VMCA Rally
Vintage Motorcycle Club of Australia 64th Annual Rally
The rally was first held in 1955 and we actually have a member who was there and he is still riding his 1911 Norton today; Laurie Deller has no plans to hang up the helmet for many years to come. The Club caters for all machines made up to 1948; what we consider to be the “Girder Fork” era. If we are to keep these bikes on the road, we need to have runs suitable for early machines and the philosophy is paying off with 80 girder fork bikes present over the weekend.
Friday afternoon was a shorter run, a nice shakedown and for some of us to give the second machine a run. A couple of hills challenged some of the single-speed veterans, but the roads are very good and suitable for old bike cruising. Saturday was a big run with two separate routes, one for veterans and one for the much faster and more sophisticated ‘20s and ‘30s bikes. The local clubs supplied marshals for all corners, making riding a breeze. We stopped and had a tour through Tocal house, one of the Hunter Valley’s historic houses. The local scouts opened up their grounds so as we could park our bikes off the street. We wound our way back to Morpeth and completed a thoroughly enjoyable day at a local club where dinner was excellent. An incredible raffle was held, with all prizes being organised by Steve Elliot.
Sunday was a figure-8 run from Morpeth, with morning tea and a barbecue lunch provided by the Newcastle Vintage Club, who fed us generously. Unfortunately a few people had to race back home to shore up houses from possible bushfires including rally organiser Steve Mordue, who had to help his parents who were well under siege from the fires. Steve lives in the Hunter area and he encouraged the riders of the girder fork bikes in the area to join us. It was a real thrill to see so many take part and make the weekend a really special event. Next year we will be running the rally in Mudgee and we are hoping that we may see some of our new friends from the Hunter join us there.