The Shed - Motorbikes

A king-sized country shed for an ex city boy

11 July 2023

When Phil Kindberg decided to escape the Auckland rat race and retire to rural Taranaki with his precious collection of old Studebaker cars, he didn’t dream of the massive shed that was waiting for him.
Two years ago he made the shift south and purchased the 100-year-old Riverdale dairy factory, not far west of Hawera.
The big factory, which in its heyday specialised in cheese production, already had a bit of a past with motor vehicles, having been a panel beating shop for a while and also once housing a huge collection of old Citroen cars.
Now on display in the factory are Phil’s seven Studebakers from 1947 to 1962, a 1958 Packard, a mate’s collection of 40 motorbikes, including some classics and home-made bikes, and other weird and wonderful machines.

Jet Bike

29 June 2023

Paul Jury likes going fast. He enjoys the world of speed so much he’s attached a micro jet engine to a push bike. Paul’s bike has been cranked up to 120kph and he thinks it can go as fast as 150kph.
The New Plymouth man, who runs Floorcoat Taranaki, said he and his mates like speed and a bit of danger. They’re into activities such as drift triking, wake boarding, kite surfing, snowboarding, and skydiving.
Checking out a few YouTube clips they decided to up the ante and use jet power.
“The jet motor was originally attached to planks of wood and when we first cranked it up, it tried to take off in the workshop, showering anyone behind it with gravel,” says Paul.
The next step to check out its capabilities was attaching it to a go-kart but Paul said the kart was a bit heavy to realise the maximum potential of the jet.
Attaching it to the bike worked a treat.

Classic Manx Norton flourishes

5 January 2023

The legendary Manx Norton was
the first single-cylinder motorcycle
to lap the famous Isle of Man TT
circuit at an average speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/hr).
Made from 1946 until 1962, the bikes became a favourite of privateer racers and in more modern
times, a popular choice for classic
motorcycle racing.
Today, half a world away from the original Birmingham factory, a small Kiwi company is restoring and supplying parts to Manx Norton owners around the globe.

Videos of metal shaping and motorbike guru, Steve Roberts

17 November 2022

In the November/December issue 105 of The Shed, our cover story is on a Kiwi legend of metal shaping and motorbikes, Steve Roberts.
If you enjoyed that article here is a link to a website that has even more of Steve’s story as well as videos of the cars and bikes he has constructed and inside info from chats with Steve.

Work, life and play

3 June 2020

Most people have separate places for work, play, accommodation and their hobbies but Malcolm Anderson has successfully managed to combine them all into one.
Malcolm’s father, Bruce Anderson, has a passion for collecting and restoring motorbikes to the highest standard. One of his projects, a 1929 Harley-Davidson OHV Two-port Special that he restored from a pile of parts, now resides in the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee in America.

A scooter carrier for a campervan

9 March 2020

Owning a campervan means you can take your house on holiday with you. The downside is you need to pack up your whole holiday site when you want to drive off and get some fish and chips for dinner. I considered towing a car behind the campervan but that was impractical. I use a scooter for commuting so the solution was obvious—put a scooter carrier on the campervan to give us an easy transport option on holiday.

The most fun you can have on three wheels!

11 October 2018

Cambridge sheddie Kim Dawick decided to build a drift trike for a mate’s birthday. It was relatively simple and so much fun to ride he decided to build eight more to bring the old gang from school back together. Click through to see the Kim take Mike’s trike for a spin, and another one, and another one….

Electric motorbike build

10 September 2018

As a designer and motorcyclist, I had the idea of building an electric motorbike for a long time. The opportunity arose when I was in my final year of an honours degree in industrial design at Victoria University. I rode a 1987 Honda VFR400 to my lectures and the bike started having engine problems. I pulled out all combustion-related components and sold them. By the time I had a plan for an electric motorbike laid out I was part-way through a post-graduate diploma in Computer Aided Design (CAD) at Christchurch Polytechnic.

Motorbikes

A king-sized country shed for an ex city boy

Jet Bike

Classic Manx Norton flourishes

Videos of metal shaping and motorbike guru, Steve Roberts

Work, life and play

A scooter carrier for a campervan

The most fun you can have on three wheels!

Electric motorbike build

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