VJMC - 2012 Annual Rally - Report & pics

[Gosling1]

What a great weekend for the annual Rally down at Warilla (Wollongong) - last year it was drizzly all day - this year nothing but sunshine and 24deg.......sensational

PC, Adrian1 and myself headed down on Saturday morning, got an early start and were in Moss Vale by about 10am. Headed off to Fitzroy Falls to meet the VJMC pack, who were doing a loop from Warilla to Kiama, up Kangaroo Valley to FF then onto Robertson and down Mac Pass back to the 'Gong......

We rolled into the FF meeting area around 1030 to be greeted by this sight - heaps of immaculate japanese classics as far as the wye could see







Here are some of the bikes in greater detail.....


Really nice old GT750 waterbottle






Nice ZRX1200, owned by KSRC member stuzrx - a classic in its own right....




Nice example of an early TS250 suzuki




W650




A brace of 'bottles....




nice jaffa Z1




GT380




rare paint scheme in Oz, this is the green/yellow Z1 from 1973. Popular in the UK, we didn't get this scheme here...




Immaculate GSX1100 with a Tingate pipe




CBX




CB1100RC (I think - it could be an RD?)




Suzuki 125. This is Ian's bike from VJMC ACT - he won best Suzuki at the rally with this little beauty :thumbsup:

[Gosling1]

FJ1100 yammie in pretty good nick




750 Katana




CB750/4 Honda




Nice GS1000S suzuki - note this is a GS1000S, not some invented bullshit called a Wes Cooley Replica or anything like that. There never was a bike released by Suzuki called a Wes Cooley Replica. He did race one, and won some races on it - but it is and has always been nothing more than just a GS1000S.




rare as buggery RE5 suzuki. Rotary. This one had a lot of non-standard parts on it.








Very tidy old XS1 yammie




nice Z1B




very tidy CB500/4




a couple of CB500's




Another great old honda 4......this one gets along at a decent clip




here are another couple of shots of that Gixxer 1100......it was immaculate






here is something you don't see on the road every day......a Gag 50. Full rego.....

[Gosling1]

Here are some shots from the rally display site down in the carpark at the Warilla bowlo. Great to see a few familiar faces as soon as we turned up - Phil (Fezzick) and his brother Paul, Al (Metaltriumph) had ridden up on his cafe z650, also met stuzrx from here, he had ridden down from Casino - nice to meet you mate . Rooster was there as soon as we turned up, and Phil & Sean, and Tim on the million-dollar GPX were also there having a look at the assembled classics.....some really nice bikes, they just seem to get better every year ! Nelso also rocked in a bit later on, so we devised a cunning plan for a Sunday morning blast out through Jamberoo and back up Mac Pass.......oh yeah baby !!! more on that later

here are a few more ......

slab-side early Gixxer 1100




X7 suzuki twin - was in really tidy condition this bike




Custom XS650.....




The Black Pearl lined up in the display. It has a used patina that money just can't buy !!




CB750/4




Really nice H2 750/3 kwakka




H1500 triple. There were quite a few 500's there this year, all of them immaculate.




S2 350 triple. Very nice little bike




Honda Z50 monkeybike. This was the very first motorcycle I ever rode (well, not this exact one - but you get the idea)




TS100 suzuki trail bike. I learnt to ride off-road on a TS125 which was really similiar to this bike




Titan T500. This bike was very very shiny....




Another shot of Ian's 125 twin. It sounded really good, we tried to convince him to take the baffles out.....




F250 kwakka trail bike - very clean example




RZ500 yammie. Only example of this model at the rally this year.

[Gosling1]

some more shots from the rally display....


RZ500 from the other side




M1090 Brutale - Phil has this as a test bike at the moment - it sounded tough as. I hadn't seen Seans ZRX up close either - although similiar to Phil's at first glance there are a few differences - I like the black-out treatment - its a nice rig !!




VF1000R




An original FZ750. I lusted after one of these really badly back in 1984 !! Would still like to have one in the stable....but a good original example.




baby Bridgestone 90




my mate Dennis from Sydney - this is his Z1.




nice example of a GTR350 Bridgestone - rare as rocking horse shit these are !!!




Canberra VJMC crew at the cabins - Simon's 2 Honda CB250 twins won Best Custom/Cafe bikes, and Best Modified. They are classic little bikes...








A pair of *immaculate* DT1 yammies. Photos can't do justice to how good these bikes were....






Cafe-racer CX500 !! It actually looked pretty cool for a plastic maggot




Super Zed. This was the best Z1 at the rally. #104. Yes, #104 off the production line. It had *everything* it should have.




That's it for the pictures - I'll do a ride report a bit later on ...

[Phil]

Thanks for the pics Gos, it was a great display. that last Jaffa and the Gren H1 500 were my favourites of the display.

[rooster]

I loved the H2 750 and that Katana 750 was immaculate, I cant believe the bikes there I had rdden over the years and just passed on to some other lucky soul, however having said that I do like my 03 Z1000, but I wouldnt mind one or 2 of the bikes that were on display

[fezzick]

I really was bowled over with the quality and variety of bikes on display, more and a greater variety than last year, even. However, if I were asked to express a preference, then it would have to be the beautiful Honda CBX550F2. I've owned two of these over the years and they were a great bike. Oh, and, yes, Gos is correct, the GS1000S was never called the "Wes Cooley Replica" AND, I always preferred the blue and white version rather than the red and white one.

[Gav]

Great post Gos.Love the CB750/4.My mate had one of those that was immaculate.

[h.b.bear]

Great pics Gos and thanks for posting them up so we can have a look Didnt end up getting there because of business so photos are the next best thing to seeing what was there and as for the z50 that was my first ride aswell and if memory is working like it should i think it use to cost me 18 cents to fill here up

[jacobb]

Thanks for the picks Gos, some very tidy bikes up there... there was a mint 85 FZ750 for sale last year that I missed out on going for 1500... shoulda, coulda, woulda...

[Slow and wobbly]

Nice work Dave. Good to see it through your eyes.
Would sell both kidneys for an S2......then steal the engine to fit into a KR1 frame. Or Kreidler.....but I would have run out of kidneys by then.
Problem with the VJMC is the snobbery and the nit picking from the few. As you stated your Pearl is regularly used and much loved but would not get any attention from the "officianados". In responce to that then 104 may well be "original" but they were never that shiny when new. I love patina and signs of use.....like a well used tool that has seen action and not still living in its packaging....so long as it still shows signs of care and maintenance.

[Slow and wobbly]

And get fucked. Now I feel too old.
These were all bikes of my childhood and now they are deemed as "vintage"?!
Monkey 50 was also first bike...step through and those crazy fold up bars. We used to ride one 2 up with the.22 chasing down rabbits.

[h.b.bear]

talking about used originals prompted me to throw up a couple of pics.These bikes are all original except batteries and seat cover on the 250,the 125 is the same as the one i owned after my z50 and the 250 was bought when i got my L"s way back then,this is not the one i owned from then but a recent purchase in the last couple of yrs.Photos aint the best sorry

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[netbikes]

The CX500 cafe belongs to my friend Tom McGarth, he was my ride buddy down to the rally this year, I came on the green GPZ750 which I don't see a pic of here, I guess not worthy.
The green white T500 was mine, sold it to a VJMC member here, he trailered it down most of the way, rode the last 100K from his sisters place. Overall some awesome machines there.
Next year South Australia, that will be some ride.

Below pic taken on the way back.

[h.b.bear]

very nice