A good number of motorcycles started rumbling into town on Friday, with visitors and locals alike hitting our local watering holes for a night of live music and revelry before the actual bike show got underway.

The following morning dawned wet and overcast, but proud and undeterred owners lined their bikes up at the Exhibition Ground, creating an impressive display of various makes and models.

The crowd flowed in and out of the event all day, and while numbers were down to last year, Celebration of Motorcycles Bombala Association members say that this is easily explained by the weather.

“We had a lot of cancellations on Friday due to the heat and the wind, and then a few further cancellations due to the wet on Saturday. We just couldn’t win either way!” one representative said.

“Nonetheless it was still a really successful day. Everyone who came had a great time, and all of the stallholders that stayed open said they had a worthwhile visit and would definitely be returning next year.”

And the crowd had plenty to entertain them. Not only were there the many bikes to admire, photograph and talk about, but there were a series of stalls to stroll through, and fascinating historic car and engine displays to peruse.

There were also some novelty events keeping the laughs coming, with everything from Tyre Tossing to the always popular Burn Out Competition delighting the enthusiastic crowd.

All the while there was some top music belting out across the Exhibition Ground, with five live bands doing their thing throughout the afternoon and right into the early hours of the morning.

Back to the bikes, trophy presentations were made later in the afternoon, with these going out to the most impressive machines in each of the categories, which of course included the People’s Choice Award and Best Overall Bike.

These two prestigious titles both went to the one owner, in fact, with Lee Maree Elliott of Picton’s Harley Davidson Sportster obviously pleasing the judges and general crowd alike.

And with great food, an enthusiastically patroned bar, and the live music pumping on until late, there were few who minded getting a bit damp as they partied on into the night.

All in all the Celebration of Motorcycles Bombala was once again a rocking success, with organisers confident of a bigger and better event in 2010, possibly with a Harley Davidson motorcycle set to be given away as a prize.

And with so many visitors eating, drinking and staying in town over the weekend, this year’s event has once again been of great benefit to the community, with details being released shortly on which local cause may benefit from a lice of the proceeds.

The Celebration of Motorcycles Bombala Association would now like to offer its sincerest thanks to those who helped make the 2009 event a success, including all sponsors, workers, and judges.

All results in the formal bike show can be found at www.celebrationofmotorcycles.com, where suggestions can also be made for next year’s event.