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I attended the Bison Classic M/C rally near East Selkirk, North of Winnipeg, Manitoba on Saturday, July 3. The weather wasn’t too cooperative for the early morning two-hour ride from Kenora, Ontario to Winnipeg, Manitoba and I encountered a couple good showers enroute. Luckily, the temperature was warmish and the air humid, so I didn’t catch a chill. It was actually somewhat serene riding the misty ribbon of highway through the rugged, lush forest and lake country of Northwestern Ontario to the tune of the raspy exhaust note and soothing mechanical hiss of my XS11. But I must invest in some decent rain gear! A bit late departing Kenora, I arrived on time with a smile you couldn’t wipe off my face with a brick! I discovered the elation of riding an XS11 at around 5,000 revs for an hour or so. So as not to incriminate myself, XSives will know the relative land speed. The XS ran like a champ and the Vetter/Yamaha fairing and lowers kept me well protected despite the rain.
By about 9:45 a.m., I arrived at a friend’s place North of Winnipeg, a former co-worker in a previous life. She and her husband both bought Harleys a couple years ago. Actually, I feel partly responsible for getting her into motorcycling as we sometimes shared daydreams at work. Anyway, she’s a good friend and looks great on a bike...even if it is a Harley! (Ahem) Together with another riding buddy (Goldwing 1800), the three of us rode out to the rally location.
The site of the rally is a beautiful acreage owned by a hobbyist who lives to work on old Brit bikes. His rustic workshop, with several pieces of work in progress, is a site to behold. He generously offered a 1920-something Norton single to a friend to enjoy on the afternoon ride. After trying to start the machine for several minutes, the friend was exhausted. The owner strode up to the machine, tweaked this lever and that lever ... and with one kick, the old Norton roared to life! He grinned amicably and motioned for the friend to get on and ride, reminding him that the shifter was on the right and the gears were 'one up and three down'!
Still on his property, about ¼ mile down the road, a small village of rally campers had set up in a sheltered meadow. This would also be the site for the rally games later on.
There were many fine examples of vintage iron at the rally! Most of the classics were British/European. There were some minty old BSA's, Bonneville's & Norton's from the 50s, 60s and 70s - singles and twins. AJS, Matchless and Velocette were there with fully operable machines from the teens through 40s. A comment was made about the pristine paint & chrome work on the tank and side covers of one particular BSA. The owner matter-of-factly stated, “Oh, that tank is NOS”. Can you imagine finding a NOS tank for a 1967 BSA Lightning? A good contingent of MotoGuzzi's…one husband/wife couple rode to the rally from Edmonton, Alberta on a pair of late model Guzzi’s, about a sixteen-hour ride. Another rider from Edmonton arrived on a ‘70’s Ducati 750 desmo. A local enthusiast arrived in on a wartime Harley WLC - 45 cu in. Made in Canada, apparently! It is in incredible, completely authentic condition; found in Saskatchewan somewhere! He’s now looking for the appropriate guns to fit in their designated holsters and racks on the bike! A few of those in attendance are avid collectors who trailered to the show only a couple of their stable of many vintage motorcycles. One enthusiast has 21 bikes of various makes and models at home in his shop! I guess there are still some old bikes out there in barns and sheds, at least until these guys find them!
Around noon, we saddled up and went for a leisurely and scenic country ride along the banks of the Red River North of Winnipeg. Not far along the route, we stopped to gas up and one rider’s wartime Triumph single wouldn’t start. They referred to it as a “German model Triumph” for apparently being employed by the German Army in WWII. Who woulda thunk it?! Very interesting history to be learned. Having flooded the carb and given up trying to kickstart the old war bike, the owner boarded my buddy’s Goldwing and we continued on the ride. The old Triumph was parked on display at the gas station and retrieved later in the day. There were a few mechanical incidents along the ride as might be expected with men and machines over 50 years old; however, all were met in good nature and made for great conversation and camaraderie. More fellowship while stopped for an old-style burger or foot-long hotdog at the Half Moon restaurant, an historic hangout dating back to the 1950’s. Incidents, lunch, site seeing included, the ride took about 3 hours.
Shortly after arriving back at the rally site, the games began including a slow race, figure eight, etc. This would be followed by an evening pig roast, more story telling, exchanges of friendship and deet (the mosquitoes were as big as bats!) and the occasional beer. Sunday was set aside for show ‘n shine to wrap up the weekend.
