Volunteer Required! VMCC's Festival of 1,000 Bikes at Mallory Park

[BaZa ®]

Dave King has just phoned me and said his pc is down for a couple of days so if anyone wants to contact him 01189 262 446

He says sorry if you felt he had not got back to you.

[45Brit]

speaking as a long-term member, the VMCC don't generally have much opinion of Harleys at all. If you show up with a 45 or panhead they will love it, but over-decorated 80s shovels won't ring the bell and long-fork choppers, definitely not. The age limit for bikes is 25 years, and this is controversial... they aren't much interested in post-70s stuff and even the 70s is marginal , but there are a lot of 60s and 70s bikes in the Club

there are also some very good restorers among them, so be prepared for some serious informed criticism from people who really know their stuff, and don't care at all about the Harley-Davidson name. It's a long way behind Rudge, Vincent and Brough for these boys.

they have a thriving and highly-publicised road racing section, in which H-D is completely unrepresented, a high-profile grasstrack section which is the same ( although there was a Powerplus Indian on the grass a few years ago ), a sprinting section ditto.. you get the message. Personally I'd really like to see one of Patrick's bikes doing its stuff at a vintage sprint...


on the other hand they are very appreciative of good bikes and good work.

There are also some serious long-distance riders ( Latvia on an Indian Chief, anyone? ) using old machines in anger. If anyone has done Lands End - John O'Groats or something like that, that would be a great thing to have on your show-card. Bikes which have been owned by the same person for 20 years, that kind of thing....


personally, I like the VMCC. They aren't everyones' cup of tea ( darjeeling, of course ) but they are a very big club with a format which by and large, works very well.

were the HDRCGB there last year? I missed it if so, I had a couple of bikes in the grasstrack so I was only there one day and didn't see the half of what went on

[Kiwi]

Originally Posted by 45Brit

were the HDRCGB there last year?

yes right next to the Indian Display and opposite the Moto Guzzi Display

[Oilslick]

Anyone remember this from VMCC 1000 bike rally.

[45Brit]

fair enough.. I was pretty busy and I didn't see half of what was there.

personally I love the 1000 Bikes, it's rapidly turning into what the BMF used to be before it turned into a giant trade show. I've got BMF badges going back to 1976... not all by any means, but some... I went to the very first one, when it was still a rally like the National Rally and ended and the Showground, it was a totally different event in those days and frankly, I don't think it's improved for the change. The speedway is great and I like the Wall, but otherwise I think the regional ones are the place to go these days.

That's a good comment about maintaining the HDRCGB's place, though. There are a lot of people who want to be there, and there are more every year. VMCC is a club that stopped going to the BMF and revived their own event instead, after all. You rarely see restorations with Q plates because VMCC are the people the DVLA come to for answers half the time

didn't see the cream 45 but it looks good to me

[kevscrivener]

45 Brit

Been with VMCC longer than I have the HDRCGB; as you rightly say they're not the greatest H-D fans but what they do appreciate is good bikes, and more importantly enthusiastic owners and riders.

Opinions have started to change over the last few years though, not least because a lot of VMCC members are starting to buy modern Evo Sportsters for use as everyday bikes.

Their runs are good fun too from a riding point of view, many of them are on country roads which seriously test Big Twin riders!

[45Brit]

but Big Twins can stand a bit of testing, I reckon... my 'Troublehead' Electra Glide was very stable, if not particularly nimble, and Fred Warr won the Circuit des Pyrenees on one, didn't he?

If I didn't think Harleys could deliver the goods I wouldn't bother with them, full stop. They are very good machines in their way.

I would rather like to see a couple of 45s showing what they could do on the track day, they are nippy machines with the right rider.. they are the ultimate development of the vintage-ear medium-weight sidevalve twin. I'd like to see one of Patricks XLRTT or KR machines showing the Rudges and Triumphs some smoke at a vintage sprint.

I do sometimes think that Harley riders generally tend to pigeonhole themselves a bit, and it's not always helpful.

the point is, that what Harley riders often view as the defining characteristics of their machines, are defined in terms with the majority of riders either don't accept, or simply aren't interested in. Their competition successes are irrelevant to a British rider, and they have long since been left behind in the size and capacity stakes. So what's left?

I'm aiming for my 45 project bike to open some eyes at VMCC runs... you are right, they are a lot of fun

[the_french_owl]

My problem is 2 fold, 45brit,

Either I enter my racer, at a cost..., and I have to pitch on the race paddock, inside the circuit and away from you lot on the outer, having fun...

...Or I stay with you, and can't get to the circuit!!!

I hope they will move away from that set up last year and go back as 2 years ago when race bikes could be on the outer and enter the circuit at the hairpin when their cession was up...

Patrick

[45Brit]

problem? what problem? my view would be, that if you are flying the flag, you are doing the job. I'd quite like to make a few people in the VMCC think that H-Ds aren't all waddling dinosaurs, or plodding tractors with unmanageable control set-ups........

if I'm there, I'll be on the grass track. I don't reckon to have my 45 done in time, I have too much else to do... my son has 9 grasstracks this year already, and I do his bikes, and anyway I enjoy it too much.

I can't comment on the track set-up, because I've never done it. Same for the sprint.

[the_french_owl]

Yes, 45brit, we did see the grass track action from a distance while seeping drinks at the beer tent... cannot say you guys were at the centre of the action!!!

Still, the ""bike of the show"" in me eyes, despite it not running and not even well shown, while umpteen fakes crowded the Past Masters' tent...





Patrick