THE COLLECTORS : PART 1 Rob Coutts

There are some fantastic motorcycle collections throughout South Africa, some large, some small, most of them hidden away and rarely see the light of day. I thought it would be interesting to take a peek behind the garage doors at some of the hidden gems lying within some of these collections, talk to the people who have built them up over the decades and the stories behind them.

- Rob Coutts

As is so often seems to happen, you think you are covering one story, only for it to change into something completely different, but no less interesting. Having known Rob Coutts for a few years, I was well aware of his love for all things two-stroke in the motorcycling world, but not necessarily how he came upon that passion. It turns out the path he traveled in his early years is as interesting as the collection he currently curates.

Motorcycle inspiration came at an early age, when a friend of his mum’s arrived on a Suzuki GS550. “I was nine and she took me for a ride on it and I just remember the sensation of acceleration in my gut and I thought, ‘Jeez, this has got to be the most incredible thing’.

“Dirt bikes at that stage were a big thing and my first motorbike was a Suzuki TM400 motocross bike. It started but had no exhaust; it was literally a piece of junk! I swapped it for a skateboard! I was 10, just turning 11 and what we used to do was load up me and three friends, and we’d ride to the veldt near the golf course around Linksfield and play around.

“One day we were heading over Sylvia’s Pass to Bruma - which was all veldt in those days - and we were all young kids, totally illegal, and the guy at the back turned around and said, ‘the cops are chasing us.’ He was joking but I didn’t realise and I went flat out up Sylvia’s Pass, couldn’t make the corner at the top, mounted the pavement, and rode straight into a pole. Broke the bike and we all ran, too scared to go back and get it in case the cops were there. When we eventually went back about 5 or 6 hours later, it was gone.