Vincents at The Dish
2016 Australian National Vincent Owners’ Club Rally
The New South Wales Section had the honour of hosting this rally and the weather was perfect. Nearly 100 people and over fifty Vincents arrived by Friday afternoon to enjoy a weekend of pure, unadulterated Vincent life. The Parkview motel was Vincent HQ and luckily we had every room booked so there were no complaints about the noise! Friday evening was the welcome barbecue where we all engage with old friends and meet new ones to join in what has become a not-to-miss event held every two years in one of the Eastern mainland states. Some rode from Bundaberg, Armidale, Sydney, Traralgon and beyond. Saturday morning was clear and mild with late arrivals still coming into the venue. A long ride was planned but the recent floods had taken their toll on the roads so it was decided to shorten the ride to about 110 miles from 170 miles. It has to be said, however, that some did not listen and completed the full circuit. Eugowra, Canowindra and Manildra all got to hear the glorious sound of a Vincent plus a few others; special mention to John Alexander onhis VW/BMW special that he rode from Bundaberg. Canowindra was morning tea stop, and it was then off to Manildra for lunch at the local school. Instead of riding up to Molong and Yeovil we took the direct route back to Parkes and here the big twins really hit their stride. Even the Comets were inclined to possible breaches of the law on the flats and downhills. While the roads were not in the same class as the Snowy Mountains they were scenic and everyone had a safe trip. There had been a massive amount of rain in the area during September and it was only recently, in the last few days that all the roads were open.
Saturday evening was a lively affair at the motel with a racer fired up and lightly exercised courtesy of Greg Brillus; I could almost hear Eric Debenham
laughing as the bike hit second gear and then went into the over-run. Most of us had a fairly early night after dinner but a bit of bench racing and friendly banter did carry on into the later hours. Sunday was show time so it was out to The Dish telescope. This road was in quite good condition and has a speed limit of 110km/h. Enough said. A magnificent line up of nearly fifty Vincents was very impressive and Judy Beyer was impressive in getting the video and photos of the event. The line up included the oldest running Vincent in the world (1929) and one of the newest (1955) plus a 21st century Egli; truly a time scale of a singular machine. While there was no original Series A pre-war bike, there was the amazing recreation of Neal Videan’s; a bike of aluminium and steel that had everyone just gobsmacked by its presentation. Terry Prince fired up his salt racer with an engine that he originally bought nearly sixty years ago but has undergone a few mods. It is now pumping in excess of 150 BHP and makes a noise accordingly. Then Alyn Vincent fired up the smallest Vincent at the event, a 100cc 2 stroke that originally powered the ill fated Amanda water scooter. On an open pipe it could be heard over 200 metres away and set off a couple of smoke alarms in motel rooms. While many people travelled from the lengths of the Eastern and Central states there needs to be a special mention to Stephen and Viola Carson who flew in from South Korea just for the weekend. Stephen had his bike freighted down from Cairns and they both enjoyed the rides and the company. The farewell event was held at the Parkes Services club, and the next rally will be in Maroochydore in 2018.