Saturday 4 May 2019

An Indian Motorcycle Museum




A Motorcycle Museum in Assam.

There is more from India. Just a a museum I was introduced to by my nephew, Chinmoy and his friend who took me off on a day trip to visit this unusual place. It is located in the village of Medhikuchi about 20km from Guwahati. It was an adventure as we headed into a National Park with a gated entrance over a cart track only to find, by chance from a passing motorcyclist, that the museum had moved location to the other side of Highway 37. It was only about ten minutes away. We arrived and walked up a slight hill through the entrance that was under construction and close to the top, where it levelled out was where the museum was. 



Three distinct areas with 3 open sides and a roof was where bikes, cars and Jeeps lived. It was typically Indian with only just enough cover to keep the weather off. It was minimalistic but understandable with the limited finances available to the Owner of the Museum, Pickloo Deka who has put together this collection of motorcycles mostly wartime with what was left behind but also a collection that is from the fifties to the eighties. I think that as vehicles become worn out they will probably end up at Pickloos door. He is an enthusiastic collector one proud possession is a Grand Piano, another is the air raid siren along with a multitude of clocks, old radios and twenties style HMV gramophones. He has enough stuff to create a theme based cafeteria. Progress in development is slow as Pickloo has a full time job and any spare cash is put into developing the Museum. He has an uphill struggle as there are few Museums in India where the philosophy is buy new and throw the old stuff away. 




What do you want to keep it for? There are a few Classic Car Clubs who try to preserve the Indian Heritage but not many, unlike the UK which is a Museum in itself and full of history. Few want to preserve the old stuff and in my travels I see the old Colonial Post Offices gone to ruin as no one wants them. Pickloo is unusual in wanting to preserve something. We spent a long time going around his exhibition discussing the motorcycles and cars he has along with his exceptional collection of 1500 American service helmets. If you want one he has them! He is a genuine man who wants to build something special and needs all the support he can get. If you in Guwahati in Assam pay him a visit. He speaks good English and is very knowledgable about the cars and bikes he has. I had a very pleasant time discussing the woes of Museums and what could be done with this site. I keep thinking of ideas to generate cash which is what he needs and from a sponsor if he can find one. I wish him well as I know it is an uphill struggle to make his dream a reality.


More news from the emission zone front, after my email to the editor of Road magazine the MAG print there has been a whole load of campaign information printed about the questionable information used in determining the pollution levels of engines. This is from Issue 82 May/June 2019 pages 50 and 51. Our good old Villiers two stroke engine does not pollute any more than modern two strokes being low on carbon dioxide levels and NOx. No-one seems to be able to measure the blue smoke factor but are Euro 3 compliant at less than 0.15g/km CO2 cause they don’t use any fuel to speak of however a Euro 6 compliant 2.0ltr diesel at 0.21g/km is acceptable!!! How ludicrous is that? We have the information now to discredit any information that is put forward saying old motorcycles are more polluting than modern ones. Of course all this is put together on a computer model and we all know how rubbish those models are as they exclude too much relevant information from the model logic. I have said to representatives of MAG to get someone to write a paper that supports their ideals, get it published and quote that against those who use duff data. Perhaps I should write one myself?


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