About Our Club
Welcome to the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club Inc- Australia
The VJMC is a worldwide club with four separate branches; Australia, New Zealand, North America and the United Kingdom. All VJMC branches have the common aim of fostering the restoration and riding of older model Japanese Motorcycles. Some enthusiasts are members of more than one branch of the VJMC.
In Australia, the VJMC is a not-for-profit, community association operated by a committee of volunteers, with the primary objective of fostering the preservation, restoration, riding and enjoyment of ownership of Japanese motorcycles more than 15 years old. There is no requirement to own a motorcycle and the club welcomes any rider to its events whether on a vintage Japanese motorcycle or not. The club caters for families by offering a family membership.
The main activities of the VJMC in Australia are:
- local rides and events
- provide member access to the printed VJMC Club Magazine
- organisation of an annual Rally/AGM
- representation at swap meetings and historic race meetings
- display opportunities
- putting members who have given permission in contact with one another.
Many members have toured with the VJMC in recent years to significant motorcycle sites in Japan. The 2021 VJMC Tour to Japan was cancelled due to COVID-19 however the report on the 2017 VJMC Tour to Japan appeared in VJMC Magazine number 147.
A shared Technical Information and Library service is also available for members. The VJMC Australia has in excess of 2,500 members across Australia, and thirty regional representatives to act as contact points for members.
The club is registered with ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) as an Australian Registered Body and thereby authorised to participate in Historic Registration schemes in all Australian states and territories.
The 2023 VJMC National Rally in Bendigo was held in March 2023. The next VJMC National Rally will be held in 2024 in South Australia.
HISTORY OF THE VJMC WORLDWIDE AND IN AUSTRALIA
The Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club originated in the USA in the late 1970’s when Barton Taylor decided that regular collectors' clubs did not cater for the growing numbers of older Japanese bike enthusiasts.
By 1982 there was a ‘chapter’ of the USA club in the UK and in Australia. Both the UK and Australia decided to form local club branches in their own right and the VJMC Australian Register was formed in South Australia. The new club issued its first magazine and participated in its first bike show in Adelaide in early 1983.
VJMC - Australia co-founder Len Collins with the first VJMC display in Rundle Mall Adelaide in March, 1983.
The Australian branch was set up as a register in 1983 with the following aims:
- Promote the restoration and use of Japanese motorcycles that are fifteen (15) years or older or are of marques no longer in production
- Provide a central clearing house for information regarding technical data and spares available and pass this information to members.
- Liaise with the overseas branches and with similar clubs in Australia and New Zealand to exchange information and ideas
- To track down supplies of spares and use the power of membership numbers to gain discounts or beneficial services to members
- To produce a quarterly newsletter in which all members can place advertisements or articles without charge
- To foster a club-like atmosphere which will enable us to organise future events such as rallies, and to gain sufficient members to enable area meetings and social events to be arranged.
Those aims are still the aims of the club today.
Kawasaki 900s at the 2008 VJMC National Rally at Mt Tambourine, Qld.
The Australian branch had members from Japan and New Zealand in those early years. In the early 1990s New Zealand formed their own branch which still operates. The VJMC in the UK spawned branches in many European countries.
