70’s Survivor with a Rich History
To the naked eye, a motorcycle can just be a motorcycle, but to many the years of ownership can mean a whole lot more!
Featuring in our upcoming May Muscle, Classic & Collectable Car & Motorcycle auction is this fantastic 1970’s Honda Z50 Mini Trail Bike with a very unique history.
The story and provenance of this mini bike begins with the recently deceased long term owner, Milos Jan Pelikan. Milos is the father of the current vendor and was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1926.
The father of Milos, a man by the name of Rudolf Pelikan was a General & Surgeon during the first World War and was 1 of 16 contributors that were involved in forming the nation of Czechoslovakia! The first President of the nation of Czechoslovakia, T.G. Masaryk would eventually recruit Rudolf as Military Medical Commander of the nation’s military school after the first World War!
With a family history deeply rooted in the Czechoslovakia, it would be the year 1950 when Milos moves to Australia as a student refugee studying Agriculture. He was one of the many persecuted by the regime at the time.
Upon arriving in Melbourne, Milos worked on Wharves in Port Melbourne for approximately 10 years before earning a job in 1963 with the Australian Government in Papua New Guinea as a Land Surveyor for Dept Lands, Surveys & Mines in Port Moresby.
He worked his way up to the rank of Principal Land Development Officer for Papua New Guinea and in 1972 the country was granted self-government status, leading to Chief Minister Michael Somare asking Milos to stay onboard and assist the nation on it’s road to independence in 1975, an awesome honour during a time were these positions were being transferred to locals of Papua New Guinea.
Michael Somare would eventually become the nations first Prime Minister and Milos would continue working with his Government until eventually leaving the nation in 1976.
It was his time in Papua New Guinea where Milos would purchase the Honda Z50 Mini Trail Bike in Port Moresby. The bike was registered prior to independence of the nation and was eventually brought over to Australia, where the bike resided on his residence in Tweed River, NSW and then eventually Melbourne.
According to the son of Milos, this is an awesome example that has never seen a mechanic, nor been tinkered with meaning it is a completely original example! It also has never been registered in Australia since the move back to here in 1976.
This is one very special example, as it comes with original purchasing, Papua New Guinea registration and Australian transfer documents, highlighting the unique provenance of the bike.
A unbelievable time capsule, preserved in super original condition and with a tremendous story behind it’s ownership. This is exactly the type of opportunity we love to offer here at Burns & Co so stay tuned for our upcoming May Auction catalogue as this will be a very unique standout amongst the catalogue!
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Or feel free to get in contact with a member of our team:
Ashley Burns 0408 618 294
Anton Cooper 0427 383 531
Phil Shaw (NSW / QLD) 0437 637 644