Unfortunately, I had to depart around 5 p.m. on Saturday and ride back to Kenora to meet other commitments. The experience makes me want to attend the entire weekend event next year. Witnessing the rituals surrounding many of these old bikes was both nostalgic and entertaining. Compression release levers, manual timing advance/retard, reefing on a kickstart pedal at the risk of being catapulted over the handlebars, backfiring, the smell of rich mixtures, exhaust smoke, the chest-pounding thump of a 500 cc single…. the essence of a motorcycling era gong by. I felt almost too high tech to be there with my 78E
“X perimental S ystems” motorcycle; however, I did receive compliments on her. For a brief few hours, it was like stepping back into history. It was interesting, very refreshing and I would recommend attending an event like this to all.
By about 9:45 a.m., I arrived at a friend’s place North of Winnipeg, a former co-worker in a previous life. She and her husband both bought Harleys a couple years ago. Actually, I feel partly responsible for getting her into motorcycling as we sometimes shared daydreams at work. Anyway, she’s a good friend and looks great on a bike...even if it is a Harley! (Ahem) Together with another riding buddy (Goldwing 1800), the three of us rode out to the rally location.
The site of the rally is a beautiful acreage owned by a hobbyist who lives to work on old Brit bikes. His rustic workshop, with several pieces of work in progress, is a site to behold. He generously offered a 1920-something Norton single to a friend to enjoy on the afternoon ride. After trying to start the machine for several minutes, the friend was exhausted. The owner strode up to the machine, tweaked this lever and that lever ... and with one kick, the old Norton roared to life! He grinned amicably and motioned for the friend to get on and ride, reminding him that the shifter was on the right and the gears were 'one up and three down'!
Still on his property, about ¼ mile down the road, a small village of rally campers had set up in a sheltered meadow. This would also be the site for the rally games later on.
There were many fine examples of vintage iron at the rally! Most of the classics were British/European. There were some minty old BSA's, Bonneville's & Norton's from the 50s, 60s and 70s - singles and twins. AJS, Matchless and Velocette were there with fully operable machines from the teens through 40s. A comment was made about the pristine paint & chrome work on the tank and side covers of one particular BSA. The owner matter-of-factly stated, “Oh, that tank is NOS”. Can you imagine finding a NOS tank for a 1967 BSA Lightning? A good contingent of MotoGuzzi's…one husband/wife couple rode to the rally from Edmonton, Alberta on a pair of late model Guzzi’s, about a sixteen-hour ride. Another rider from Edmonton arrived on a ‘70’s Ducati 750 desmo. A local enthusiast arrived in on a wartime Harley WLC - 45 cu in. Made in Canada, apparently! It is in incredible, completely authentic condition; found in Saskatchewan somewhere! He’s now looking for the appropriate guns to fit in their designated holsters and racks on the bike! A few of those in attendance are avid collectors who trailered to the show only a couple of their stable of many vintage motorcycles. One enthusiast has 21 bikes of various makes and models at home in his shop! I guess there are still some old bikes out there in barns and sheds, at least until these guys find them!
Around noon, we saddled up and went for a leisurely and scenic country ride along the banks of the Red River North of Winnipeg. Not far along the route, we stopped to gas up and one rider’s wartime Triumph single wouldn’t start. They referred to it as a “German model Triumph” for apparently being employed by the German Army in WWII. Who woulda thunk it?! Very interesting history to be learned. Having flooded the carb and given up trying to kickstart the old war bike, the owner boarded my buddy’s Goldwing and we continued on the ride. The old Triumph was parked on display at the gas station and retrieved later in the day. There were a few mechanical incidents along the ride as might be expected with men and machines over 50 years old; however, all were met in good nature and made for great conversation and camaraderie. More fellowship while stopped for an old-style burger or foot-long hotdog at the Half Moon restaurant, an historic hangout dating back to the 1950’s. Incidents, lunch, site seeing included, the ride took about 3 hours.
Shortly after arriving back at the rally site, the games began including a slow race, figure eight, etc. This would be followed by an evening pig roast, more story telling, exchanges of friendship and deet (the mosquitoes were as big as bats!) and the occasional beer. Sunday was set aside for show ‘n shine to wrap up the weekend.
Unfortunately, I had to depart around 5 p.m. on Saturday and ride back to Kenora to meet other commitments. The experience makes me want to attend the entire weekend event next year. Witnessing the rituals surrounding many of these old bikes was both nostalgic and entertaining. Compression release levers, manual timing advance/retard, reefing on a kickstart pedal at the risk of being catapulted over the handlebars, backfiring, the smell of rich mixtures, exhaust smoke, the chest-pounding thump of a 500 cc single…. the essence of a motorcycling era gong by. I felt almost too high tech to be there with my 78E
“X perimental S ystems” motorcycle; however, I did receive compliments on her. For a brief few hours, it was like stepping back into history. It was interesting, very refreshing and I would recommend attending an event like this to all.