Zealandia Motor Works
Maori were motorcycles produced from 1914 to 1919 by Zealandia Motor Works, London NW, to a design by A. R. Bannister from New Zealand.
The machines were intended to cope with the road conditions in New Zealand. They had a 292cc JAP engine with a variable gear mechanism built onto the drive-side crankcase. They were fitted with belt final-drive and Saxon spring-forks, and although they appeared to be conventional, they were very sturdy. To shield the rider from mud, the motorcycles were fitted with footboards.
Although it was still listed in England as late as 1919, it is thought that only one example actually reached the distributors (Johns, Bannister and Co. Ltd.) in its intended destination of Gisborne, New Zealand. The first shipment had met with disaster at sea, and then production had been stopped by the First World War.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X