The 26th Irish GoldWing International Treffen

GOLDWING OWNERS CLUB OF IRELAND Ltd.

Press Release

The GoldWing Owners Club of Ireland is delighted to be hosting our 26th International Event in Gowran Park, Co. Kilkenny on the weekend of 19th -22nd August 2010. Our event outlined below will bring around 500 people and their fabulous motorcycles from across Europe to Gowran and Kilkenny.

The GoldWing Owners Club of Ireland (GWOCI) is a family orientated motorcycle club with approximately 300 members spread throughout the island of Ireland. Our members come from all walks of life and have one thing in common.... We all love riding the ultimate touring machine, the Honda Gold Wing. We are affiliated to the GoldWing European Federation (GWEF) which is comprised of 22 national clubs and has combined membership of over 20,000. Each national club hosts an International meeting each year which we call a 'Treffen'. The word 'Treffen' derives from the German language and simply translated means 'meeting of friends'. We are also affiliated to the Touring Section of Motorcycling Ireland, the governing body of all motorcycle sport in Ireland.

Our weekend is still in the planning stage and therefore subject to change.

Summarised itinerary of our weekend:

Thursday; 12.00 hrs, Site opens
21.00 hrs, Entertainment on site, usually local singer or band.

Friday; 10.30 hrs, Convoy of motorcycles brought to local historical site or point of interest via a scenic route. These convoys are always marshalled by experienced members and escorted by Garda motorcyclists.
20.00 hrs, Light Parade through local town.
21.00 hrs, Entertainment on site, Band and D.J.

Saturday; 10.30 hrs, Convoy of motorcycles similar to Friday
16.30 hrs. Parade of national flags and meeting with local dignitaries
19.00 hrs, Presentation of awards, in English, French and German (or Italian).
21.00 hrs, Display of Irish dancing by local group followed by Ceili and late night D.J.

Sunday; 12.00 hrs, Open day with all proceeds donated to local charity/cause.
17.00 hrs Treffen officially ends

We will have a number of 'runs' over the weekend to include;

Scenic runs; Where the convoy of motorcycles ride a scenic route through local villages and towns to an historical site or point of interest. Traffic in the towns and villages we ride through may be brought to a stop, but the spectacle of the bikes passing through is always well appreciated. These convoys are always marshalled by experienced members and escorted by Garda motorcyclists.

Light Parade; As its name implies this gives the attendees an opportunity to 'show-off' their bikes many of which are bedecked with multicoloured lights some of which change colour or tempo to match the music from the bikes.

Parade of Nations; This is another highlight of the weekend when the bikes parade with all the national flags flying and again it's a great opportunity for the 'locals' to view the bikes and take lots of photos.

The Irish 'Treffen' is one of the smaller international events but has its own unique aspect because of the warmth and friendly hospitality of the Irish public, which never fails to astonish our continental visitors. We hope to attract many overseas visitors to our event, with approximately 100 bikes from the continent, and 120 bikes from Great Britain. We also expect a large number of our own members and their families to attend (approx 150 bikes). The numbers quoted are based on the average of visitor numbers to our last few events. As this is our first to be based in Kilkenny we confidently expect more visitors and we have already had a number of inquiries.

Our Treffen will be advertised on all the Websites of the 22 GWEF Clubs. and also in all their Club magazines The Irish Club has also setup a dedicated Treffen webpage where all information (including web links) pertaining to the Treffen will be posted. http://www.goldwingireland.com/treffen2010/irishtreffen2010.htm
You can follow the links from the web site of the GoldWing European Federation http://www.goldwing-european-federation.eu/

GoldWings are very luxurious touring motorcycles bought by the dedicated mature riders. We would be delighted to send you more information or meet and discuss our event, we can bring a DVD of last year's event where you can see the bikes in action.

I look forward to hearing from you and if you need any additional information please do not hesitate to contact;

Treffen Coordinator; Marian Reynolds
Phone; 01 8354227 or mobile 087 1311483
Email; mariangoldwing@gmail.com

Local Coordinator; Ollie Egan
Phone; 056 7761026 or mobile 086 3853488
Email; ollyegan@hotmail.com