.google.com/site/ayrclassicmcc/home), who have managed to get Ayr Racecourse (http://www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk/) as the venue for the past couple of years (there's posh now...!) [RANT]Small is better than nowt though and if we don't support these small events, then we can't complain when they're not there any more, can we..? [/RANT]
(http://iloapp.empressmcc.org.uk/data/_gallery/public/1/137088805767816500_resized.jpg)
It's about 45 miles from home to the racecourse... Not the most stimulating of routes, but breath-taking views of the Ayrshire moors and almost completely free of traffic early on a Sunday morning... Great!
The show was open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with exhibitors required to be there before 9:30 a.m. I was there well before 9:00 a.m. and got the V1000 into position H9 nice and early. The folk from the Ayr Classic MCC are very friendly and were quite excited to see the V1000, so there was no problem with me being bored and "kicking my heels" with no-one to talk to all day.
For judging purposes the Show is divided into categories based on year of manufacture and country of origin... Up to '79 there are separate categories for Brit and non-Brit bikes, but the '80 – '89 category is where country of origin stops being taken into account, so the V1000 was up against bikes such as three Yamaha RD350LCs and a Honda GL1100, amongst others.
The auto-jumble was a little Spartan, but Steve's Stainless was there for some bits and pieces I "needed" (Mmmm... Shiny..!!). Another stand had an original owner's handbook for the current Mrs M's FJ1200A for £5.00 so I was happy enough with those purchases, especially as being an exhibitor meant free entry to the event.
The glorious weather brought out large crowds, but most only stayed a short while as they were keen to get out onto the amazing Ayrshire roads and enjoy the real two wheel adventure for themselves. I was of similar mind... The run down to the show was pretty "business-like" but the run home was all about leisure and pleasure... I travelled "back up the road" with an old (and auld) pal of mine; Chris. We took the (very) scenic route back through Ayr, Prestwick, Largs (where we stopped for a delicious ice-cream sundae), Lochwinnoch, Paisley and back to Glasgow. Chris and I went our separate ways there and I popped over to Bearsden to show my pal Gordon my trophy...
(http://iloapp.empressmcc.org.uk/data/_gallery/public/1/137086543314226200_resized.jpg)
Oh..?! Didn't I mention that..? The ol' Heskesaurus took "Best in Class". I was well pleased. Also well pleased that the two bikes I had picked as most likely to win were given the runner-up (Yamaha RD350LC in blue with bikini fairing and belly-pan) and 2nd runner up (Honda VT500E in very similar candy red to the Hesketh) places. I received a nice certificate, an even nicer trophy and a copy of "Real Classic" magazine (they had sponsored the show).
So, a great day out, another trophy on the shelf and another 125 miles, or so, on the V1000 (told you we took the scenic route back).
Jeff
(More Pictures to follow...)