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Thread: John Dale Motorcycles, K' Rd, Auckland

  1. #16
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    9th January 2006 - 12:26
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    i can remember Colemans being on the K Road frontage where r and r sport are now, that would have been early to mid eighties,

  2. #17
    I thought Laurie Summers did the CZeta as one of his Iron curtain deals,he was the CZ/Jawa dealer after all...but my wife reckons it was John Dale as she is more in the know on that stuff.
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  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by scott411 View Post
    i can remember Colemans being on the K Road frontage where r and r sport are now, that would have been early to mid eighties,

    Dunno how you can remember that seeing as you weren't even born then....

    But seriously, yes - Colemans was where R&R Sport are now and it was two stories (possibly three, but I can only remember two being open to the public). My memories of it are between late 70's and mid/late 80's. If I recall correctly Colemans moved to where they are now in th early 90's.
    When the shop was on K Road it was owned by the Ouerhand(not sure of correct spelling) family (at least in the latter stages, not sure about earlier)and mainly run by the two brothers one of whom was Tim.

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  4. #19
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    Anything more about Laurie Summers could be helpful too...if your wife knows any more I would like to hear it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Motu View Post
    I thought Laurie Summers did the CZeta as one of his Iron curtain deals,he was the CZ/Jawa dealer after all...but my wife reckons it was John Dale as she is more in the know on that stuff.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by cs363 View Post
    Dunno how you can remember that seeing as you weren't even born then.... .
    i know my youthfull good looks make me seem younger than i am,
    but i can remember going up to pick up bikes with my old man there, must have been about 85-86 when we still lived in whakatane

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by scott411 View Post
    i know my youthfull good looks make me seem younger than i am,
    Careful, you're starting to sound like your old man....

    Quote Originally Posted by scott411 View Post
    but i can remember going up to pick up bikes with my old man there, must have been about 85-86 when we still lived in whakatane
    Yeah I remember when we were young (shut up!) we used to ride up to Auckland from Hamilton and do 'the rounds' of the bike shops - Colemans, Laurie Summers, Bill Russell, Kingsland Honda, Forbes & Davies, Bob Haldane's and the rest.

    Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes

  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by scootnz View Post
    Anything more about Laurie Summers could be helpful too...
    Laurie Summers real name was something like Lorenzo von Sumaruza,I have the correct spelling somewhere but can't be bothered,they used to call him The Barron.He originally had a used car yard (my wife's father was a car painter and did a few jobs for him).Being obviously of some eastern european decent he must of had some contacts to get import licenses for the bike he brought in.He did Jawa and CZ,DKW,Zundapp,maybe some others.Then he picked up the Kawasaki agency.He also sold Laverda in the early '70's - I remember ogling over the 750.

    All the bike shops in the '60's were very small - Bill Russell's shop was about the size of a single car garage.Most of the shops all got bigger with the boom in the early '70's.The mechanics worked in atrocious conditions - at Len Perry's they didn't have a workshop,the mechanics worked under lean too's in the open gravel yard.
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  8. #23
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    7th November 2005 - 19:20
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    Dales used to be on the other side of K Rd from R&R sports, on the next corner along. They were Matchless agents in the 60s and I remember trying to persuade them to bring in 650CSR in about 65 to no avail. (Wasn't easy to get a new bike then) I did buy a CB350 from them in 71 though.

  9. #24
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    Mmmm, most of the foregoing posts are on the button. Myself and partner drove to Auckland one day, talked to John Dale and drove home again with the Honda dealership. The building was an old rambling multi storey structure with uneven wooden floors. John I recall as being rather tall and imposing. I also recall being marched to an adjacent cafe for lunch. He obviously didn’t splurge. Yes, he was previously the AMC importer, but in 1970 motorcycles came off import licensing and boom. It was a pleasure dealing with John Dale Limited until Blue Wing Honda took over, as I suspect they had the necessary capital available for the burgeoning range of Hondas. I understood John raced at the IoM and also, he was once the Mayor of Auckland. Good guy.......
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  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by rasty View Post
    Dales used to be on the other side of K Rd from R&R sports, on the next corner along. They were Matchless agents in the 60s and I remember trying to persuade them to bring in 650CSR in about 65 to no avail. (Wasn't easy to get a new bike then) I did buy a CB350 from them in 71 though.
    Yes. John Dale built a state of the art motorcycle shop on the other side of Karangahape Road. I recall it had a couple of glass cubes to showcase a motorcycle. I don’t think? Honda’s were sold from there. Coleman’s took it over with Suzuki. Is it still there?
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  11. #26
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    Like Denill has said I was going to say wasn't John Dale the Honda importers and not just a local shop as such, until Blue Wing came on the scene.
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    Merv

  12. #27
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    John dale motors

    Thanks this has been a very interesting read as I have a 59 matchless g2 that was imported by John dale.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by denill View Post
    Yes. John Dale built a state of the art motorcycle shop on the other side of Karangahape Road. I recall it had a couple of glass cubes to showcase a motorcycle. I don’t think? Honda’s were sold from there. Coleman’s took it over with Suzuki. Is it still there?
    No, Coleman's move a year or two ago I think. They are now in Grey Lynn.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by rambaldi View Post
    No, Coleman's move a year or two ago I think. They are now in Grey Lynn.
    Yup.
    About a 5 min walk from the old place. The new location seems larger.
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  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by MacD View Post
    I think Colemans also used to be in the camping shop site, but moved to the rear site in the 80s (or was it the early 90s when the cheap Jap import cars arrived)?
    Yers, Colemans used to be at the front where Torpedo 7 e was until recently. I remember going in there to dribble over new bikes in the late 1980s. They had a Macintosh at one stage for sale as well/. $10k as I recall. "no one would pay that much for a bike!".
    They later moved to the back of the building and more recenlty to McKelvie St in PonsSnobby.
    Sorry - threead sidetrack.
    It is amazing the numbe rof bike shops we used to have in Auckland. Little hole in the wall places everywhere, whcih goes to show how the number of bike riders has dropped off over the last 30+ years.
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