David turns house into antique bike museum

By Ridlo Aryanto

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Antique big motorbikes parading the streets have become something of a rarity as people now turn to smaller, cheaper, more economical and practical motorcycles.

Many big old-fashioned bikes, mostly U.S.-built such as Harley Davidson, have found their way to collectors of antiques. One of the best-known collectors is David Sunar Handoko, a 45-year-old businessman.

David has turned part of his house at Jl. Ahmad Dahlan No. 8, Yogyakarta, into a mini museum with about 160 antique motorbikes of various makes and years of manufacture.

David, director of Merpati Motor Group, Yogyakarta's largest trader of new and used motorbikes, began to collect the motorbikes about 15 years ago.

"I wanted to make my collection historical proof that Indonesia has a more complete variety of old motorbikes than the U.S., the main manufacturer of the world's old motorbikes," he said.

Though the collection is David's private property, the museum is open free of charge to tourists or old motorbike buffs. They can spend hours enjoying the exoticism of the collection.

David said that his private museum is better known overseas than in Yogyakarta. "Many U.S., Canadian or German lovers of old motorbikes came here and praised the completeness of the collection.

Among Indonesian motorbike lovers, former general affairs chief of staff of the Indonesian military, Lt. Gen. Soeyono, is one who frequents the museum. Once inside, he will spend hours admiring and trying out some of the motorbikes inside the room," said David, who pioneered the establishment of the Yogyakarta chapter of the Harley Davidson Club Indonesia.

"I want to move this museum to another place so that it can be more commercially managed. Visitors should be allowed to try the exhibits out. Then, they could also buy some souvenirs, which would be an integral part of the design of the museum. Unfortunately, the monetary crisis postponed the plan, but the museum would have been interesting enough to lure tourists to Yogya, said David.

He has traveled round the globe, going as far as Argentina, Germany, Britain and the United States in his hunt for antique motorbikes.

David said he began his hunt for old motorbikes in 1989 after visiting Canada, where he found many people riding on various antique motorbikes of different makes. "It really annoyed me to learn that many of these old motorbikes were bought in Indonesia," he added.

Then there arose his sense of nationalism. He knew well that the colonial rulers of Holland, Britain and Japan saw thousands of old motorbikes brought to this country. He believes that these old motorbikes, which are no longer manufactured, have a high historical value and should therefore be preserved.

The idea for the museum came while he was in Canada. "Unless they were preserved, we could no longer bequeath them to the younger generation. Well, like it or not, I believe I have to take action and be the savior," said David, a father of two.

Upon his return from Canada, he began collecting old motorbikes with the purchase of a 1959 Harley Davidson at Rp 5 million.

Within the first three months, he had collected 100 old motorbikes. The part of the collection he wants to increase is new-classic motorbikes made between 1916 and 1966. The makes vary, from Harley Davidson, Indian (US made) up to BSA, Norton, Chater Lea, Velozet and DOP (British made).

At the beginning, David found it easy to get old motorbikes. Many of his friends and acquaintances offered him their machines. Then he set six criteria for the motorbikes that he would buy:

First, the motorbike must have been manufactured in a limited quantity (a special edition). Second, the bike should have been a best seller in its time. Third, it should have been used in special and historic events not only in Indonesia but also abroad. Fourth, it should have been owned formerly by a famous figure. Fifth, it should have a high resale value and this must be acknowledged by foreign motorbike magazines. Sixth, it must have a lot of stars in its rating.

"Foreign motorbike magazines often rate motorbikes with stars. To qualify for my museum, it should have least three or four stars, as rated by a worldwide foreign motorbike magazine," said David.

Rare bikes

Regardless of whether David really likes them or not, many motorbikes in his collection are praiseworthy. One item is a BSA Lightening Clubmad, formerly owned by former national police chief, Hoegeng Iman Santoso. This may be the only motorbike of its kind now left in Indonesia.

Another interesting item in his collection is a 1924 British- made Chater Lea sports type. "According to the world motorbike catalog that I have read, only four motorbikes of this type were ever made. The other three were destroyed during bombing in World War II. The only one left is this one in my museum," he said.

His obsession is to establish a complete museum of antique motorbikes with catalogs, well-presented, interesting information and souvenirs. "I've got the land, actually. I need money. To realize this plan I need a lot of money," said David, who knows the engines of antique motorbikes inside out, as in the first two years of his hunt for old motorbikes he taught himself a lot about this subject.

David has developed a philosophy of life from his collection of old motorbikes. "The world is void without the arts, it is stupid without technology and it is in complete darkness without history," he said. These three - arts, technology and history - have come together beautifully in antique motorbikes, he said.