Hamilton, New Zealand

Rick Nicolaas writes: "Found some photo's of my birth place Hamilton, New Zealand, around the '20 - '30s. Even at that time and on the other end of the world they had plenty of motor bikes and cars. Most cars were of English make. As a country of the commonwealth it didn't have import duties as other foreign cars manufacturers. Because of the climate many of these cars were preserved for a long time and kept running by the owners for longer than usually like in Europe."

(Text Rick Nicolaas; photos collection author)

Gepubliceerd:

zaterdag februari 6th, 2016

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10 Februari 2016, 23:10

Mark, this would be fun to figure.
I cannot tell if this is a keystone frame, front is masked, looks like V-twin of 42-45 degrees, the FRONT EXHAUST is baffling. Intake manifold(?) is high(I see front spring parts) which says IOE Indian, that intake could be a custom wire housing?
I am not into Douglas, the chassis' look LONG(no tranny), meaning pre- 1915? On the other hand at far left the chassis looks SHORT(no tranny), again pre 1915.
As a shot in the dark, I have not checked, Royal Enfield or BSA flathead 45 degree(?) twin, which were RARE for either to make, possible.

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10 Februari 2016, 00:49

I am fairly sure that is an Indian Powerplus on the left. It must be new as it does not have the tank top tool box that the earlier ones had. You can just see where the link to the leaf spring is on the front forks.

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08 Februari 2016, 21:00

Far left is a stumper. Whatever it is I THINK that a "sidecar" is attached. That backrest gives an impression(?) of being a spare, so I would go for an arms manufacturer that made motorcycles secondarily.

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08 Februari 2016, 17:04

Domenic. No evidence of war as all the new Zealand soldiers were away fighting in Europe. Neither pre or post-war but perhaps during. Photo caption clearly says circa 1917.

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08 Februari 2016, 16:55

Dominic Politi asks 'what year' for the bike photo. It is captioned 1917 and that would be very close to correct. The other photos are also date.

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08 Februari 2016, 07:33

The bikes in the main picture appear to be mostly Douglas flat twins with an Indian (maybe a Powerplus?) at the far left.

There may have been a preferential tariff system from the beginning of car importation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_New_Zealand - but it didn't stop American cars from being very popular here as they were more suited to the road conditions. The survival rate of American cars is also much higher with American makes being most popular in the pre WW2 section of the Vintage Car Club.

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07 Februari 2016, 00:15

Cycle photo "exact year"(pre or post-war) would be illuminating. No evidence of War?
Attention is deferred to rider without cap, one of four on a Douglas(?) opposite opposed in line twin. This design was used by H-D, 1919-1923, but by 1923 BMW and a "plethora of German manufacturers" were founded who solved the massive problem in THESE of rear cylinder overheating, by mounting the opposite opposed engine transversely.

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Hamilton, New Zealand

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