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Roy Parker collection – meet the
owner
Vic
restorer releases collection for Oct-Nov Donington
auction, offering 20
British classic motorcycles and a Harley WLA
(Guy 'Guido' Allen September 2024)
With some 24 projects under his belt and another on the go, Victorian enthusiast Roy Parker would rate as one of Australia’s more prolific and dedicated private motorcycle restorers. At 97 years of age, he’s still on the job.
What
started out as a project to keep busy during retirement
has developed into an enviable collection of mostly
British classic bikes, with a lone Harley-Davidson WLA
outfit in the mix.
The
urge to play with motorcycles dates back to his much
younger days. Among Roy’s early mounts were an Ariel VG
500 single. Why choose that model? “I liked it, but it
wasn’t because of choice,” he explains, highlighting the
notoriously tight wartime and post-WWII market when
there were global shortages of most consumer goods.
“You
couldn’t buy a bike – there weren’t any, and I couldn’t
afford a new one. I went into the dealer and the only
bike they had was the Ariel.”
Above:
Roy with a period pic of his first WLA.
He then
moved on to a bigger Harley-Davidson WLA: “It had a box
sidecar on it, so I could cart my wood,” he explains. He
eventually decided he needed a car for his business and
had to sell the Harley: “10 pounds!” he laughs, shaking
his head, “That’s all I could get for it.”
After
starting work in a mix of jobs from age 14, Roy built up
a substantial electrical contracting business in
Victoria, employing around 50 people. He eventually
retired when in his seventies and mulled over what he
was going to do to stay active.
He
mentions that in the early days of his business he
restored a few cars including a 1948 Morgan, an A-model
Ford and a Vauxhall 14/40. “Then the business got bigger
and I had no time,” he says. “So when I retired I
thought I’ll go back and do some cars, then I thought,
no, I’ll do bikes.
“I
found it was taking anywhere from 10 to 13 or 14 months
to do a bike,” he says. “In the 22 years I’ve been
restoring, I’ve built the collection to 24.” That’s
doing a little six days a week, and taking Sunday off to
chase down parts via the internet.
His
first restoration was a 1962 Norton Model 99SS, and he
went on to recover versions of the Ariel and Harley from
his younger days.
While
at age 97 Roy still has a restoration project on the go,
he has decided to release a substantial part of his
collection. All of it has benefited from a complete
restoration, including the engines.
The
machines on offer are:
AJS
16MS 350cc 1954
Ariel
MK11 1000cc Square Four,1954
Ariel
VG 500cc single with sidecar 1936
Ariel
VH500 Red Hunter 500cc 1949 single exhaust
Ariel
VH500 Red Hunter 500cc 1949 dual exhaust
BSA M20
500cc 1942
BSA
Blue Star 500cc 1934
BSA
BB31 350cc 1956
BSA M21
600cc 1946
Calthorpe
500cc 1938
Harley
Davidson WLA 750cc with sidecar 1942
Norton
ES2 500cc 1961
Norton
Model 7 Dominator 500cc 1953
Norton
Model 18 500cc 1951
Norton
Model 30 International 500cc 1949
Norton
Model 99SS 1962
Norton
Model 650 SS 1964
Royal
Enfield Model LO 1935
Triumph
TRW 500cc Royal Navy 1962
Triumph
Speed Twin 500cc 1964
Velocette
250cc GTP 1939
Run by
Donington Auctions, the sale is a timed online
event from October 28 to November 10, 2024.
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