David turns house into antique bike museum

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.