THE COLEMANS

This month marks the third year since the passing , at the age of 93-years , of Rod Coleman , without question one of the most colourful and influential people in the history of classic motorcycles in this country . The Coleman mystique began in January 1897 when Percy Coleman was born in Taranaki , just two years before Christchurch resident Acton Adams introduced the nation to the first motorcycle , the two and a quarter horsepower DeDion tricycle from Europe . Percy was 29 when Rod was born in 1926 , and by then the Coleman legend had already begun . Following a trip to America , huge crowds of up to 20,000 flocked to a meeting at Takapuna racecourse in 1929 to watch Percy give a masterful display , shattering his own lap and distance records in most categories . He soon became known as ‘ Cannonball Coleman ’. He went to the Isle of Man in 1930 , and at home