Brass Monkey Rally 2016

[PistonBlown]

Got to admit the best part of the Brass Monkey for me is it's an excuse to ride the Pig Route back and forth - the rallies great but that's a fun bit of road.

[Coldrider]

the rumour mill said a few people down there talked of not doing this years Cold Kiwi due to the state of the mud at the site.
last year the farmer reprofied his land for a dairy conversion, leaving it softer than the old thousand year old ground, this year would have seen the place settle and stock constantly moving over it so it should be a much better site overall, due to the reprofiling and the opening up of a lot more camping space. i was impressed byt the understanding of the crowd last year at the kiwi on this subject, as the club put a lot into making things work so lets not lot the bad eggs drag it down and keep people away.
i still remember the time the monkey people spent a whole lot on a grandstand for people to sit and watch the rally arrivals. mike nash from kiwi rider said bluntly that they should put the money into improving the track into there as it was a nightmare.
we live and we learn, long live the cold kiwi

The last stretch of the track adjacent to camping area was more of a quagmire than the grass. I was at this year's Brass and last year's Kiwi. I heard no rumours there but south islanders left the kiwi last year declaring they would never return. The groups that I know of left on Friday(Westland crew) just on dark and others on Saturday morning (mid canterbury). Because some South islanders and presumably others do not want their machinery packed to the axles with volcanic ash and dropped on the rutted peasoup track does not declare them bad eggs.
According to reports in the Otago daily times and Southland paper the Brass is year to year now with numbers required to survive.
If something crazy puts off attendees it will die. If the kiwi isn't organised to the rally goers satisfaction it will suffer the same fate.

[russd7]

The last stretch of the track adjacent to camping area was more of a quagmire than the grass. I was at this year's Brass and last year's Kiwi. I heard no rumours there but south islanders left the kiwi last year declaring they would never return. The groups that I know of left on Friday(Westland crew) just on dark and others on Saturday morning (mid canterbury). Because some South islanders and presumably others do not want their machinery packed to the axles with volcanic ash and dropped on the rutted peasoup track does not declare them bad eggs.
According to reports in the Otago daily times and Southland paper the Brass is year to year now with numbers required to survive.
If something crazy puts off attendees it will die. If the kiwi isn't organised to the rally goers satisfaction it will suffer the same fate.

as i understand it, this years brass they ran out of badges which meant at least 1300 people there,

[T.W.R]

as i understand it, this years brass they ran out of badges which meant at least 1300 people there,

that's piss poor, 30years ago attendance was 3x that sort of number

[russd7]

that's piss poor, 30years ago attendance was 3x that sort of number

yup but last few years they have struggled, to many fair weather riders out there.

[Coldrider]

as i understand it, this years brass they ran out of badges which meant at least 1300 people there,

I was told 1500 turned up for the Brass. About 200 bikes turned up as late as 4pm Saturday afternoon that ' made ' the event.
My comments are actually about last year's cold kiwi mud debacle, however you should read the newspaper for the likelihood of the Brass continuing, or the trend it may follow could be the path of the dead 'cold duck'.

[T.W.R]

yup but last few years they have struggled, to many fair weather riders out there.

Too much fair weather the years of decent hard winter weather for the brass are few & far between; it's lost its prestige of being truely a test of endurance. Proper double figure frosts or snow are rare.
1st one I did I left chch on a 250 traillie at 6am on the sat morning in stiff southerly & rain and on the sunday return rose to a -13 frost 3500 attended that year....great fun, there isn't the same challenge these days

[russd7]

Too much fair weather the years of decent hard winter weather for the brass are few & far between; it's lost its prestige of being truely a test of endurance. Proper double figure frosts or snow are rare.
1st one I did I left chch on a 250 traillie at 6am on the sat morning in stiff southerly & rain and on the sunday return rose to a -13 frost 3500 attended that year....great fun, there isn't the same challenge these days

yup don't dissagree with that but a lot don't go now because they are getting older and can't be bothered standing round in the cold etc, and im talkin people my age.
gotta admit tho, we take a support vehicle with extra blankets and stuff when the missus comes along.
rallies in general are not drawing the numbers they used to and it is getting harder and harder to run them with liqueur licensing laws the way they are.
i think more back to basic invite only rallies may start popping up, no bars no bands etc.

[jellywrestler]

Because some South islanders and presumably others do not want their machinery packed to the axles with volcanic ash and dropped on the rutted peasoup track does not declare them bad eggs.


