About
So who are we?
We were originally formed in 1993 as the Official HOG Chapter in Manchester, sponsored by Bauer-Millett Harley-Davidson. Unfortunately, the closure of the dealership in August 2003 left us without a sponsor, but in true Rainy City style, we decided to remain as an independent Harley Club and continue to enjoy ourselves.
Why 'Rainy City'?
Some people have asked why the name Rainy City? Well as some of you may know, Manchester has a reputation of being a rather wet place to live. We've got the Welsh Mountains to the South West, the Pennines to the East and the Lake District to the North, so as you can see we are the flat bit in the middle, where all the rain gets dumped! Our club badge of a little pig under an umbrella, and dancing in the rain seemed somehow very appropriate.
Our Newsletter
Our Newsletter, Hogwash, is published bi-monthly and contains reports on our trips, together with information on forthcoming events, technical tips with the odd bit of humour thrown in for good measure. Probably the best full colour Harley club magazine in the entire world. But then, we're biased, but it is really!
Club Nights
Our monthly club nights are held on the last Tuesday of the month (except December) at
The Woodthorpe Hotel, Bury Old Road,Prestwich, Manchester, M25 0EG and start at 8.00pm. These meetings usually have an informal session of about 30 minutes where ideas and plans for the future from both committee and members are discussed. This is usually followed by a quiz or a presentation by visiting speaker or member.
An Active Club!
Every weekend when we are not at a rally we plan to hold a ride-out. These rides make us one of the most active clubs in the country. In fact, in recent years Rainy City have travelled all over the UK, Europe and the USA. We've visited places as far away as Stirling, Minehead, Newcastle and Kent in the UK; our European trips have included Hamburg, Barcelona, St Tropez, Holland and Norway and, of course, there was our superb Milwaukee trip for the 100th anniversary celebrations.
Where we meet for runs
We meet at the McDonalds on Regent Road, Manchester, M5 4SX just opposite the Campanile Hotel (5 mins from the end of the M602 heading towards Manchester and 2 mins from the Mancunian Way heading away from Manchester). The times of the meeting can vary depending on where we are going, but full details are of time and destination is available on the Rainy City Hotline (0161 301 4943) (Click on the 'Meeting' button for a more detailed map)
Rainy Daze - Our Club Rally
Our first Club Rally, Rainy Daze, was held in July of 2004 and received rave reviews from all who attended, so we went ahead and Rainy Daze 2 was even better! And then (you've guessed it!) we held Rainy Daze 3. Bigger and better than ever! We then moved venues and Rainy Daze 4 was great and they just keep getting better. We don't aim to be the biggest, but we try to be the best! You can see lots of photos in the Rainy Daze section of the Recent Photos part of the website. Unfortunately we held our last Rainy Daze in 2016 due to rising costs it became too much for too few to the committee decided to call it a day after 13 successful rallies and 13 busy years.
Well that's just a brief idea of what the club is about, so why not visit us on a club night or a run. We aim to give everyone a warm welcome and hope you'll enjoy riding with us - why not join! just fill out the membership form and bring it with you.
Barry Dunnett
- President of Rainy City HDC
