Best Motorbuys: March 13, 2020

Motorcycles
Mike Pero’s Motorcycle Gallery
A stroll down memory lane
If you grew up in the 70s’, 80s’ or 90s’
then there’s a good chance you may
remember the modes of transport we
had. We’re talking well before Ubers,
before City Rail, SUVs’, EVs’ and even
before ‘Japanese (cars) imports’. It was
a time when cars seemed incredible
expensive and motorbikes, scooters and
step thru’s were a very sensible option
to get around town.
It’s not your imagination – yes, today
there’s only a small portion of the
motorcycles on the roads, compared
to the ‘heyday’ years of the 70s’ and
80s’. So where did all those motorcycles
go? Well, a ‘select’ few have ended up
at Mike Pero’s Motorcycle Gallery and
they’ve been presented in showroom
condition for one and all to see. “We
have a constant stream of visitors from
all corners of the world, explains its
founder, curator and marketing manager
– Mike Pero. “I’d like to say it’s an ‘older
male’ dominated demographic that
visits our gallery but it’s not. We have a
wide range from young woman in their
20s’ to some of our original bikers (and
bikies) now in their 80s! – last week we
had a visitor in his mid 90s’, reminiscing
about his bike days in the 1950s’.
Everyday people will walk in our door –
they could be from Kaiapoi, Qatar, Gore,
Greece, Cuba, Australia, the UK and
Singapore – over 70 different countries,
to date! Our visitors are from all walks of
life and, funnily enough, it seems to be
‘word of mouth’ and social media that
brings them in.
As the name might suggest we are a
classic Japanese motorcycle gallery.
We feature machines from the 70s’ to
the 90s’. We have as many two strokes
on display as we do four strokes and
they range from 50cc commuters to
the mighty 1100cc machines. Of course
all bikes fit into one of the four major
brands – Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and
Honda. Within these four brands we had
almost everything and today we have a
small example of each type on display.
Twins, triples, fours, turbos and even a
rotary (Suzuki RE5). You will generally
allow 30 minutes to wander but some
visitors will spend 2-3 minutes on their
favourite memories.
With more than 70 bikes it’s easy to
see how some enthusiasts will be in
their ‘dreamworld’ for an hour or so.
As well as the bikes there is barista
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coffee; merchandise, videos (playing on
5 different screens) and magazines to
browse. We’ve done all we can to make
the gallery interesting. There’s always
questions and history to be explained
and my team of volunteers can always
‘spin a good yarn’ – these guys love
their bikes.
We’re open 10-4 Friday, Saturday
and Sundays. Admission is $15 for
adults. Kids are free. 1 Hawthornden
Road, Avonhead – just 5 minutes from
Christchurch Airport. You can find us on
facebook and Instagram or phone 03
423 9506” www.motorcyclegallery.co.nz