With some 24 projects under his belt and another on the go, Victorian enthusiast Roy Parker would rate as one of Australia’s most prolific and dedicated private motorcycle restorers. At 97 years of age, he’s still on the job.
What started out as a project to keep busy during retirement has developed into an enviable collection of mostly British classic bikes, with a lone Harley-Davidson WLA outfit in the mix.
The urge to play with motorcycles dates back to his much younger days. Among Roy’s early mounts were an Ariel VG 500 single. Why choose that model? “I liked it, but it wasn’t because of choice,” he explains, highlighting the notoriously tight wartime and post-WWII market when there were global shortages of most consumer goods.
“You couldn’t buy a bike – there weren’t any, and I couldn’t afford a new one. I went into the dealer and the only bike they had was the Ariel.”
He then moved on to a bigger Harley-Davidson WLA: “It had a box sidecar on it, so I could cart my wood,” he explains. He eventually decided he needed a car for his business and had to sell the Harley: “10 pounds!” he laughs, shaking his head, “That’s all I could get for it.”
After starting work in a mix of jobs from age 14, Roy built up a substantial electrical contracting business in Victoria, employing around 50 people. He eventually retired when in his seventies and mulled over what he was going to do to stay active.
He mentions that in the early days of his business he restored a few cars including a 1948 Morgan, an A-model Ford and a Vauxhall 14/40. “Then the business got bigger and I had no time,” he says. “So when I retired I thought I’ll go back and do some cars, then I thought, no, I’ll do bikes.
“I found it was taking anywhere from 10 to 13 or 14 months to do a bike,” he says. “In the 22 years I’ve been restoring, I’ve built the collection to 24.” That’s doing a little six days a week, and taking Sunday off to chase down parts via the internet.
His first restoration was a 1962 Norton Model 99SS, and he went on to recover versions of the Ariel and Harley from his younger days.
While at age 97 Roy still has a restoration project on the go, he has decided to release a substantial part of his collection. All of it has benefited from a complete restoration, including the engines.
Bidding Opens Monday the 28th of October at 10:00am and closes in a staggered manner at 2-minute intervals from 6:00pm AEDT on Sunday the 10th of November, with the last lot concluding at 6:48 PM.
Visit Donington Auctions for the complete catalogue at https://online.doningtonauctions.com.au/m/view-auctions/catalog/id/200
