Interesting viewpoints, all of them. The subs I pay locally to retro clubs are about 30 Euros a year, the one makes (as an overseas member) about £30.
The French equivalent of MAG (the FFMC) is more, but also worth it and it's for different things that affect us all, including lobbying and being a serious pressure group deserving of support.
But I get back far more than the cost. Not just in pleasure - in very measurable areas, especially spares discounts in the one-makes, and locally, loads of free coffee and regular subsidies on decent lunches etc when we stop half way round on runs out.
The VMCC's sub is a bit higher, but as Angus says, there's a lot going on there behind the scenes and any org of that scale takes a bit of running. (We saw how it can go pear-shaped from some of its recent shambolic history but things are a lot better now, friends who are members tell me.) I shall be doing one of their events ( first time for me) in May in Yorkshire for a few days on some or other bike, and have to say the pre-event 'welcome' for a non-member has been very friendly.
The 25 yr rule must have an effect, as CB says, creating a bit of 'Whaaat?' in terms of machines that participate in activities. It's bizarre that my XJR Yamaha is VMCC eligible on that basis, although I doubt if I were a member I'd actually ever turn up on it.
For many years (until this one in fact) the majority of activities in one of the local clubs here were confined to "pre-1966" - but it had become unsustainable for the majority of events (and unpopular), so we're moving to a 40 year rule. I voted for that because I think it's about right and fair if we want any new members. A proportion of the current membership doesn't possess an old-enough machine under the old rule - that's no way to try to sustain numbers. No point joining if you can't play! When I first joined that club, the rule was, effectively, a 40-year non-rolling one . . . 20 years on, what's reasonable . . .???
There is nothing to stop any club organising events with stricter limits when appropriate. Our upcoming 'Tour of Calvados, an ambitious 4 day event held annually, is a case in point: over-subscribed as usual, and strictly pre-'66.
Despite any past prejudices I've been guilty of myself, I don't mind seeing early Japanese, some Ducatis, Laverdas, later Triumphs and Nortons and the inevitable Beemers: their owners have spent small fortunes in some cases sourcing parts from the USA, Japan and so on - it's not trivial restoring / maintaining some of these things. I've very recently even succumbed myself to the joys of an early Flying Brick triple, which is 40 this year and registered as 'historic'. (Feels 'new' to me!)
We're a broad church as is often said, and the variety of Clubs reflects that.
I wish them all well.
With values falling off a cliff everywhere, these pockets of true enthusiasm become ever-more critical to the preservation of our two-wheeled heritage. For the love of the things, not for 'investment' or any of that.
