The Grote Brink serves as the paddock for the day: the motorcycles are on show there from 10am, and visitors can look at them free of charge. Once all the machines have passed inspection, the riders set off at 1pm on the 28.4-kilometre lap over public roads. These are closed to other traffic at the time, both for safety and because the classic racing motorcycles have no number plates.
The machines at the start include the TT-winning BMW R51RS of road racer Piet Knijnenburg, Jan Muijlwijk's original DKW RT125 racing motorcycle, a family heirloom, and Marcel Ankoné's Suzuki RG500 MK1, a world championship machine from the 1970s. Dirk Gerben de Vries, a grandson of TT pioneer Dirk de Vries, is also riding.
The OVVR put the field together with five historic motorcycle clubs, which nominated members. From those members the organisers made a selection so that every decade of the TT is represented. A limited number of owners of historic motorcycles could also enter without belonging to a club. When the parade was announced, the OVVR expected around 300 motorcycles.
The riders are divided into six groups according to the year their motorcycle was built. The oldest group, with machines from 1925 up to and including 1945, sets off first, and the sidecars ride in a class of their own.
There are other activities on the Kleine Brink throughout the day, and an afterparty with live music follows the parade.
The first TT was raced in 1925 on a triangle of roads between Rolde, Borger and Grolloo, and only later did Assen become the TT town. The Rolder Historisch Gezelschap, Rolde's local history society, has put an article about that first race, written by Lukas Hoven in 2010, back on its website.