From racing to rebuilding ... Rod Coleman on one of his classic bikes.
From racing to rebuilding ... Rod Coleman on one of his classic bikes.
SARJEANT HAPPENINGS
It's hard to talk about the history of Whanganui motorcycles without thinking of Rod Coleman and Steve Roberts.
These two names are synonymous with the long-running passion Whanganui has for motorsport and for motorbikes in particular.
To mark the passing of Rod Coleman this year andto coincide with the annual Cemetery Circuit event, the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui is presenting a display of four motorcycles that reflect the unique collaborative partnership between Coleman and Steve Roberts.
Rod was born into the world of motorcycle racing. His father, Percy "Cannonball" Coleman, was New Zealand Champion 10 times in the 1920s.
Rod would race many times over the years both in New Zealand and overseas, and is well known for being the first New Zealander to win an Isle of Man TT in 1954.
After Rod retired from racing, he and his brother Bob continued the family motorcycle business which included being the New Zealand importer of Suzuki until Suzuki Japan bought the company in the 1980s.
Steve was born in the UK and after leaving school he worked at both De Havilland and Aston Martin.
Steve moved to New Zealand in the 1960s and rekindled his passion for motorbikes but found buying them in New Zealand was difficult and expensive, so he built his own, starting from an old Triumph engine and building the frame around it.
Working from a photograph of a Rickman (Metisse) for the dimensions, the Spartan Triumph was born.
In the early 1970s Rod and Steve teamed up with Dick Lawton to build special Suzuki race machine frames which, in the hands of some very skilled riders, beat the other big factory racers.
In motorbikes they shared a love of design and the engineering involved and both have been inducted into the New Zealand Motorcycling hall of fame, Coleman for road racing in 2004 and Roberts for engineering in 2017.
Rod Coleman in his hey day, 1926 - 2019. Photo / supplied
The first motorcycle in this year's display is a 1938 MSS Velocette. This was Rod's first bike and it started out as a "bucket of bolts" that he was offered by his father Percy.
Once re-assembled, Rod used the bike as standard road transport in addition to the occasional grass-track race.
During the years 1947–48 Percy converted the MSS to the road race trim, as seen today. The modifications included a handcrafted camshaft, the rear suspension and then Triumph telescopic forks were fitted.
Rod won the 1948 Brunswick circuit, he also won the New Zealand hill climb championship and the Mile Grass Track Championship on this bike which is kindly on loan to the Sarjeant by his daughter Karen.
Alongside this impressive machine are a 1971 Coleman – Suzuki TR500 which was runner-up in the 1971 World 500cc Championship; a 1972 Coleman – Suzuki TR250 and lastly a 1000cc Formula One Prototype from 1983 - this prototype led to bikes that were ridden by Dave Hiscock, Robert Holden and Norris Farrow.
This will be the fifth year the Sarjeant has displayed motorcycles in the gallery space over the Christmas New Year's period, and we are sure that this year's selection will prove as popular as previous ones.
The responses the gallery has received from the previous displays have been fantastic and we have repeat visitors curious to see what this year's offerings are.
Others are very surprised to see motorcycles sharing the same space as our current exhibitions.
It's not often you get to see motorcycles alongside contemporary photography and an oversized chandelier.
We are very grateful to have Suzuki New Zealand sponsor the information poster that we are giving away to accompany the display and this will give you more information about the Coleman/Roberts collaborations long with Rod's legacy as a racer and business man.
• Madison Sharp is an intern with the Sarjeant Gallery.
