Haggis Gathering

Yesterday I went to the ‘Haggis Gathering’ Auto-jumble in Lanark, about an hour away from me. It’s an annual event, but I’d never been before as classic motorcycle auto-jumbles (swap meets) aren’t normally my thing. The main attraction, however, was an opportunity to meet up with a few friends and do some catching up.

I paid a couple of quid to get in and went for a wander around. Actually, the first thing I encountered on arrival was a bloke screaming the nuts of an elderly Suzuki GT500 running up and down the car park and laying down a two-stroke smokescreen which would have done a James Bond movie proud. He looked to be having a whale of a time until it seized on him. Oops. Turned out that he had been a prospective buyer and I left him and the bikes owner having an animated conversation and headed on in to the event proper.

It’s part outdoor event, part indoor event, with the indoor bit being housed in the stalls usually used for livestock pens, which I found a bit bizarre but it seemed to work well enough. It was surprisingly busy, maybe because it’s the first such event of the year.

It was the expected mix of old bikes, new and used parts for sale, as well as tools and assorted bric a brac. 

Fiat based trike

I didn’t find anything that I really wanted or needed, but did get talking to a couple of the folk selling bikes as they tend to pounce if you hesitate and make the mistake of making eye contact.

Old-school Hinckley Triumphs - Sprint & Trophy

A nice old bloke selling a complete and running Ariel Leader and another in bits was a nice distraction and we had a bit of a natter about old British two strokes in general. 

Triumph Tiger Cub

I did spot an old MZ for sale, a TS125 which turned out to be completely seized and which, I was assured, would sort itself out with a bit of oil down the bore. Which makes you wonder if it were that easy why it hadn’t already been done? I moved swiftly on.

East German MZ TS125

The rest of the day was spent catching up with the people I had arranged to meet, and the odd person who I just happened to bump into. One lad I hadn’t seen in a couple of years was quite excited as he’d just bought an ex-Danish Army Nimbus 750 and was waiting on it being delivered. I’m quite interested in having a look at it too, to be honest.

In the end, it was a pleasant day out and I came away without spending too much. Besides a couple of coffees all I ended up buying was a couple of lengths of fuel line which I figured might come in hands sometime.