Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club - 2011 Annual Rally

A few nice Zeddies in this lot - but a lot of others as well......

Here are some pics and a bit of a write-up on the 2011 VJMC Annual Rally, held last weekend at Warilla (near Wollongong). It was a great weekend away, took the Pearl up for a strop ( the strop it missed from the *previous* weekend ) - anyway, here are some photos !!


A picture tells a thousand words - so here is about 8,000 words !!!

Will add a ride report tomorrow night.

It was a great weekend, the Pearl didn't miss a beat (as normal) - had a great time and met some great people.






that bike above was a tidy Z1R MkII. 1979 model. PC is hanging out to buy or build up one of these ........


This bike below is a 1978 GS1000S. PC actually did own an example of this model back in the early 80's. A great bike.....





This next bike is just a magnificent piece of work in the flesh. Owned by a bloke called Eric, I met him for the first time at the Rally, after discussing many Z-related things on the Z1 Owners Forum, based in the US. It is a great forum.......has a lot of technical support for Z-series bikes.

The amount of work he has put into this bike cannot really be appreciated from a couple of photos.........but he has put a lot of time into it...





This was probably the best Z1 in the rally.




and this was *definitely* the best Z1R at the Rally ! I have a few more photos of this bike, it was in better than new condition....






OK - here are some more photos from last weekends VJMC Rally.....

First cab off the rank is the best H2750 I have seen in years. This thing was beyond immaculate !!! Won a prize or 2 I think ?




This is an odd one - TX500 Yamaha. These never set the world on fire, but were a *slightly* better bet than the TX750, which used to crack cylinder heads with monotonous regularity......(maybe the 500's did as well come to think of it...)




Immaculate CB72 Honda




A GT750 for Richard to drool over




Great resto on an RD350LC. Love these bikes !!




This was an amazing bike. The owner spent a fair bit of time talking to me and my mate Dennis. This is a 'Midnite Special' XS1100 factory custom. Pretty thin on the ground in Oz, and this bike had heaps of punters eyeing it off. Lots of us thought it would walk away with 'Bike Of The
Rally'....




KZ1000A1 US import. Nice and tidy.





more to come......

and here we go.....

The Black Pearl. The old girl didn't look too bad in the sea of immaculate barely-ridden bikes - lots of people who stopped to have a closer look, were scratching their heads trying to work out what it was - typical situation at any of these rallies

I watched a few blokes get in for a close look - talking to their mates, shaking heads - it always fools 99% of most *experts*....




another immaculate Z1




a brace of YZR500 yammie 4-cylinder 2-strokes. Both of these were in really tidy nick.





Check these out - a stack of old-school mini-trail bikes. YZ80's, XR75's - this was nostalgia heaven for a few of us !!




Check this thing out ! Cafe racer XS650 - it was done very well, not over the top, but very purposeful and sounded *phat*...





and on we go.....


not even close to classic - but still looks OK all the same. 1100 Zephyr from about 1994?




Immaculate YS1? Yamaha.




This is the bike I learnt to ride on (well, not this exact one of course - but this model) - 1975 RD350B




My mate from Sydney - this is his commuter Z1. This bike has been around Oz maybe 3 times now ??




RD350B from the other side....




Another GT750 - again, in really good condition.




The other side of Eric's immaculate Z900 cafe racer.




Here is an interesting CB500 Four. Very tidy. This model was actually the very first *big* road bike I ever rode, at about 17 or 18 ? My mate who owned a CB125, bought his 500/4 back in 1980, and I remember riding this for the first time - so much faster than my CB125 twin.....




This is an odd one - CB500T. Twin - not many of these around even *back in the day* ! Nicely presented....




Here is a true *classic*. CB400/4. One of the best 4-cylinder bikes ever made by Honda in the 70's. This example is a local bike, owned by one of the VJMC members I know from Queanbo. He was a judge on the day.....




Custom CB750/4. This bike was ridden to / from the rally, I saw it at the servo in Sth Nowra on the way home on Sunday. Very clean....

and on we go............there were a lot of great bikes out there !!

Here is a ripper - W1 Kawasaki 650 twin owned by a mate from Sydney. Paul bought this basically in this condition, it was a Jap import. Not the original seat, that was stuffed. But he rode it to/from the Rally from Sydney....




A nice pair of old Zeds Z1 in the foreground ( probably the best example of this model at the rally) and the Black Pearl in the background ( definitely the best example of this model at the Rally )




This one is a corker ! a *well-ridden* CB450 twin from the early 60's !! This was the model known as the 'Black Bomber', and spelt the beginning of the end of the British motorcycle industry (well, for a few years anyway )




Some little Kawasaki 2-stroke singles from the 60's. These were immaculate. Check the tank badge - that is the original Kawasaki badge used on models in the 60's......the design of the 2 'M's stands for Meguro/Meihatsu, and can still be found on spare parts packaging to this day...




The other little 90cc model




the other side of the orange GT750...........mmmmm silky-smooth goodness.........heh Supa ??



plenty more coming

and they keep rolling on ......

another old-school original Honda twin - not sure of the exact model for this example?




Here is a great cafe racer ! CB400/4 - nicely turned out, fitted with period Henry Abe mags (Japanese aftermarket specialist from back in those days...)




Another trick cafe-racer. This time a CB360-based twin........I think this is a local Canberra bike ??




trick Yamaha 350LC-based PCRA race bike. There was a small stand for cafe-racers and track bikes......may have to take the hybrid 7/11 to one of these rallies one day....




Immaculate CR250 MX bike.




RD400 'Daytona' special. One of these is tucked away in the 4th......




Another shot of the best Zed at the rally - Z1R. This bike was just incredible in the flesh. Not a single thing out of place......




