A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at the end of the ride.

North America

Notable annual North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n rallies with attendance in the hundreds of thousands from all over the continent include the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually the first full week of August.-History:...

, Laconia Motorcycle Week

Laconia Motorcycle Week

Laconia Motorcycle Week is a motorcycle rally held annually in June in Laconia, New Hampshire, USA.The rally has its origin in the Loudon Classic motorcycle race started in 1923 and the Gypsy tour, where many motorcyclists passed through Laconia...

, Black Bike Week

Black Bike Week

Black Bike Week, also called Atlantic Beach Bikefest and Black Bikers Week, is an annual motorcycle rally at Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, held on Memorial Day weekend. It is also sometimes called Black Fill-in-the-Blank Week, because it has evolved to attract many non-motorcycling visitors who...

 and Daytona Beach Bike Week

Daytona Beach Bike Week

Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals...

. There are innumerable smaller, regional rallies around the United States, including the annual BMW MOA

BMW MOA

The BMW Motorcycle Owners of America is a private, nonprofit membership association for owners and admirers of BMW motorcycles. , it had 39,700 members.BMW MOA was founded in 1972 in Chicago by five enthusiasts....

 international rally, the Oyster Run

Oyster Run

The Oyster Run is a motorcycle rally held annually each September since 1981 in Anacortes, Washington. It is the largest rally in the Pacific Northwest with 2006 attendance estimated in the tens of thousands....

 in the Pacific Northwest, the Golden Aspen Rally

Golden Aspen Rally

The Golden Aspen Rally, formerly Aspencade, is an annual motorcycle rally. Along with Americade in New York and the Lone Star Rally in Texas, it is one of the American Motorcyclist Association's three annual rallies, drawing an estimated 30,000 attendees. It is held annually on the third week of...

 (formerly Aspencade) in the Southwest, the Laughlin River Run

Laughlin River Run

Laughlin River Run is an annual gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts in Laughlin, Nevada. It is the largest gathering of its type in the Western United States. The event drew over 70,000 motorcycle enthusiasts in 2007.- History :...

 in the West, and Americade

Americade

Americade is a week-long motorcycle rally that is held during the first full of June. The headquarters and location of many rally activities are in Lake George village, New York. The event is open to all motorcyclists and brand and type of motorcycles, and in recent years attracts over 50,000...

 in the Northeast.

Rallies will often incorporate entertainment such as motorcycle stunt performances like wheelie

Wheelie

In vehicle acrobatics, a wheelie is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to extreme torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels. Wheelies are usually associated with bicycles and motorcycles, but can be done with other vehicles such as cars, especially...

 acts and the wall of death, live bands, and dice runs or poker run

Poker run

A poker run is an organized event where participants, usually using motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats, or horses, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run...

s. In some cases, rallies are held as benefits for organizations or groups such as the American Red Cross

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

, American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

 or VFW

VFW

VFW may refer to:*Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke*Veterans of Foreign Wars*Veterans of Future Wars*Video for Windows*VFW Parkway...

.

Europe

The longest established motorcycle rally in Europe is the Elefantentreffen (Elephant Rally)

Elephant Rally

The Elephant Rally, or Elefantentreffen, is a winter motorcycle rally, which takes place on the first weekend in February or on the last weekend in January annually in a valley between the towns of Thurmansbang and Solla in the Bavarian Forest in Germany...

 which was established by former Wehrmacht motorcyclists and named in honour of the Zündapp

Zündapp

Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators...

 motorcycle that was nicknamed the green elephant. The growing reputation of the Elefantentreffen led to the creation (in 1962) of a British winter rally, the Dragon rally

Dragon rally

The Dragon Rally is a motorcycle camping rally held annually in North Wales since 1962, making it one of the UK's longest running bike events. In the 1960s the attendance at the Dragon sometimes topped 3,000 riders"Dragon Plus" article in Motor Cycle, 13th February 1964, p195, more recently the...

 that is still held each February in North Wales.

In the UK, the Iron Ore Rally is held annually in Egremont Cumbria and the Rally of Discovery

Rally of discovery

The Rally of Discovery is a motorcycle rally held in the Republic of Ireland and other locales. It was started in 1994 by the Southern Motorcycle Adventure Club....

 is held in Ireland. Rallies are held all year round. Many hardened motorcyclists (or bikers) prefer the winter rallies, such as the Mayflower MCCs Force Ten Rally or the Dean Vally MCCs Rallymans Rally. The usual order of the day is camping with a real ale tent and music. Rallies usually start on a Friday afternoon and finish at lunchtime on a Sunday. The point is to travel there by motorcycle, motorcycle and sidecar or trike (not cars or vans), meet friends from all over the country and sometimes further afield, claim your rally badge and enjoy the fun and entertainment. Prizes are awarded for the furthest distance travelled, best bike, best rat bike

Rat bike

Rat bikes are motorcycles that have fallen apart over time but been kept on the road and maintained for little or no cost by employing kludge fixes...

