People-profile-Suroyo
\nJP\/24\/W00
\nJP\/24\/SUROYO<\/p>\n
Suroyo, Yogyakarta's 'Gazelle bike king'<\/p>\n
Bambang Muryanto
\nContributor\/Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Following the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an
\naverage of almost 100 percent on Oct. 1, many people are thinking
\nof returning to bicycles.<\/p>\n
However, H. Suroyo, a silver handicrafts businessmen in
\nYogyakarta's Kotagede, has never parted with his bike, regardless
\nof fuel prices. He has dozens of old Gazelle bikes made between
\n1950 and 1960 in his collection. One of these is worth Rp 75
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
Fifty-six-year-old Suroyo has loved cycling since he was
\nyoung. His father, an agricultural crop vendor, always went about
\non a bike. It was when he was still very young that Suroyo began
\nto enjoy riding a Gazelle.<\/p>\n
First produced in 1902 in Dieren village, the Netherlands, by
\nWillem and Hendrik Kolling, Gazelle bikes are usually strong and
\ncomfortable to ride. You can travel a long distance on them
\nwithout tiring easily, one reason why a Gazelle, often referred
\nto as the Mercedes-Benz of automobiles, is very expensive.<\/p>\n
The price of a Gazelle, which has the logo of a running deer,
\nis reputedly based on the price of gold. In the 1950s, a new
\nGazelle was worth two ounces of gold. \"In 1968, someone wanted to
\nexchange his Honda motorcycle for my series-10 Gazelle,\" said
\nSuroyo, who still has a healthy physique.<\/p>\n
In the 1970s, when he was a student at the school of economics
\nof the Indonesian Islamic University (UII) Suroyo did not ride a
\nmotorbike. Instead, he went to university on his Gazelle. \"I
\nnever felt tired,\" said Suroyo, now the owner of Sus's Silver
\noutlet, about the time he rode his bike covering a distance of 18
\nkilometers between the UII campus and his house, then somewhere
\nnear the Prambanan temple.<\/p>\n
After getting his degree, Suroyo worked at the local highways,
\ntraffic and transportation office. In 1989, he decided to retire
\nearly and return to Yogyakarta, whereupon he met his Gazelle
\nseries-9, the bike he rode to university.<\/p>\n
Following the \"reunion\" with his old bike, Suroyo felt a
\nburning desire to collect old Gazelles. He began hunting for the
\nbikes -- no easy task -- because they were already a rarity.
\nSlowly but surely, Suroyo became a familiar figure among bike
\ncollectors and received a lot of information about Gazelle owners
\nwishing to sell their bikes. That way, he was able to expand his
\nGazelle collection.<\/p>\n
Once Suroyo bought five series-11 Gazelles from someone who
\nurgently needed money for a haj pilgrimage. In the mid-1990s, he
\nfound in Bandung, West Java, a Gazelle that was about 95 percent
\nnew. Rarely used and kept in a shed, the bike still had a 1950
\nbike tax sticker on its frame.<\/p>\n
Suroyo was really overjoyed to be able to buy the bike because
\neverything about it was original. The yellow coach line along the
\nframe and the Gazelle trademark inscribed on the lower part of
\nthe saddle were still there.<\/p>\n
\"These things make a Gazelle very expensive,\" said Suroyo, who
\nalso holds a master's degree in transportation from Bandung
\nInstitute of Technology (ITB). He said he had to fork out Rp 30
\nmillion for that particular bike.<\/p>\n
It is now the best in his collection. Today, the bike, which
\nwas designed for use by women, is worth Rp 75 million. It is no
\neasy task to persuade Suroyo to display this particular Gazelle,
\nthe bike that confirms his position as the \"Gazelle bike
\nking\".<\/p>\n
\"I'll never sell it,\" he said, adding that a Gazelle of such
\nquality might not surface for another decade.<\/p>\n
At one time, Suroyo had 39 Gazelles in his collection. When
\ntaking part in highlighting the first Yogyakarta Arts Festival,
\nSuroyo caused quite a stir in the city. He and his 15 employees
\neach rode a Gazelle.<\/p>\n
\"People were surprised to see them and wondered how I could
\nhave collected so many,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suroyo collects Gazelles not only as a hobby but also as a
\nside business. That's why some of his Gazelles have been sold to
\nother people, bike collectors or otherwise. He has sold bikes to
\ngovernment officials from Yogyakarta and other cities.<\/p>\n
Today he has only 15 Gazelles in his collection, and most of
\nthem are still in their original condition. The cheapest is worth
\nabout Rp 15 million. All are still in excellent condition because
\nSuroyo and his employees take good care of them.<\/p>\n
Some of the Gazelles are now kept in a store in his house
\nalong with his collection of paintings. Suroyo is also an art
\ncollector and has in his collection expensive paintings produced
\nby famous Indonesian and foreign artists like Hendra Gunawan,
\nTrubus and Walter Spies.<\/p>\n
As a collector of Gazelle bikes, Suroyo also collects original
\nGazelle spare parts, which can be costly. A musty but original
\nsaddle, for example, costs over Rp 2 million, which is also the
\nprice of a pair of original, white tires.<\/p>\n
Suroyo regularly rides his Gazelle. \"After dawn, I ride on my
\nGazelle round the city for an hour,\" said Suroyo, known to be a
\nhospitable person. Sometimes, along with other Gazelle-lovers, he
\nrides to Parangtritis beach, about 30 km from Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Suroyo's life is inseparable from his Gazelles. For
\nhim, a bike is not just an ordinary means of transportation. A
\nbicycle always reminds him of the journey in life from the time
\nhe was a nobody until now, as quite a successful businessman.<\/p>\n
The lesson he has learned from this long journey is that
\ngenuine success takes a lot of patience.<\/p>",
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