New venue a winner
Northern Rivers Classic Motorcycle Clubs Annual Rally
16-18 September, 2016 – Evans Head, NSW
After many years based at Ballina it was decided to relocate a little further south to Evans Head for 2016. This beautiful location proved to be a great move with 104 entrants coming from far afield. Basing a Rally at the one central location provides a very social atmosphere with most of the riders and their families staying at the North Coast Holiday Park. The event was further enhanced with several members of the HMCC of Qld bringing their Vintage and Veteran Bikes, using our Rally as their annual “Old Bangers Run.”
The Friday ride left after lunch and travelled on mostly flat roads to suit the older bikes. This was followed by a BBQ Meet and Greet at the Holiday Parks Camp Kitchen with the food generously supplied by the Park Management. Saturday’s Ride followed a breakfast provided by the Local Football Club with proceeds going to the family of a footballer who passed away while playing in a recent game in the area. 17 pre 1930s bikes headed off for an 80km ride with morning tea at Coraki and then on to Casino Public School to meet up with the riders on the longer ride, who had their morning tea stop at Rocky Creek Dam. The P&C provide an excellent lunch while the bikes were lined up for judging. Many of the entrants chose to view the F-111 on display at Evans Head Airport Museum before arriving back at the base. Our Presentation Night was held at the Evans Head Bowlo and everyone enjoyed the activities and the dinner. A presentation was made to Arthur Gentz and Graham Kerr who have travelled from Toowoomba to attend our Rally for over 20 consecutive years. Sunday was to be a Show in the Main St with a Trophy for best bike provided by the Evans Head Chamber of Commerce; however we had some rain showers spoil our plans so the lunchtime farewell BBQ was brought forward to become a farewell brunch. This suited the visitors as they could get away earlier. The trend these days is to have the largest representation of bikes in the 1970s, however we were pleased to see that we had a greater number of entries in the 1950s group. It was also very encouraging to see that many of the visitors booked their accommodation for next year’s Rally before leaving Evans Head. It is a big gamble to relocate a Rally that has been established at the same location for many years; however the many benefits of having the group staying together proved to be a winner.