Info VJMC National Rally 2021

2021 SUZUKI VJMC NATIONAL RALLY

Bendigo, Victoria 15th - 17th October, 2021



All persons taking part in rides and/or displaying motorcycle/s MUST register.

https://www.vjmc.org.au/j30/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=244&Itemid=244

https://www.vjmc.org.au/j30/images/...Bendigo/2021_VJMC_National_Rally_Schedule.pdf

 

Lets try that again...

The VJMC is holding its 2021 National Rally this weekend in Bendigo, Victoria. Never mind that it's 2022!

Anyway, semantics aside, it looks like it will be a bumper event since Covid ensured the 2021 event was cancelled.



As a member of the VJMC, I will be attending and I have entered a bike in the Show and Shine part of the Rally. I'm not sure how many other forum members are in the VJMC and will be attending, so I will do my best to report on the weekend's fun and games.

You don't have to be a member to attend the show and shine, so if anyone is keen to see a bunch of Vintage Japanese bikes, they'll be on display Saturday and the event details can be found using the following link.

https://vjmc.org.au/j30/images/Docu...digo/2021_VJMC_National_Rally_Schedule_v2.pdf

 

In preparation for this weekend's events, I have decided to take my bike up in the van, so out comes the drag bike and in goes the display bike. I'm not entering with any expectations as the display bike (1988 Honda NT400) is a bit ordinary. I was hoping to get it sprayed, so all the bits were the same colour, but that just didn't happen.

I don't know why I didn't enter the drag bike instead. I could have left it in the van (for TDRA drags) and just wheeled it to the Show and Shine. It would have made going on some of the rides a bit of a problem!


Damn, I was so ready for the drags. May can't come soon enough.



@GreyImport it's not easy to see, but the TCI I run on this bike is actually behind the LHS headlight (well, where it used to be). I should have entered this bike in the Show and Shine. I bit of fuel and a start up in the middle of Bendigo would have frightened a few pigeons!

 

VJMC National Rally 2022 (or is it 2021?)

Friday 25th March 2022

Packed the NT400 in the van and set off for Bendigo. What I thought was going to an easy get, turned into a traffic jam filled nightmare afternoon which meant I got to the Big 4 around 6pm. The Big 4 Holiday Park is in Junortoun, which is between Heathcote and Bendigo. Annoyingly, HPR (Heathcote Park Raceway) are having their first 'All bikes' meeting tomorrow (Saturday), so a bit pissed about missing that. When I got to the Big 4 I immediately 'checked in' to the Rally (registration opened at 2pm!). I felt sorry for the two blokes doing the checkin/registration as they'd obviously been solidly at it. I found out later that they were making up people's kits as the person checked in, instead of doing everyone's kit the day before like the Tamworth VJMC did.

Anyhoot, I ran into a few people that I'd met at previous events and also the Club treasury who is a member on this forum. The Welcome BBQ started late and the place ran out of beer, so someone had to shoot off and buy a few more cartoons. Someone told me the local Lions Club was booked to do the catering, but they bailed out the week before which meant a scramble to find another caterer at short notice. In the end, the meal was very nice and no-one was complaining.

Since many of the interstate attendees were staying at the Big 4, I had a good chance to walk around and checkout what everyone was riding. I find that you often see just as many interesting bikes in the 'bike park' as in the show itself. I sent a few pics around to different mates. When you're walking around you get to play 'what bike is this?' with people looking over it. This one had a lot of people stumped. It's not a custom bike (if that helps).



It's easy to ride long distance when you have serious touring power no matter how old it is.

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

Early start for 7pm breakfast...nah, just kidding, I'm not a breakfast guy. My breakfast used to be strong black coffee and 2 Marlboro reds smoked concurrently without a break!

I heard the first group of riders head off for their morning ride around the sites. The VJMC does a very good job of keeping the members entertained and enjoying their location/destination. The group's roaring departure prompted me to have a shower and get my day started. I headed into town to setup for the Show & Shine. For anyone who has never been to Bendigo, it is a lovely city with plenty of old fashioned courtesy and charm. The people take pride in their city and they're always bringing big 'shows' to town. There is currently an Elvis Presley exhibition which Pricilla came out to open. It's the only place in Australia that will host it and most of the major exhibits have been brought out from Graceland.



The VJMC held its show and shine in the Chinese gardens in the centre of the city. Bendigo turned on the weather for us, so no excuses for not coming out. Plenty of locals came and I'm sure the whole show was a great success for the local government area (LGA) authority and the city. The council closed the car park near the gardens to allow us more area for the Show & Shine. My class and the 1990's were in that car park. The committee members and event organisers I spoke with said the local council had done an amazing job to ensure the event went smoothly and nothing was a bother for them, so two thumbs up for the Bendigo council.

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine

The show & shine is broken into classes of year as well as brand and/or style plus a Concourse group for the heavy hitters. This year's Rally was sponsored by Suzuki. They had a stand where you could take some of their motorcycles for a test ride. I'm sure the chief would have loved to have taken this big beauty for a ride...



Does anyone know why all these adventure bikes have a beak? I was told it's to make sure the stones being flicked up by the bike in front of you get channeled to your headlight better! That doesn't sound right?

I was hoping to throw a leg over a 2022 Hayabusa. $27,000 on the road and 300kph limit. I'm amazed at how such a big bike is so easy to ride...unless you sneeze and accidentally twist the throttle violently!

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - Z900 tribute

The Rally marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Z900, so there was a separate Kawasaki area for them and plenty of Z900's were in attendance. I few Z1000's as well.



I rode a mates Z900 back in the day. Scary fast in a straight line, but braking and handling didn't impress me. In fact, I seem to recall, it scared the poop out of me!

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - 2fiftycc

There's never a lot of 250cc bikes at these shows, but here's a few ranging from okay to wow. The RZ was in the carpark at the Big 4, but I didn't see it entered in the Show & Shine.

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - The 1980's

The show & shine is broken into periods and my little NT400 was entered into the 1980's being a 1988 model. Here are some of the other entries in that group. In one of the pics there's a Katana 250 in between two bigger brothers. I had fun watching people trying to figure out why it was different to the other 2.

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - The 1970s

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - The Show (part 1)

Just pics of bikes that caught my attention for whatever reason...

 

Saturday 26th March 2022

The Show & Shine - The Show (part 2)

More pics of bikes that caught my attention for whatever reason. I hope everyone that went along enjoyed the Rally and personally speaking, I always enjoy talking to anyone about bikes and learning about the wonderful history of the Japanese motorcycle industry.

By the way, the white Honda in the first post is a VT500E. I thought it was a VF400F when I started to walk up to it. But, when I saw the engine had a tight V, twin sparks and a SOHC, I was intrigued. Why? well because the NT400 has the exact same V angle and configuration. What threw me was the 'look' of the motor with the finned heads and exhaust routing etc. After tracking down the owner, I was informed that this was the first of the 52 degree V engines made by Honda (1982). The engine in the NT400 is just an evolution of that motor, which all makes sense. You learn something new every day.

 

Oops, I forgot the 'oldies' class.