Legend Simon Fourie to sell collection of more than 200 bikes

By Réhann Coetzee

 

Simon Fourie, probably South Africa’s largest living motorcycling legend, has decided to sell his collection of motorcycles.

Known as the publisher and editor of Bike SA, the longest surviving motorcycle magazine in the country, until he sold it last year, he is well known in the biking community.

Not only is he the man who 30 years ago managed to ride a Suzuki 1100 from Durban to Johannesburg in a whisker under three hours, he is also the guy who completed the Roof of Africa on a Honda 750 road bike in 1975. And of course, he is the man behind the Rhino, Impala and Paradise rallies.

He is also the man who fought government to make lane-splitting legal – at his own cost.

And now he is scaling down.

“Simon has been collecting classic motorcycles since the early 80s,” says Donovan Fourie, Simon’s son. “These are mostly Japanese bikes from between 1960 and 1970, but there are a good few from the 70s too, including original Honda Gold Wings, an original two-stroke Kawasaki H2 750, a Suzuki GT750 ‘water buffalo’ and a six-cylinder Honda CBX.”

Until this point, Simon had been vehemently against selling any of his collection, despite offers and pleading from various people finding their childhood hero. But, at the age of 74, he has had a change of heart.

Simon’s explanation is that he could never in his lifetime restore all the bikes he has.

“There are around 200 bikes in various stages of repair, from concours to nearly scrap,” says Simon. “Models are mostly Japanese from 1960 to 1970 but there are also lesser makes such as Kreidler, BMW and others…”

All of the bikes will be on display on Sunday 8 July at the Hartbeespoort Holiday Resort, the venue that hosts the Impala Rally, the Pretoria Toy Run – and this year also the Rhino Rally. The venue has a restaurant, a bar and a heated swimming pool. There is also accommodation ranging from camping to luxury flats for anyone wanting to make a weekend of it.

The Fouries will share the full list of bikes shortly. In the meantime, if you’re interested in any of the bikes, you can email simon@bikesa.net.