Brass Monkey Rally badge

New Zealand has many motorcycle clubs bringing together people from all walks of life who love motorcycles and riding. Events such as motorcycle rallies date back to at least the 1920s.

The Brass Monkey Rally was one of New Zealand’s best-known rallies and was founded as the South Island’s answer to the Cold Kiwi Rally held near Waiouru in the North Island.

The Brass Monkey was held on farmland at Ōturehua, Ida Valley, Central Otago, over Queen’s Birthday Weekend from 1981 to 2021. The rally celebrated motorcycling in one of New Zealand’s coldest places: cold enough to ‘freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ as the saying goes. You had to arrive on a motorbike to be eligible to come onto the rally site.

A few thousand enthusiasts would take part each year, enjoying bonfires, fireworks, live bands, displays of bikes (with prizes for the best and worst bikes), and prizes for the longest distance travelled to the event.

The rally was organised by the Otago Motorcycle Club with support from the Oturehua Winter Sports Club and community stalwarts. For example, Ken Gillespie’s farm was the site of the Brass Monkey Rally. When he sold his farm, he kept the site where the rally was held, to ensure continuity.

Badges were given only to those people who arrived through the gate on bikes. Special badges marked the 25th rally and the 40th (and last rally) in 2021.