If the kiwi isn't organised to the rally goers satisfaction it will suffer the same fate.

volcanic ash??? certainally not, any eruptions over the last century have seen the ash go west . as for the rally organisers causing this issue it certainaly is unfair to point it at them. the previous rally site became unavailable to the point where the landowners wanted to retain all the clubs assests. the club worked hard to take them out secretly and then harder to reloacte to another site. during the next year the farmer decided to reprofile their land, there was a lot of infrastructure like flush toilets, underground power links etc so it was run the rally there or throw in the towel. this year the land will have had a year to settle so should return to what it was like last year, the club between the last two rallies put in $7k's worth of gravel on the tracks too.
look to the future, or stay at home and don't support them, i'll be there cause i beleive they are worth supporting and it will work

[T.W.R]

yup don't dissagree with that but a lot don't go now because they are getting older and can't be bothered standing round in the cold etc, and im talkin people my age.
gotta admit tho, we take a support vehicle with extra blankets and stuff when the missus comes along.
rallies in general are not drawing the numbers they used to and it is getting harder and harder to run them with liqueur licensing laws the way they are.
i think more back to basic invite only rallies may start popping up, no bars no bands etc.

True small w.o.m rallies like the purple moon may start to make an appearance again.
Liquor issues don't seem to be too much of a problem at the regulars I get to each season, but have noticed that food stalls aren't what they used to be with some being total crap ( its a wonder someone hasn't been poisoned tbh with couple I've seen of recent).
There's more moderation of peeps hitting the turps, and any ott halfwits get shutdown pretty quickly.
The amount of novelty items to make life easy have softened attendees too, takes the adventure out of the adventure of getting to, attending, and returning from most rallies.

[jellywrestler]

True small w.o.m rallies like the purple moon may start to make an appearance again.
Liquor issues don't seem to be too much of a problem at the regulars I get to each season, but have noticed that food stalls aren't what they used to be with some being total crap ( its a wonder someone hasn't been poisoned tbh with couple I've seen of recent).
There's more moderation of peeps hitting the turps, and any ott halfwits get shutdown pretty quickly.
The amount of novelty items to make life easy have softened attendees too, takes the adventure out of the adventure of getting to, attending, and returning from most rallies.

the kiwi is a two night affair and friday night is the night to party, it is quite interesting how much quieter people are the next night as they know they have to travel home. it's tough in that region as the ohakune mardi gras a few months earlier always nets a few drunk drivers so teh licensing aothourities have tougher than some area criterias, but the club works their best to work with the authorities, then it's over to the attendants.

[Coldrider]

volcanic ash??? certainally not, any eruptions over the last century have seen the ash go west . as for the rally organisers causing this issue it certainaly is unfair to point it at them. the previous rally site became unavailable to the point where the landowners wanted to retain all the clubs assests. the club worked hard to take them out secretly and then harder to reloacte to another site. during the next year the farmer decided to reprofile their land, there was a lot of infrastructure like flush toilets, underground power links etc so it was run the rally there or throw in the towel. this year the land will have had a year to settle so should return to what it was like last year, the club between the last two rallies put in $7k's worth of gravel on the tracks too.
look to the future, or stay at home and don't support them, i'll be there cause i beleive they are worth supporting and it will work

The grit I took home clinging to bike was sharp enough to leave scratches on the lacquer, there is horizontal scratch marks on my number plate to remind me daily. To blame rally goers to not want to go back to the rally because of their mud experience is rather silly. I understand that the kiwi would not happen if it wasn't for the land holders and club members donating their time but to the average rally goers that you are trying to appeal to is getting older and wiser and is prepared to pay 35 to 40 bucks to get in the gate and 3 bucks for a can of piss and a good band. But if mud debacle like last year continue your rally will not be viable and will cease when you can no longer operate at a loss and then you can blame everyone but yourself. The average rally goers turns up for entertainment and pleasure and has no interest in the politics or background goings on for the event, nor to damage or devalue their ever increasing exotic machinery. For obvious reasons I will only turn up to the kiwi on a 'rat bike', but there is a South Island rally on the same weekend now north of chch somewhere around Clarence or Conway river which would be an alternative.

[T.W.R]

the kiwi is a two night affair and friday night is the night to party, it is quite interesting how much quieter people are the next night as they know they have to travel home. it's tough in that region as the ohakune mardi gras a few months earlier always nets a few drunk drivers so teh licensing aothourities have tougher than some area criterias, but the club works their best to work with the authorities, then it's over to the attendants.

Just about every southern rally is a 2day affair the CK isn't special

[jellywrestler]

Just about every southern rally is a 2day affair the CK isn't special

never said it was whatsoever, it's not a cock swinging contest, i just want all raliies to survive, especially up here as they have lost some over time

[T.W.R]

never said it was whatsoever, it's not a cock swinging contest, i just want all raliies to survive, especially up here as they have lost some over time

You were the one swinging it like you were explaining it to a newb
You're right though as many of what were better rallies have long disappeared into oblivion both in the nth & the sth, least some of us will have memories of events that have been swept from the calender