, oldest person attending, youngest person attending, etc. There are usually planned ride-outs on the Saturday taking in good roads and sometimes historic sites, museums, etc.

In the UK many people relate motorcycle rallies to the famous Bulldog Bash

Bulldog Bash

The Bulldog Bash is considered to be one of Europe's most popular, annual, motorcycle festivals with a reported attendance of 50,000 people in 2007...

 near Stratford-upon-Avon (recently in the news for all the wrong reasons [August 2007]). This is a hugely popular event and attracts thousands of people, some of whom don't own a motorcycle but like the idea. However, there are many much smaller rallies that attract between 50 to 500 bikers to each event. They are highly organised and are controlled by the host club. For many the highlight of the event is the sacrificial burning of an old caravan, the bane of many a holiday motorist! A motorcycle rally is not to be confused with a 'meet' such as the ones that take place at various places in the country, such as Bassetts Pole

Bassetts Pole

Bassetts Pole is an area at the Staffordshire–West Midlands–Warwickshire Tripoint. There are no residences here, although the settlement of Middleton Heath is located just to the South West...

, Matlock Bath, Box Hill and Shanklin Esplanade on the Isle of Wight to name but a few. Rallies are still attended by motorcyclists that have been going to rallies for up to 40 or 50 years. In the UK motorcycle rallies began in ernest in the early 1960s as young, mainly working class men and women (usually on the pillion) gained freedom by motorcycle ownership and set off around the country camping. Some went in groups or clubs and thus the rally was born. Many were Ton-up boys, later Greasers and then Greebos. The general term for a motorcyclist today appears to be 'biker'. The largest motorcycle rally in Europe is the Thundersprint

Thundersprint

Thundersprint is a motorcycle event for classic and exotic motorcycles held in annually in May in Northwich, Cheshire, England. Attendance is estimated to be around 100,000 over the two days, and it is the second largest event in Europe....

, held annually in May in Northwich

Northwich

Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and usually features notable motorcycle champions or enthusiasts such as Giacomo Agostini

Giacomo Agostini

-Non-riding career:Like John Surtees and Mike Hailwood before him, Agostini raced in Formula One cars. He competed in non-championship Formula One races in 1978. He competed in the European Formula 2 series in a Chevron B42-BMW and British Aurora Formula 1 with his own team and a Williams FW06...

 and James May

James May

James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....

.

Gypsy tour

Gypsy tour is an American motorcycling term which originated before the 1920s; the term has been mostly but not entirely replaced by rally or run. Gypsy tours were organized where groups of riders all over the country converged on a favorite destination. The term gypsy was used because the riders would travel long distances and often sleeping in tents around a campfire along the way much like the Hollywood stereotype gypsies.

One Australian newspaper referring to a Gypsy Tour rally from Melbourne to Sydney in 1927, stated - "The idea of a "gypsy tour" originated in America. There these tours are usually being organised simultaneously in different cities and towns, and routes all converging on one centre, where a great rally is held by the touring parties".
The term gypsy tour has been used for other activities, but predominantly motorcycle rallies, and the idea quickly spread around the world.

Many gypsy tours have been held over the years and are still a regular event for many vintage and modern motorcycle groups.
The annual gypsy tour to Laconia, New Hampshire

Laconia, New Hampshire

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,411 people, 6,724 households, and 4,168 families residing in the city. The population density was 809.3 people per square mile . There were 8,554 housing units at an average density of 421.8 per square mile...

 near Lake Winnipesaukee

Lake Winnipesaukee

Lake Winnipesaukee is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It is approximately long and from wide , covering — when Paugus Bay is included—with a maximum depth of ....

 began in 1916 and is the oldest continuous motorcycle event in the U.S.

New Zealand

There are number of rallies held throughout New Zealand, most events taking place over the warmer months, there are however exceptions to this in a couple of cold weather rallies such as the Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally

Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally

The Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally is a rally held annually in Oturehua, Central Otago in New Zealand.The event is held every year over the weekend on which the Queen's birthday is celebrated, usually the first weekend of June....

.