I've just got back from Stafford after a 5 hour trip...What a weekend..we had a puncture on the Motorway on the way up and at 3 O'clock on Saturday morning our 20ft by 10ft steel framed marquee took off, completely cleared a parked car and landed about 40 ft. away...no doubt about it, it was a tad breezy!
Plenty of torrential rain thrown in for good measure and a temperature of around 3 degrees this morning.
Despite all that I managed to do OK and sold quite a few parts...Also picked up some NOS bits and some used parts I was after..
I didn't actually get much sleep for the two nights but met up with a number of the forum regulars which is always good....Can't wait to 'hit my pit' tonight though...Ahh the Jumblers life..Swan about and make loads of easy money..
....
...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Hi Bill..To be honest it wasn't typical..and you just 'take the rough with the smooth'..I still enjoyed my weekend despite it all. Probably the biggest disappointment was I didn't find the late A10 fork bottoms I need to get the sprinter on its wheels...bugger!...
I sold my mates Hinkley Bonneville so he is happy..more cash to lavish on his 52 Thunderbird special project...
And I picked up some reasonably priced alloy clip ons which will do nicely for the sprinter with the application of a little 'elbow grease', so another part off the list...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
I only went up for the Saturday and it wasn't too bad then. Great to meet up with more forum members who are all busy exchanging parts for each other 
I bought everything I needed for the bike, Rik is an autojumble bloodhound and sniffed our a pair of pillion footrests for me, so I'm pleased. Oh and the elusive girder fork wire clip that I didn't even know existed a week ago. Thanks
email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk
Sadly,as usual, Stafford cost me...I sorted out my stock today and discovered I was two repro Triumph tank panels short...I hope the guilty 'enthusiasts' die young of something unpleasant...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
With the average age there being 50+, you wouldn't expect that sort of thing to happen. 
email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk
hi i only saw ian and job and had an unfruitful day but enjoyed it.decent british parts/spares are getting thinner and thinner on the ground.
i have an inferiority complex when handling jumble stuff
if the trader is not in my face seeing where your hands
are.i would never nick a screw,just not in my nature.
last year i think,there was an ad in OBM for the return of a fully reconditioned racing magneto lifted when the stall holder was distracted,bag of shit,these wa****s
are the scum who would break your stolen bike and sell it piecemeal and weigh in the rest.
cheers rick
email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com
When I first started jumbling I made the mistake of thinking that the 'scene' was full of like minded enthusiasts...I rapidly had a lesson on that score.
Wherever there is something of value there is a thief to steal it...
I lose something at most large jumbles..there are too many people about and you can't be watching things all the time. Also these guys work in pairs sometimes..one will engage you in conversation about something whilst the other does the work...
I generally expect to lose something and if it is something of moderately low value then I feel I have done OK. For example, I had a reconditioned Gold Star GP carb with me at the weekend that was £350..you wouldn't want to lose that!...What was annoying about the panels was that I picked them up on Friday when I arrived and had just paid for them!
I could tell numerous stories on this subject but what is incredible is the audacity of these people on occassion..I know of a dealer who lost a complete 650 Triumph engine in the middle of the day and another who lost a frame and girder forks..
Once you are distracted they have it...after all, no one would make anything of someone carrying a frame at Stafford, they just have to get clear of your stall...On the upside I have seen people receiving 'summary justice' at the hands of a stallholder and that makes you feel better..in fact it brightens up your whole day!...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
My missus sometimes does car boots sales and I've gone out to help her as another pair of eyes. She's got clothes on rails, and even with 2 of us watching there are empty coat hangers at the end of the day. It really gets me angry as the items are only a pound or two.
Yes it's a great feeling when you catch the culprit. We once caught a bloke breaking into my mates car outside my house. He had the contents of my mates car inside his own, so caught red handed. I wont go into detail of how he sustained his injuries but fair's fair, we stripped the contents of his car out while he had no choice but to watch We also had his driving licence with his address on.
I think it's called short, sharp, shock, and that probably worked better as a future deterrent than the court system
email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk
Rik is an autojumble bloodhound and sniffed our a pair of pillion footrests for me, so I'm pleased. Oh and the elusive girder fork wire clip that I didn't even know existed a week ago. Thanks
It helps to be a bit focussed and not to spin round and gawp at every bint in tight jeans who walks past...I saw you !
The usual suspects were indeed present and it was nice to catch up with the news. The weather was diabolical and Jan's car was flashing skid warnings on Sunday morning, it was that cold. Highlight of the weekend for me was holding up the queue for the hot-air hand drier. It was too nice to leave !
I bought very, very little this year. Quite a nice pair of used but decent OE tank grips for £10 (Thanks to Dave Plumb for showing me the table !)
I'm sorry to hear about Ian's double bad luck. Are you sure that the tent wasn't pinched and the panels didn't blow away ?
I'm not suprised that there were thieves about. Probably on both sides of the tables ! I saw some poor punter struggling to get things sorted after he'd been short-changed by a well known electrical trader feigning Alzheimer's. I saw the whole transaction and it didn't look very believable.
The age of the visitors was very noticeable this year and perhaps the old cold-weather clothing made them (us) look even more like a bunch of tramps but the whole thing had the feel of a pikey-convention. I can't believe that the hobby as we know it is going to last long as there are very few newcomers on the scene.
You're exaggerating Rik...I only saw one girl I wanted to marry all weekend ...Don't expect to see lots of young buyers on the jumble scene...people generally 'get into it' around 40 I'd say...before that they are more interested in tear assing about on a sports bike.
The same comments were being made 25 years ago and most of the old boys at the jumbles then are now in care homes dribbling down their pyjamas or have gone 'up the blue'...Yet the jumbles are just as busy..Perhaps the big change, and a predictable one, is the growth in the restoration of Japanese and European bikes,by a generation that didn't start on or really remember the British stuff and don't hold it in particularly high esteem...There was even a restored Super Dream in the main hall!..Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Ian, I didn't expect you to be impressed, but then you're a man of wealth and taste !
I've been attending jumbles only since about 1980 and as I was in my early twenties at the time, I've got used to the average age being higher than mine but this time, it wasn't just the white-haired old boys in tweed jackets.
The place seemed to be populated with gammy legged versions of Quasimodo who couldn't quite manage to walk round with a wheel rim and at the same time hold up their sagging jeans. I can't believe that they actively ride motorcycles, or anything else for that matter.
That the jumbles are busy doesn't bother me, but my hobby shares little with the characters searching for grey cables for their Hondas.
The Superdream was horrible but I saw at least three Francis-Barnet Fulmars this weekend and struggled with the idea that someone once bought them new...
Rik is an autojumble bloodhound and sniffed our a pair of pillion footrests for me, so I'm pleased. Oh and the elusive girder fork wire clip that I didn't even know existed a week ago. Thanks
It helps to be a bit focussed and not to spin round and gawp at every bint in tight jeans who walks past...I saw you !
Yes, you can't beat a bint in a tight pair of jeans...
she didn't have grey hair or a gammy leg either. Of course she stood out
email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk
I thought it was the cold weather that made 'em stand out !
And whilst at Stafford I asked Henk to photograph this speedo drive for anyone who might need one. It's one of a small batch of NOS left side speedo drives on sale by Geoff Meyers (Formerly Russell Motors). gjmyers@mac.com
Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Yes Roger, like the speedo drive above. You wouldn't want that disappearing at that price.
Ian's marquee blow away because he didn't have the patented "Norton marquee anchor"
You wanted to know a good use for a 16H engine Ian
email (option): horror@blueyonder.co.uk
Hi Horror, With the wind as it was on Saturday night I think I would have needed a Big 4.. ...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com