1 minute read
Entertainment Notes
Paul Stewart was the guest speaker for the February Club Night and has given almost his entire working life to the Motorcycle industry, well over 40 years. He started and qualified as an Auto Machinist before working as a motorcycle mechanic on all brands, moving to sales and as a dealer co-coordinator/supervisor. The last 24 years were with Honda NZ. Paul is the President of the Auckland Motorcycle Club and was impressed with our clubrooms. Paul gave a very good assessment of the demise of the British Motorcycle industry, which he believes was entirely avoidable as Britain had the technology to match the Japanese at that time, but ignored the threat of clever engineering and fine machining. In his work with the dealerships, he experienced many incidents and personalities and told some great stories. The advent of the importing of used cars dealt a severe blow to motorcycle sales, as many potential purchases were lost to RX7 Mazda, sporty Toyota and others. The survival of many dealerships is owed to the farm bike which transformed farming. The capital costs of being a dealer is now huge. Paul said that to start a dealership now would require about one million dollars. Only a quarter of the original Auckland dealers have survived. While the motorcycle members did not give the support he deserved, those that were there engaged with Paul, sharing their experiences and showed he was a good choice. Club Night for Thursday 26 March will be a speaker talking on Tyres.
Robin Elliott
