MZ Riders Club

South of Scotland Section

Page updated : 28/02/2005

Site designed by Mike

Scottish IFA Day 2001

Sunday 29th April was Scottish IFA day and the first rally/event on my calendar. The event was well publicized through Thistledown, the Section newsletter, and the Skoda Owners Club and Trabant Owners Club magazines. If you read between the lines at this point you will have deduced that there is a sad case here of someone who is a member of all of these clubs.

Mike Paterson had co-ordinated MZRC involvement and several club members had said they would turn up for IFA's two-wheeled products. There was some initial confusion about the meeting place for the start of the event, one group idling away time at the Forth Bridge Hotel, whilst the larger group were on the foreshore outside the Two Bridges Hotel. The marvels of the mobile phone came to the rescue and we were all eventually lined up in an impressive display of former East European two-stroke machinery.

There was an excellent collection of cars: Trabants, Wartburgs, Skodas, Ladas and even a Barkus Van (pictured opposite). MZ's included the ES250 Trophy (pictured on the news page), a Supa 5, a couple of ETZs and Mike's Silver Star Combo. Lots of chat and many photo's with a good mix between the car and bike folk. It was interesting to be something of an outsider as a motorcyclist observing the car enthusiasts, particularly the Trabi owners. The Trabi is a cult car, as well as being a small practical car. Okay, slightly odd, and ex-GDR. Their owners reflect the car's complex identity. You may remember that the pop-group U2 had one or two as stage backdrops for the tour and subsequent album Achtung Baby. Identifying with this facet of the car's personality was a very smart, bright yellow Trabi complete with alloys, lowered suspension and tinted windows driven by a young lad in punk style. Other owners included our own Stuart Forbes who appreciates them as a practical form of two-stroke transport since a back problem has forced him off two-wheels and onto four. There was one quiet old gentleman who was proud to call it the GDR Mini, and there was also a GDR fanatic who had GDR communist party logos plastered over his car.

We were given our starting orders and lined up in a convoy ready for the off. Pollution levels soared as 25 or so two-strokes coughed into life "Worse than a sea haar", a passer by was heard to splutter. Another wondered where the AA/RAC was, sure that the unusual engine notes heralded impending mechanical mayhem and mass failure.

We set off for a lunch stop at the Knockhill Race Circuit. It was quite tricky riding over the cobbles in South Queensferry. I was following Mike on his outfit and I swear I saw daylight under the chair's wheel a couple of times as he rattled through the streets. We were honked at once at this stage by an exasperated driver who was stuck at a traffic calming rib who had to sit and watch this seemingly never ending procession of small, wacky, weird smoking vehicles.

First stop was the Forth Bridge toll booths, with the bikers cruising through non-stop and pulling in past the booths to form up into the IFA convoy. Riding across the Forth Bridge on a bike is always a heady experience, and that day it was too, with the added pleasure of being in a group of like-minded enthusiasts. As we headed into Fife and up to Knockhill the weather broke. We had left sunshine and warmth on the south shore of the Forth and Fife was grey, overcast, cold and eventually wet with some really heavy showers. At the race circuit we all piled into the cafeteria to warm up and get a bite to eat.

We left Knockhill just after a heavy shower, the rain had landed on warm roads and vegetation so, as we came upon the scene it was rather eerie with swirling mists coming up from the road surface and the marsh lands on either side. It was like riding into a special effects scene in the X Files.

The Scottish Vintage Bus Museum is well worth a visit if you haven't been there. It is only open on Sundays between 12 and 5 pm. You can get a tour guide who will hurl you around the complex of hanger-sized sheds giving a very full and interesting talk. The site is a former military base, with its own tarmac roads system, so you get a decent trip on the old bus allocated to your group. Our bus was a double-decker from The China Bus Co. - operating their buses in Hong Kong. This bus was capable of carrying 105 passengers and to do this the seats were minimalist, no padding, with everything crammed in. Our guide did tactfully remind us that the average Hong Kong passenger would be somewhat smaller, so this explained the lack of headroom and the small seats. Tremendous machine, very noisy, but who cares. It was great fun.

One of the high points of my day was when Stuart Forbes let me have a shot driving his Trabi 601 deluxe around the site. Once underway the wee car is surprisingly quiet and quite a peppy performer. The gear change is a column change, a bit unorthodox these days, and really needs to be thought about to avoid engaging reverse at 40mph. Stuart was very calm and helpful as he guided me during this driving experience. Mike had a rush of blood to the head and asked if he could have a go on my Trophy. He returned with a huge grin on his face, Great Jim, but what god awful brakes! He couldn't believe that these were the upgraded and improved brakes compared to their performance when I first bought the bike. I have not passed on his concerns to Joan who rides pillion.

A surprise visitor to the event was a German-registered Trabant Cabriolet. The couple driving it had spotted info in the Trabant club newsletter and had managed to fit it in to their touring holiday itinerary. Their car was a model of Trabant I had never seen before, and whether it was original or a later conversion I am not sure. It certainly looked smart in dark green metallic paintwork, definitely not a standard works colour.

The time really flew past and we were amongst the last to leave. It was a good day out and it was really interesting to hear from the car drivers what it was like to run a two-stroke four-wheeler. Did you know that the service interval for a Wartburg is 30,000 miles! Amazing!

Thanks to all those involved, for organizing and co-ordinating the event. If you didn't make it this year look out for it in 2002 and put it in your diary.