President’s Report

AFTER THREE YEARS WE FINALLY GOT TO HOLD A NATIONAL RALLY. TWO YEARS OF COVID UNCERTAINTY CAUSED THE CANCELLATION OF THE 2020 RALLY IN TOOWOOMBA AND THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE2021 RALLY IN BENDIGO. UNFORTUNATELY I WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS YEAR’S EVENT HOWEVER I AM LED TO BELIEVE IT WAS AN OUTSTANDING RALLY. I WILL DEFINITELY BE THERE FOR NEXT YEAR’S RALLY. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INVOLVED IN THE BENDIGO VJMC NATIONAL RALLY. YOU HAVE DONE AN AMAZING JOB. TAKE A BIG PAT ON THE BACK. YOU WILL SEE A WRITE UP ON THE RALLY IN OUR VJMC MAGAZINE, OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA AND IT WILL FEATURE IN THE UK VJMC MAGAZINE ALSO.

Our National Committee are all volunteers spread over four states and we connect with each other every month via a Zoom meeting to discuss the activities, direction of the club and general running of the club across the country. Some of these positions require several hour’s participation each week to perform while others require a lot less. It was very unfortunate that the position of National Secretary was left vacant at the Annual General Meeting at the National Rally in Bendigo but it is very disappointing that this position is still vacant several months later with the duties being covered by our Membership Officer who has one of the busiest positions on the committee and myself. All members would have recently received an email detailing the duties of the Secretary in this club. I would ask you to consider this letter seriously and ask yourself if you could step up and take on the Secretary position and assist with the running of this great club. It is much better if more people make a small effort than leaving it for a few to have to make a huge effort. This is your club as well as ours. Together, we can work to keep this club going in the excellent manner it should. Unfortunately our Tasmanian members couldn’t get to Bendigo either as they were busy down there in the Apple Isle organising the Motorcycle Section of the Devonport Motorshow. Club member Tony Mahoney has put in a huge effort down there encouraging more Tassie riders to join the VJMC and helping out with the motorcycle show and various displays for the club at other events. Consequently we have seen a huge jump in our membership in Tasmania with four area reps covering the state and more than forty members there. Congratulations to Tony and all those involved in the promotion of the VJMC in Tassie. The National Committee has been looking at introducing some grants to encourage and assist young members or young family members in the restoration of a Vintage Japanese Motorcycle. One of our young South Australian members was nominated for a similar grant from the SA Confederation Of Historic Motor Clubs. Flynn Jacobs used the grant to assist in the restoration of his Honda 250 and 400. We will have more information on that soon.

Ride safe. John McNair