Melting Down at the Mudgee Meltdown

ALL around the world there’s been a resurgence of young guys building traditional choppers, bikes that Dave Mann would be proud to paint, and there were no better examples than the bikes at The Mudgee Meltdown.

The Mudgee Meltdown is held over three days at the Gerzurgan property, a motorcycle commune of sorts dedicated to old Harleys, built on a river with its own bar, about 30 minutes north/west of Mudgee. Gerzurgan has been around for at least 40 years with some founding members choosing to be buried on the site.

There was a wide range of all the classic engine styles: Shovels, Panheads and Iron Head Sportsters making up the bulk of the builds; some of the younger chopper builders had chosen to start with a late model Sportster chopped in the traditional way. 

Many of the riders had ridden from the major city cities on the eastern seaboard; both Vic and Qld numbers plates were in abundance. This may not sound like any great achievement until you realise most of the bikes were old classic Harley-Davidsons with rigid rear-ends and early springer front-ends. 

Our journey started from Sydney, via Lithgow, Bathurst, Hill End then Mudgee. Upon arriving I was swiftly thrown a can of beer which I downed in one, then set up camp before I started checking out what could only be described as a apocalyptic scene—dust flying up from the drags, women in lingerie, men in their undies, trying to survive in the 40 degree heat.

The crowd was hammering down beers and rum in blow-up swimming-pools as entrants in the dirt drags competed to be crowned the King of Mudgee Meltdown. That said, the quickest on the day was a Queen as Matilda shredded most of the blokes down the drag strip—and there wasn’t a late model big-twin in sight—all the entrants were Shovels or earlier.

Walking around the camp-sites, there where some amazing stories of fathers and sons who had built their bikes together. One guy told me the story of how 40 years ago a fire had burnt down his dad’s shed along with his WLA. Unbeknown to the father, the son had rebuilt the bike and presented it to his father at this year’s Mudgee Meltdown.

Later in the evening there was metal bands, strippers and more booze. What more does one want when surrounded my a mob of bikers who know how to party hard.

The Mudgee Meltdown lived up to all expectations of what a motorcycle event should be. It is, without a doubt, the best motorcycle weekend I have been to in the past decade. If you’re into old Harley-Davidsons built in the traditional way, then this is a must-do event next year…

There are a lot more photos in the slideshow on Instagram. The link is below: