It signals three days of celebrating pre-1993 motorcycles at the annual Broadford Bike Bonanza.
This year’s event holds special significance as it is the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Honda CB750 — a revolution in motorbikes.
Moama mechanic Tom Weyrich, who runs the Good Vibrations Motorcycle Museum in Mathoura, said the Honda CB750 was a ‘‘game changer revered around the world’’.
‘‘It was the world’s first superbike,’’ he said.
‘‘It was the first bike with disc brakes on the front and an electric start and, not only an electric start but an electric start that actually worked.’’
Mr Weyrich said the bike was ‘‘highly desirable and collectable’’ by motorbike fans.
‘‘It had a four-cylinder engine, four carburettors, a single overhead camshaft. When it was released in 1969 it was a revolution,’’ he said.
‘‘It was astonishing that anyone could produce such a bike.’’
Mr Weyrich said the model was a forerunner of current two-wheelers with ‘‘90 per cent of today’s motorbikes’’ based on the CB750.
‘‘It set a benchmark in the standard of quality and became the norm for all motorbikes since,’’ he said.
Mr Weyrich will be taking his CB750s to the weekend’s bike show in Broadford which offers plenty for motorcycle aficionados.
More than 600 bikes will be at the event which offers road racing, dirt track, vintage motocross, trials and enduro.
There is no racing as such, more a spirited demonstration for bike fans to enjoy.
Over the years, the bike bonanza has attracted such motorbike luminaries as Australian motorcycle racers Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser as well as Alan Cathcart, a world renowned and well recognised and well respected road bike tester from Britain.
Mr Weyrich is one of a number of motorcycle enthusiasts from the Echuca-Moama region attending the Broadford Bike Bonanza.
Action starts tomorrow at the Victorian State Motorcycle and Sports Complex and wraps up Easter Sunday.
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