TY80 trials bike. Very tidy




Another vintage MXér - this time its an MX80 ! We all wanted one of these in 1974 !!





and on we go with some more piccies.....

here is the other side of that immaculate CB72 Honda....




something you don't see every day - immaculate original CB350/4.




RG500 Gamma. This was Suzuki's answer to the RZ500 - and quite frankly, it is a much better bike. As much as I am a Yamaha fanboi - the RG was just better in every respect....




Here is a cool bike - GSX1100 Suzie. This baby was fitted with a genuine Tingate exhaust - the best *by far* for this model. A good mate of mine from Qld had exactly the same model / exhaust - sounded just fantastic.




Classic Suzuki - T500 Titan. 500cc of pure stinkwheels goodness !!




Z1. One of the best at the show. This is the slightly-rarer green/gold combo. The 'jaffa' (brown/orange) is the most well-known colour scheme for the first big Z. This green/gold combo sold well in the US.....




Another shot of Paul Darderi's W1 650. Google it sometime..........




T350 Suzuki twin. Quite a rare model - one of these won the Castrol 6 Hour, but was later disqualified over a minor technicality.....the rider was from Canberra. This example is owned by Graham Kairl, great bloke, has taught me a lot about bikes simply from being in the same pits as him at a few race meetings in the last 12 months.




Another side-shot of Grahams T350...






OK - here are the last bunch.

here is my mate Lou's Yamaha XS 1.1 - he has owned it for a while, he is a local from Queanbo. On the trip up to Warilla on Sat. morning, I was heading towards the Robertson pie-shop for morning smoko, rounded the corner - and spotted about 80 bikes !!! Lou saw me pull in, so I got to do 1/2 the 'big' ride with the rally crew, down Mac Pass......it was the slowest I have ever been down the Pass !! But still fun.....

This is a really tidy example of a reasonably rare bike - they only did the 1.1 model for 1 year.




Here are a couple more shots of that CB350/4. It was another immaculate, original example....






and last, but not least, is what I considered to be the best bike at the Rally - that Z1R from Victoria....






I'll finish off the photos with a couple from the breakfast run on Sunday morning. We did this amazing route through some back-roads off the Princes Hwy, up through the hills and into the back of Kiama.

Brekkie was at the Lighthouse up on the point - nice little cafe. Here are a couple of landmarks....









So there you have it. Some of the most immaculate Japanese vintage bikes you are ever likely to see gathered in one place at the same time. A great many of these bikes carry the 'Classic' tag, and deservedly so. Especially that black fuel-injected kwakka ! :laugh:

The Rally is likely to be at the same location next year (to be confirmed) - I would highly recommend that anyone with 1/2 an interest in vintage jap bikes should make the time to do this Rally. I stayed with Dennis this year in a cabin that could sleep 5 easily - we could get a house next year for not much more that would sleep a few more.

Anyone interested in joining the VJMC ACT Branch - just send me a pm, I will send you the details. The local branch could really use some fresh blood to get the numbers back up, and there is always the Historic rego attraction that will see your classic with full Historic rego for a fraction of the cost of normal everyday rego. Conditions of use apply of course - bikes need to be at least 30 years old to be eligible, but you can join the club even if you have a bike that is not *yet* eligible.

I really enjoyed myself at this years Rally - especially the dinner, where 6 tickets bought in a raffle for $5, netted me the following goodies:

1 x pair of chromed rear shocks for a Z900 - complete with shroud. Valued at $250 the pair.
1 x coffee table book 'The Illustrated History of Speedway Racing in Australia' - valued at $50
1 x gift voucher at Z Power. Valued at $50.

Pretty happy with that lot !!! Our table was full of first-timers at the Rally, and beginners luck was everywhere - 3 punters won trophies for 'Best In Class'. 2 other books and a heap of Maguiars 'Bike Detailing' kits were also won at our table. Photo evidence to come !!

Last edited by Gosling1 on Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Very nice Gos. How'd I miss this. I would've loved to have a squiz. Count me in for next year

Love the Light Blue Z1R and oddly enough the Yamaha Midnight Special. Very cool

The GSX1100 was nice too. I used to drool over them and I had an MX80 exactly the same as the one there. Sensational.

*Drools*

Thanks for the memories Gos, not that I was old enough to really appreciate them back then.


Might have to put this on the calender for next year too

Is that a custom painted helmet top left of the pic? Very cool...





Is a KR250 of this age? Did you spot any? Or are the 80s still not vintage?

great to see that there are still people out there that care great journolism Gos

Excellent work Gos....
Like the Z1 in the 4th pic and the green/gold combo that sold well in the states...
The Z1R sure is an outstanding example...
Ahhhh the Yamaha and Suzuki 500 2 strokers didn't they go like stink...
Nice resto on the RD350 too...
Memorieeeeeeeeees....Certainly a pppiece from here and a pppiece from there..
Cheers mate...
May be time to keep an eye out for something OLD SCHOOL to poke in the corner of the garage..

Good stuff Gos.......some classic bikes there.

Great Post Gos .
Curly's 350 is bloody tidy

The CB400 four brought back some memories Gos. They were fun days.

Thanks for the memories Gos. Particularly loved the Suzuki GS1000's (did some km's on that bugger) and the GSX1100....it was always quicker than my GS. GREAT photos.

My neighbour was heading down for that on Friday morning i think. bit unfortunate i missed it, but would have only served to shit me off as the little one i have is shamefull compared to the vast majority of those, and just ugly compared with the rest.

most images no worky for me

meh ill check it out at home!!

Thanks Gos, I'm spewing I want able to make it Was in Tassie, did you see Tim? He rode down.