Mountain Goat (motor cycle)
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The Mountain Goat was a
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
specifically built in 1963 by Jonny Callender of
New Plymouth, New Zealand New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...
, for use on rough farm land. It was the first specifically designed farm bike in the world.


Cyril John (Jonny) Callender

Callender, born about 1928, was passionate about motorcycles. He bought his first when he was 15. Three years later he was racing motorcycles in club events at Oakura and became one of the founding members of the New Plymouth Motor Cycle Club. Around this time he became a motorcycle mechanic. In 1951, Callender began a successful career as a midget car driver winning a number of events. He built his own three-quarter midget, number 62. After an accident in 1956, Callender stopped midget car racing, but continued sponsoring other drivers. He also began making go-karts under the Kalkart brand. In 1957, Callender imported a JBS 500
Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...
race car which he raced in the
New Zealand Grand Prix The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It ...
at Ardmore 1958 to 1961, as well as races Levin and Ohakea. Callender became president of the North Taranaki Motorcycle Club and held senior positions at the New Plymouth Speedway Club and the Auto Cycle Union. He ran events and also did announcing. In 1957, Callender started a motorcycle repair business called Callender Motorcycles. This in turn led to him making the ''Mountain Goat'' to meet the needs of the farming community. He also made hand controls for cars and wheel chairs to assist the disabled.


Development

In the early 1960s, Callender spotted a need for a motorbike specifically for use by farmers. He designed the Mountain Goat which was a small tough motorcycle that was designed to handle the rough off-road conditions on New Zealand farms. At that time farmers were primarily using horses, especially in the hill country. Those who were using motor bikes were converting imported British road bikes use on their farms. These bikes were generally heavy, high-geared, and impractical in the rough and rugged
Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
hill country. The specifications for the bike, developed in discussions with local farmers, were the ability to go at walking pace without slipping the clutch, have enough power to climb the steep hills, be rugged enough to withstand the rough farm tracks, and light enough to carry. The wheels needed to be discs because spoked wheels got caught in sticks and branches and the back tyre had to have enough traction to handle mud and grip hillsides. The prototype took two years to develop and in 1963 the bike was put on sale. It was powered by an 80 cc
Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...
motor with a four-speed gearbox, weighed 70 kg, unpainted, and had a low centre of gravity. The low gear enabled the bike to travel at walking pace and its top speed was 50 km/h. The rear tyre was from a rotary-hoe. Testing was carried out on the tracks around
Mount Taranaki Mount Taranaki (), also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is the second highest point in the North Island, after Mount Ruapehu. The mountain has a secon ...
and up the mountain itself, although it never reached the summit. The prototype was used by Sir
Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...
and
Peter Mulgrew Peter David Mulgrew (21 November 1927 – 28 November 1979) was a New Zealand mountaineer, yachtsman and businessman. Life and career Mulgrew was born in Lower Hutt to boilermaker William John Mulgrew and woollen industry worker Edith Mulgrew ...
on their 1964 expedition to
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to build a schoolhouse in the Himalayas. Mulgrew had lost his feet to frostbite on Mount
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in 1961 and the bike was to enable him to move around independently as well as test the machine. Because the fuel tank was damaged in transit, he was only able to have limited use of it. It was Mulgrew who called the bike the ''Mountain Goat'' and that became its name.


Production

Production began in an old flour store in Devon Street, New Plymouth. The aim was to make 120 machines a year, but demand was higher after a flurry of articles in magazines and newspapers about the bike. Some were sold to Borneo and the New Hebrides. Problems soon arose with the government refusing to issue an
import licence An import license is a document issued by a national government authorizing the importation of certain goods into its territory. Import licenses are considered to be non-tariff barriers to trade when used as a way to discriminate against anoth ...
for the engines and brake hubs. While negotiations continued between Callender and the government, Callender sent a photo of the bike along with Hillary, Mulgrave, and himself to Suzuki in Japan. Suzuki turned the photo into a giant poster on their
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stand, along with a replica of the bike. In 1966, the government issued the import licence to allow enough parts to build the 120 bikes per year. By that time, Callender had decided to sell the business to Motor Components of Waitara. Motor Components planned to sell 1,000 bikes per year, but by then Suzuki had commenced production of its own specialised machine. They in turn were followed by the other major Japanese motor cycle manufacturers. Production at the Waitara plant stopped in the 1970s. Callender sold his New Plymouth shop and moved to Auckland. He died in 1978 aged 50. In total, he sold about 120 Mountain Goats. In 2005, the original prototype was owned by his son Laurie.


References


External links

{{commons category, Mountain goat motorcycles
Photographs of Motor Components Mountain Goat
Motorcycles introduced in 1963 1963 in New Zealand Motorcycles of New Zealand