ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Back to Index Page

December 2008 Club News

Pink | Weekend | Annual | Out | Himalayas | Nunijup | Narrikup | Calendar

2008 Vintage and Classic Motorcycle Weekend

Story by Robin Bromilow
Pics by Garry, Andrew, John and Leith

Matchless presentation in Stirling TerraceThe weekend started with the arrival of the entrants at the Rifle Range. There had been some drizzle early in the day,but it was now making a real effort to warm up. Our visitors could not get over the facilities and surroundings, we heard words like, fantastic, amazing and how come it took so long to find something like this.

Gary Carlsen certainly made our visitors welcome - thanks Gary. We ran out of Polo shirts with the orders in the Hillclimb packs so on Wednesday, I made a quick phone call to get some more for the weekend. Thanks to Ann Oakes for bringing them down with her from Perth. The metal badges were gone also, but we were unable to get more made in time. Boy, we have never ran out before!

The parade was held on Friday afternoon, this had a few hiccups which we were able to overcome. What would we do without mobiles? I am told there were about 45 motorcycles in the parade with RadioWest, the Volunteer Fire brigade and the police.

Flat out registering - still able to smileThen on Saturday morning, we started with the motorcycle show, the weather was perfect, and what a range of motorcycles? They stretched the full length of the street. With the band “setting the mood”, the public were able to enjoy the motorcycles. Chris, Antoinet, Trudy and Raelene were kept flat out from about 9 am. 
We extended the entry time for the Poker Run till 12.15 to try and give everyone a chance to enter, but in the end we ran out of registration forms and route sheets and had to close off entries.

Bikes filling Stirling TerraceWe ended up with 266 entrants overall. The afternoon tea supplied by Dylan’s was great, and once again the Rifle Range shone as a venue to finish the rally. Plenty of room for the bikes to be parked safely, and everyone was able to stand around and talk without wondering about being moved on. There had been a few constructive comments made about this event and they will be discussed at our monthly meetings.

We are always looking for ways to make this weekend safer and more attractive to those taking part.
The barbecue on Saturday night was another winner. We ended up with 113 people at the meal and 3D Catering put on a fantastic meal right up to the last person and then there were sweets. Thanks must go to Cherie Carlsen and her team for the meal; I have already been given orders to book you for next year.
Sunday morning saw a good amount of members on the hill early to erect the scaffolding and put the bunting and tents in place.

I think in the end we were about 20 minutes late with practise. We still managed to get the entire practise done and then groups 1 & 2 had their first run up the hill before lunch. I could not believe the weather, it was just magic. We started the day with 97 riders and lost a few with mechanical problems throughout the day. We had a record crowd through the gate this year.

Macca and Neil facing off on the SlopersThere were some interesting riders and runs throughout the day. It was a great drawcard to have Neil Bromilow and Peter (Macca) Macdonald riding together again. These two are so well-matched and very competent riders. Neil had nominated 44 seconds and Macca had nominated 40 seconds. Throughout the day Neil lost 3.35 points and Macca lost 1.67 points. So even though they appeared neck and neck when they left the start, they managed to turn in competitive times throughout.

The winner: A. WheelerOne of the biggest surprises was overall winnner Adam Wheeler. He was riding a 1973 Kawasaki 250cc. Adam is one of this club's newer members who worked at the 2007 Hillclimb on the dogs. He decided to have a go this year. Adam nominated 44 seconds for his time and lost .04sec of his time in the last run.

Don purrs up the hill on custom BMWBest performance by a male other than the winner was Don Fraser on his 1975 BMW Comp. Don lost .19 on his last run.

Sheryl on her 1976 Honda 400/4Third place and best performance by a lady was won by Sheryl Johnson on her 1976 Honda 400/4. Sheryl lost 2.17 on her last run.

Charioteers in full flightBest performance by a sidecar was John & Zane Mattaboni on their 1972 Suzuki 750 they lost 1.62 in their last run. Best performance by a pre-31 was John Rooney on his 1928 Ariel 500 who lost 1.08 on his last run. So you can see that there wasn’t much between some of those times. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that helped this year, whether they are sponsors, helpers or riders.

It takes ALL of you to make this event the continuing success it is. If we can distribute the load a bit more, it will make it easier for everyone. If anyone has any constructive suggestions, please forward them to me, so they can be discussed at the meeting and then I will get back to you with a reply. Once again, thanks everyone.

Back to Index Page Back to Index Page