Ian ‘ Tom ’ Peck would probably describe himself as a Suzuki aficionado above all else , after all when you spend nearly 50 years of your life with one brand it ’ s not just a job . His retirement leaves some fairly big boots to fill and a wealth of knowledge spanning more than 38 years of continuous service at Suzuki New Zealand Limited . His career started as a fresh-faced motorcycle apprentice to the Colemans group who at that time operated stores in several centres including Hamilton where Tom fell says he love with motorcycling . It wasn ’ t long before Tom had his sights on some loftier goals , eventually finding himself at head office in the role of service manager across motorcycle , marine and automobile . His love for all things mechanical shone through , especially the development and engineering of road race motorcycles . A competent rider himself meant that Tom was always looking for that extra hp or seconds off the next lap ; owning something standard would never have been enough . During 1994 Tom started working on a special project to develop a new farm bike to replace the discontinued TF185 . Following a long process of testing and prototype parts manufacture Tom developed what was at the time a Japanese domestic trail bike into the now iconic DR200SE Trojan . This was an exceptional achievement with approximately 10,000 sales of this model since 1996 . The flair and skill set Tom brought to technical landed him a role in marketing as manager of the motorcycle department . At a time when New Zealand was being swamped by cheap used Japanese imports , it would have been easy to just accept the market for what it was . The idea to counter imports with new motorcycles at can ’ t be beaten prices elevated Suzuki to number one virtually overnight . Following the GSX400X impulse , the RF900 for just $ 9995 sold in the hundreds and it started a winning streak for Suzuki that went for over 20 years as the number one registered brand in NZ . The passion and respect for the road race community was always a theme when you talk to Tom . Working with some of our best road racers saw riders like Andrew Stroud take 10 titles for Suzuki and the support was not only for the riders but also for event sponsorship such as the Suzuki winter road race series and Boxing