YAMAHA ’ S FIRST SUPERBIKE THE MARLBORO SERIES
Rod 350 AJS illustration
machines . When AJS pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of 1954 , Rod decided to continue his career closer to home . In 1954 he won both Junior and Senior Tourist Trophy races at Bathurst . It was the first victory by a non-Australian on the mountain circuit . Following his racing career Rod went back to Wanganui , and with his brother Bob , himself a successful racer , carried on the business established by his father Percy . The foundations of Suzuki New Zealand began in 1962 , when the Coleman family began importing Suzuki products , which led , 22-years later , to the formation of Suzuki New Zealand Limited , and the parent company purchasing the assets of the Coleman company . I think it is fair to say that the Coleman family will be revered by motorcyclists , for as long as people ride motorcycles in this country , especially classic enthusiasts . Rod ’ s legacy speaks for itself . In a letter to me following the end of his interest in the Suzuki business he said “ Dear Rhys , when I sold all my businesses to the Suzuki Motor Co . I was only 59 , and had no idea of how to keep myself busy in future years . So , Jackie [ Rod ’ s wife ] and I went to Europe for six months to see if I could get some sort of new idea for something to do . Amazingly I found that motorcycles could still be included in the new idea , when I found out that pre-war classic motorcycles were climbing in value at an amazing rate . Whilst running the Suzuki business I had been too busy to even look at the value of old motorcycles ”. The result was one of the finest collections of classic motorcycles in New Zealand .
90 KIWI RIDER