Original founder George Taylor was a motorcycle racer in his youth and competed overseas in the famous Isle of Man street race before returning to Australia to establish his first store in Warrnambool.

Subsequent owners, Greg and Jacqui Malseed, are also motorcycle enthusiasts and own a number of bikes including a 1949 BSA with a Dusting sidecar.

So Mr Malseed took more than a passing interest in the vintage motorcycles, some in a good state and some in “barn find” condition, that another local motorcycle enthusiast was buying from throughout the world and having the store transport from Melbourne.

The enthusiast, who wishes to remain anonymous, had plans to restore the bikes but his passion for collecting expanded beyond his shed space and the time available to restore them.

Mr Malseed offered to display about 20 of the bikes at the Grassmere store three years ago and the collection has since grown to include more than 100.

He said part of the collection’s charm was the unrestored state of many of the bikes.

“That are dead original which holds appeal.

“What you see is what rolled off the production line,” Mr Malseed.

The stories behind the bikes tell of many different approaches to motorcycle manufacturing from the 1907 Peugeot that came with backup bicycle pedals to the 1940s pressed metal French Dresch that was riveted together.

Mr Malseed said Dresch’s thinking with its riveted frame was that if one part was damaged, it could be removed and a new part riveted on.

He said the desire by many people at the turn of the last century for a cheap form of motorised transport prompted many companies to try their hand at manufacturing motorcycles.

Some had been making bicycles, some small arms, and some got other companies to make the bike engines for them.

One of the bikes in the collection is a Nimbus from Denmark, made by the Nilfisk company that also makes vacuum cleaners.

Another bike, the Gnome et Rhone, from France, was made by a company that went into motorcycle manufacturing after making aircraft engines prior to the Second World War.

Other little-known motorcycles brands also in the display are Zundapp and TWN from Germany and Jawa from Czechoslavakia.

Mr Malseed said the collector’s owner was an engineer and liked vintage European and Japanese bikes because he believed they were the most innovative in their engineering.

A German TWN bike in the collection has a “twingle” engine, two pistons in one cylinder, part of an effort to get a faster bike.

Not all the innovations were successful such as the exposed flywheel on the 1950 Moto Guzzi 250cc Airone on display. 

Located near the rider’s left calf, it led to the bike being nicknamed “the bacon slicer.” 

Hercules, from Germany, and Suzuki bikes with rotary engines also feature. 

Mr Malseed said rotary engines failed to take off on motorbikes because they were too heavy and unreliable.

Also damned by its weight was the Victoria-Bergmeister bike from Germamy.

Mr Malseed said the brand was built to be the “Rolls Royce” of motorbikes but couldn’t match the speed of lighter Japanese bikes.

The collection also includes a Kreidler Florett 50cc bike from Germany. 

While only small in engine size, the model went on to hold a land speed record of 210 kilometres an hour on the salt flats at Utah.

The Honda Motocompo in the collection was built for compactness rather than speed. 

The folding scooter fitted into the boot of small Honda cars.

Mr Malseed said the reliability of some of the bikes was impressive.

He took a 1940s Alycon bike, from France, to a display after it had sat idle for up to 40 years.

He put oil and fuel in and it started.  

Another exhibit with staying power is the Porier invalid carriage, a forerunner to today’s gophers.

Made after the First World War with many war amputees among its customers, Mr Malseed had it going as an exhibit at last year’s Port Fairy Show.

Mr Malseed said the collection attracted an enormous amount of interest, particularly because of its little-known makes.

“It’s so unusual,” he said of the collection.

“We get people from throughout Australia,” he said.

“Each day we have someone here to look at the bikes,” Mr Malseed said.

He said the collection’s owner was pleased it was on display and giving others enjoyment.

The owner was still adding to the collection and planned to eventually hand ownership over to the community.

 A trust has been set up with Mr Malseed among the trustees.

“We plan to keep the display here (in the Warrnambool area).

“We hope to do something with the vehicle museum planned for the former Fletcher Jones factory,” Mr Malseed said.

“The owner would like to keep the collection together,” he said.

The former Fletcher Jones factory in Warrnambool was bought in 2014 by Dean Montgomery, an avid car collector who plans to develop part of the factory into a vehicle museum.