BENELUX MEETING GREAT SUCCESS
The European VRCC family is more alive than
ever. Thanks to the widespread participation of the VRCC Chapters from 11
countries, over 190 members registered at the Benelux Meeting. What an
experience, seeing over 110 Valkyries lined up in
one single place. Besides wall-to-wall chrome being parked all around the
parking lot of the ‘Valk’ hotel in
Heerlen,
there were some radically customized bikes. I especially would like to mention
Horst Niels’ bike from Germany, which was lowered
and transformed into a dragster and Adriano (Iron Butt)
Bavia’s bike from Italy who rode over 900 kilometres to attend with a
genuine horse saddle. The sight and sound of all these bikes was an experience
we will not soon forget in the Benelux.
Despite the weather, this time the meeting was not blessed with sunshine; over 50 European members arrived on Thursday as planned, followed by Marvin from Eurowing later at night. The attendees were welcomed by Walter, our Chairman with a small alcoholic beverage from the local area. I think they called it ‘blind man’s booze’. After seeing Jose, our blond animal at the registration desk, everyone received the program and sponsor information, their ‘red nose’ from the CliniClowns, meal- and party tickets and some welcome gifts. The welcome ceremony for our newly arrived guests lasted until the bar closed in the early hours of the morning.
The next day, delegations from the UK, Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland together with most of the other Benelux riders checked in and spent their time walking around the bikes and getting to know each other. After receiving a snack and beverage from one of our main financial sponsors, the KEPU Company, a ride with approximately 60 bikes was undertaken on Friday to the Ardennes. In the meantime, bikers were arriving during the whole day. A Fuchs test bench was doing business by testing the performance of various bikes. Larry Coblentz from the US with his VIKING pipes came out with the highest performance and nicest power curve, topping the standard bikes by approximately 15 HP. Also, the 6 degree trigger wheel showed a significant increase in power across the board. Ronnie and his rescue team were scrambled only once to pick up one stranded bike with a flat tire.
Again, experiences and interests were shared that day on the lot and at the bar in a casual atmosphere. Friday night, a Country & Western buffet and party were held at dining hall of the hotel until the early morning hours, followed by a visit to the bar by a few, but nevertheless extremely thirsty bikers. On Saturday, everyone was aboard. The accommodation at the hotel ‘Valk’ was such that most of the rooms overlooked the magnificent sight of all the bikes at the parking lot. At noon, a roaring column of over 120 bikes steadily moved across the Benelux landscape to the ‘Molen’, where a meal was served. The ride continued as planned, without any malfunctioning bike, thanks to the reliability and durability of the cruiser of the decade, except for one unfortunate biker, who accidentally put diesel in his tank. Perhaps this had something to do with the excitement of the night before. Saturday evening, prizes and certificates were presented to each nation and Horst Niels in particular, was mentioned for his most radical Valkyrie specimen.
The music was played by a local, but
nevertheless outstanding blues band. Thanks to our many accessory sponsors, an
amount of $1000 was collected for the CliniClowns
lottery tickets. Amongst many other prizes, which were generously offered by
several companies 1)
, our grand prizes,
the Hit-Air safety jacket, McCruise Control from
MotorCycle Setup Pty and Rumble Road speaker set from MH Instruments were handed
over to the lucky winners. Later that evening, a Flat 6 was driven on the dance
floor as a surprise and Steve B from the UK, who turned 50
was closely examined by a lady with remarkable reflexes and shapes. Needless to
say, that the party went on until the sun was rising again. The next morning we
had breakfast and it was time to say goodbye.
The VRCC Benelux organisation would like to thank all the people involved in
this meeting including the safety riders who made a steady ride possible, the
photographer from Photo Gero for having ready 150
nice ‘rally’ pictures in just 2 hours, the security people who guarded our bikes
at night, the ‘blond animal’ of the registration desk and the
CliniClowns of the lottery sales, the hotel manager
for his nice food, service and acco and the people
of the stands. A special thanks to the people who voluntarily made videos and
photos and all the other members who put countless hours in the organization.
Pictures can be viewed at
http://www.cuci.nl/~miwa/treffenbenelux3l.htm
I would like to thank all the VRCC members and
participants who made this meeting a success by attending and supporting with
such a good spirit. Finally, we are looking forward to share more good rides and
feelings at the other VRCC meetings. Because that’s what it is all about.
On behalf of the VRCC Benelux ………..Beer VRCC # 7609
1) We are very grateful to the
following companies who voluntarily and generously contributed to our meeting.
Without your donations, the Benelux meeting
would have been a fraction of what it has become.
MotorCycle Setup Pty, Mugen Denko Co Ltd, MH Instruments,
Winterwoolie, Blinker Buddie,
Saddlemen by Travelcade,
Viper Creations, Motoport
Druten, Eurowing,
Formotion, Sophies Motorcycle Works,
Collinite waxbytes, Tel-Tru,
Creative Clocks, Baker Built Products Inc, Wayne’s World, Motorcycle Accessory
Design Co, the Heritage Saddlebag Co, Cap Factory, CAT Specialties, the KEPU
Company, Ronnie Geunes and Geert Lagrange,
Foto Gevo and Bobine Electric