If one is good….
By Phil Hall
…more better, or so I have been told. Hanging around with motorcyclists as I have done for many years has convinced me that every single one of them subscribes to this axiom. Most of the motorcyclists I know have more than one bike and some have many. Some collections are focussed and some eclectic and some seem to have been just a mystical amalgum of space, time and caprice.
Of course there are the famous ones, like American TV host, Jay Leno or British millionaire Tom Wheatcroft, but I am thinking of some of the lesser-known ones.
Take a well-known British racer with whom I have shared some time. This guy is living in America, actually, and is a historic racing nut. And he has a wild and wonderful collection of bikes. You see, Dave is one of those benighted souls called Kawasaki people. Dave LOVES his Kawasakis and has ammassed an enviable collection of them. But they are not just any Kawasakis, Oh no. To make it into Dave’s collection it has to have a genuine, guaranteed racing provenance. So, if you were to visit him you would see H1R’s, H2R’s, KR750’s and Superbikes of all manners and types all of which would be distinguished by the fact that people like Art Baumann, Eddie Lawson, Mick Grant and Gary Nixon had used them in anger.
However, in the last twelve months or so, this collector’s focus has shifted a little away from things green to things white and red. After being asked to ride at the Isle of Man in 2013, he purchased what he thought would be the best weapon for the job, a Yamaha TZ70D. This was somewhat of an epiphany for this previously dyed-in-the-wool Kawasaki man. The TZ was, in his words, “The Bike Kawasaki should have built.” It didn’t take long for several more 750’s to take up residence and now he divides his time between a priceless collection of Team Green memorabilia and an enviable collection of Yamaha’s best.
Ironically another “collector” who is of the “focussed” variety is another ex-pat Englishman living in the USA. This collector’s focus is on things red, specifically Ducati red and with a side salad of the MV Agusta kind. Having seen (courtesy of Skype) his basement, I can tell you that he would certainly be the envy of any Ducatisti that I know. You see, he doesn’t just collect Ducatis. He collects the rare ones, the Limited Edition ones, the ones that have the letters SPS after the number. And he, too, concentrates on bikes that have provenance. Bikes that have been ridden by Ben Bostrom, for example, have pride of place in his collection and he has gone as far afield as Australia to chase an example that meets his strict criteria. The MVs likewise have to meet strict criteria before being added to the collection. Having the word “Senna” in the name helps.
That’s not to say that he is a Ducati “snob”, far from it. It’s just that only Ducatis and MVs occupy the heated and air-conditioned basement of his east coast home. The other dozens of bikes that he has accumulated over the years live in a huge garage outside.
I’m sure that my readers will be able to multiply example upon example of their friends and acquaintances whose collections are similarly large, enviable and valuable. Me? I’ve never really had the budget to be a collector. It’s usually only been one bike at a time. There was a period back in the 1970’s when I did own two bikes, a brand new Yamaha RD250C and a Yamaha TY250A trials bike. Ha, me, a dedicated Honda man owning TWO Yamahas at the same time..My brother, the Yamaha man, never lets me forget it and reminds me frequently of how stupid I was to sell the TY. Looking at the prices they are brining now, my trials bike owning days seem to be as far away as ever.
But now I am a “collector” of sorts again. Through a strange series of happy coincidences I now own a road bike and a beautifully restored 1980’s Kawasaki endurance racing bike.
The story of the racing bike can wait till another day. In the mean time, I have always had a hankering to own another 1970’s Honda 500/4. Prices for these are also eye-wateringly high now compared to what I paid for (and sold) my 1973 model, but, hope springs, as they say. Who knows, it still might happen.
I’d love to hear about collections in your world. Keep it anonymous, please. Most collections are ridiculously valuable these days and with the rate of motorcycle theft rising dramatically, the last thing I want to do is advertise where these wonderful little posses of bikes can be found.
Perhaps you are a collector or someone who knows one? It’s a great thing to share. Let me know.
