Motorcycle rally
A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. A rally can range from the mild corporate-sponsored Honda Hoot to the infamous Hollister riot.
Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Notable annual rallies with attendance in the hundreds of thousands from all over the continent include the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Laconia Motorcycle Week, and Daytona Beach Bike Week. There are innumerable smaller, regional rallies around the United States, including the annual BMW MOA international rally [1], the Oyster Run in the Pacific Northwest, the Golden Aspen Rally (formerly Aspencade[2]) in the Southwest, the Laughlin River Run in the West, and Americade in the Northeast.
Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at the end of the ride.
The longest established motorcycle rally in Europe is the Elefantentreffen (Elephant Rally) which was established by former Wermacht motorcyclists and named in honour of the Zündapp motorcycle that was nickednamed the green elephant.
There are many motorcycle rallies held around the world today; there are many in the UK. These are held all year round and many hardened motorcyclists (or bikers) prefer the winter rallies, such as the Mayflower MCCs Force Ten rally or the Dean Vally MCCs Rallymans Rally. The usual order of the day is camping with a real ale tent and music. Rallies usually start on a Friday afternoon and finish at lunchtime on a Sunday. The point is to travel there by motorcycle, motorcycle and sidecar or trike (not cars or vans), meet friends from all over the country and sometimes further afield, claim your rally badge and enjoy the fun and entertainment. Prizes are awarded for the furthest distance travelled, best bike, best 'rat bike', oldest person attending, youngest person attending, etc. There are usually planned ride-outs on the Saturday taking in good roads and sometimes historic sites, museums, etc.
In the UK many people relate motorcycle rallies to the famous Bull Dog Bash near Stratford-upon-Avon (recently in the news for all the wrong reasons [August 2007]). This is a hugely popular event and attracts thousands of people, some of whom don't own a motorcycle but like the idea. However, there are many much smaller rallies that attract between 50 to 500 bikers to each event. They are highly organised and are controlled by the host club. For many the highlight of the event is the sacraficial burning of an old caravan, the bane of many a holiday motorist! A motorcycle rally is not to be confused with a 'meet' such as the ones that take place at various places in the country, such as Bassetts' Pole, Matlock Bath, Box Hill and Shanklin Esplenade on the Isle of Wight to name but a few. Rallies are still attended by motorcyclists that have been going to rallies for up to 40 or 50 years. In the UK motorcycle rallies began in ernest in the early 1960s as young, mainly working class men and women (usually on the pillion) gained freedom by motorcycle ownership and set off around the counrty camping. Some went in groups or clubs and thus the rally was born. Many were Ton Up Boys, later Greasers and then Greebos. The general term for a motorcyclist today appears to be 'biker'.