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The life of Brian – Nabiac motorcycle
museum
(Guy 'Guido' Allen, December 12,
2024)
With some 800 machines in the
collection, this is a true Aladdin's cave for
motorcyclists. What drives someone to do this? We
have a quick chat with the owner.
Some months back we
dropped into the privately-owned National Motorcycle
Museum in Nabiac (Australia), for the first time in
over 20 years. The modest frontage is doing a bit of a
Tardis – small on the outside and a big surprise when
you stroll inside and start to get to grips with the
sheer scale of the exercise. Holy heck has it grown!
We're talking maybe eight times its original size.
“I come from Cootamundra," says owner Brian Kelleher (above), "and am a motor mechanic by trade as you couldn’t get a motorcycle apprenticeship. Before I was 20, I was planning to have a motorcycle shop and then eventually a museum when I retired.”
Brian was the owner of The Stable motorcycle store in
Canberra for many years. It was a high-profile
destination, with a Yamaha franchise, in what used to be a
strip of motorcycle shops in Lonsdale Street, Braddon, a
couple of minutes from the heart of the central business
district of Civic.
“As soon as I got into the bike shop, which was 1973, I
started keeping anything that was unusual or affordable
and it got put into a shed. We were there until around
2000. The museum opened with the bike shop in 1989 and
then later into a separate building.
“We bought the block of land in Nabiac in 1986 and opened up here 2000.” Back then the museum was much smaller: “I built the biggest building I could afford,” says Brian, “With the idea that people would lend us bikes if they knew we were here.” It’s expanded a lot since then.
What are the ups and downs of running a bike museum? “The worst thing is losing bits off them,” he explains. “Pilfering is so high that a couple of times I almost closed the doors.
“We’ve lost oil filler covers, radiator caps,
kickstarters, petrol tank caps, points covers off rare
British bikes – it’s absolutely demoralising.”
And the good part? “The good part is watching older people come in and get emotional about seeing bikes they knew. We’ve seen guys go out in tears.
“We had a couple of 90-year-olds who were speedway riders and got reminded by our displays of what they experienced and they had to go out for a bit of a breather.”
Does he still collect? “Unfortunately,” he admits, laughing. “Sometimes I’ll say no or stall them until I can sell something to cover it.
"A lot of the gear – for example say about a third of the
speedway display – is owned by other people. In that case
it’s the Veteran Speedway Riders Association. They just
had it stored in sheds.
“And we’ve had a lot of things donated because a family member is gone.” It’s much better than just having it sit forgotten in a cupboard – at least this way others get to enjoy it.
“We’ve probably had 100 bikes left to us, of which the
about 15 were presentable. The rest we’ve used for parts
or sold off to help keep the place going." Brian tried
sending them on to a state-owned museum, but they required
a complex and expensive legal agreement. It was too hard.
This is something he has in common with the National Motorcycle Museum in the UK midlands – it follows a very similar practice.
What about plans for the future? “I keep upgrading what
I’ve got,” says Brian, “If I can find a better bike, I’ll
sell off others. As for the distant future, both my boys
are into motorbikes, but I don’t think they want to stand
around and do this, unfortunately. I’ve had offers from
people who’ve wanted to buy it, but I think the best
scenario is to get a syndicate of people who run it as a
trust so it doesn’t get sold off.”
Do you have a favourite bike? “My all-time favourite is a Yamaha XS650,” admits Brian. There are several examples on display, including speedway versions. “XT and TT500s are another – we sold squillions of them. If you love something, it makes it easy to get other people excited.”
The museum is a few minutes from the centre of the town, which is a little off the main Pacific Highway, and a couple of hours north of Newcastle.
Its collection claims some 800 motorcycles and reflects the broad tastes of the owner. Admission is a modest $15. See nationalmotorcyclemuseum.com.au
Not something you see every day: a Honda CBX1000B
rubbing shoulders with a Hesketh Vampire and Laverda
750S...
Or this, a rare Yankee 500 twin...
And even more rare, the beautifully-made late 1980s
one-off Suzuki-powered Howall out of Canberra.
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