Munro-style motorbike in Auckland café
03 Jun 2009
A vintage motorbike once worked on by Kiwi motorcycling legend Burt Munro - of The World’s Famous Indian movie fame - and owned by a fellow speedster, is now part of the décor in an Auckland café.
The 1936 Velocette motorbike is on show at My Place café in the trendy inner-city suburb of Parnell, and is already attracting interest from patrons.
The bike is now owned by a Kiwi businessman who decided to buy it on impulse to ensure the treasured item stayed in New Zealand.
Saved at auction
Kevin Harvey says he bought the Velocette for NZ$71,000 in March after seeing a story on the bike’s auction on the television show Breakfast.
He missed the auction time but left a message with the TV station and went bodysurfing at Pakiri, north of Auckland.
The bike was tipped to sell for about NZ$35,000 but two keen foreign bidders pushed the price to more than double that.
"I bought it because I wanted to stop it going overseas. And also I felt it would run in with everything we do here in Parnell and it would be a really nice boost for our tenants because it is a point of interest for the tourists," said Harvey.
No 8 wire
Harvey says his father worked hard to preserve Auckland city’s heritage and he wants to do the same.
"This bike has a fantastic story. It’s like the number eight wire mentality. It’s pretty radical. It’s that Kiwi ingenuity we often seem to beat the rest of the world in and sometimes it’s with very little."
The bike belonged to Burt Munro’s lifelong friend and fellow speedster Duncan Meikle.
The pair both bought Velocettes in 1956 and modified and tuned the machines in tandem.
In running order
The bike came with a separate Munro starter engine and is still in running order.
Café owner Kathy McCabe said the Velocette had already attracted attention from a number of motorbike enthusiasts and tourists.
And she said it fitted in well with the "Kiwi garage" theme used to decorate the café.
Background information:
- Duncan Meikle and Burt Munro both bought Velocettes in 1956.
- The pair modified the bikes and raced them together in the 50s and 60s.
- Burt Munro ended up in hospital for two months after a practice race at Teretonga, near Invercargill. He had given a few younger racers a head-start, before screaming past them waving "see you later". That sent the Velocette into a nasty tank slap, the handlebars jerking from side to side, and Munro bailed off as the bike soared in to the air.
- Meikle sold his bike in the 60s.
- Neil Neilson set a quarter mile record on the bike at Teretonga in 1964.
- Burt Munro is famous for setting an under-1000cc world record of 295.453kmh at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in 1967 on his modified 1920 Indian Scout. He was 68. The record still stands.
- Burt Munro's story inspired the movie The World’s Fastest Indian starring Anthony Hopkins.
More information:
World's Fastest Indian
Anthony Hopkins revels in NZ role
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