Motorcycle Investor mag
Subscribe to our free email news
Motorcycle
Mecca – Invercargill motorcycle museum
(Mick Meaney, April 2025)
AllMoto reder Mick Meaney shares
his thoughts on a recent tour of the Classic
Motorcycle Mecca in the south of New Zealand
I’m just back from a NZ trip and went to Motorcycle
Mecca in Invercargil, for the second time. The stuff
in there just makes my eyes water and it has to be
among the best motorcycle museums in the world.
Got into a long
conversation with their curator/handyman/polisher and
all round lovely bloke. They’d added a Bimota DB1 SR
since my last visit and, when I joked how you wouldn’t
want to be the bloke who dropped something that rare
while moving exhibits around, he told me how the
freight company did just that and rooted the fairing.
Understandably, they didn’t want to repair it and
searched the world to find a new replacement at
NZ$10,000 (Au$9200, US$5700, GB£4500)!
Apparently, the insurer wasn’t very keen on coughing
up.
The first thing I love
about the museum is that there’s something for
everyone: acetylene bikes, early American vees and
inlines, small Italian, big Italian, old and modern
Italian, endless post war Brits, probably more Brough
Superiors than you’d find in the UK and probably more
Vincents than you’d get at a UK rally.
And the quality of the exhibits is just stunning. I’m
told some 95 per cent are runners.
This time around they’d rearranged the Britten stuff
into one room and it’s just amazing. They have the
Denco, the Aero-D-One, the precursors and the Cardinal
all together. And lots of bits such as the prototype
single cylinder, sectioned wheels, an empty V1000
crankcase – a fabulous display.
The sidecar collection is mighty impressive too. It
seems Mrs Richardson (wife of one of the driving
forces behind the collection) thinks they’re cute, so
there are Steibs, wickers, double inlines, full canopy
and a Servicar.
You can’t help but think of the value as you wander
around, until you get to the point where the number
becomes just unimaginable.
It’s reflective too of a remarkable regional culture.
The Munro thing is I guess the centre piece but
there’s so much more.
Thankfully it’s all held in a trust and will remain in
Invercargill forever.
See the
museum website
More bike museums
National Motorcycle Museum in
Nabiac, NSW, Australia
The quirky
River Rides Museum, which recently moved from
Peterborough to Mannum in South Australia
-------------------------------------------------
Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722
Privacy: we do not collect cookies or any other data.
Archives
Contact