'Disrespectful' museum visitor climbs on $700,000 Te Papa motorcycle exhibit

Saturday, 4 May 2019

A museum goer who climbed on top of a rare $700,000 motorcycle exhibit at Te Papa has been labelled 'disrespectful' and 'stupid' by an onlooker and the museum.

Leon Watson was admiring the museum's Britten V1000 exhibit on Saturday when he started talking to two other visitors who were looking at the bike.

He was dumbstruck when one of the pair announced she was going to climb onto the bike, which is one of only 10 ever made, for a photo.

'She said 'I'm going to hop up on it and get a photo for my Facebook'.'

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She then proceeded to climb over the barrier, ignoring the signs warning visitors not to touch the exhibit, he said.

After posing for a few snaps taken by a companion she climbed down, before claiming she was a close friend of the late John Britten, who designed and built the record-setting bikes in Christchurch.

Watson likened the woman's actions to the incident in which Wellington's Len Lye-designed Water Whirler sculpture was damaged by a person climbing on it.

'It was very disrespectful. She could have potentially damaged it through her stupidity.'

'[The Britten V1000] is my favourite exhibit at Te Papa. It's important to New Zealand. John Britten was a great engineer and that bike is a beautiful piece of artwork and ahead of its time technology-wise.'

Watson reported the pair to museum staff.

Te Papa spokesperson Kate Camp confirmed the incident and said the pair was spoken to by museum staff, who asked them to respect the museum's rules.

'It was dangerous, it was disrespectful and it was bloody stupid,' Camp said.

The exhibit was insured for $700,000, Camp said.

'We've checked the bike over. There wasn't any visible damage.'

There were no plans to put the motorbike behind glass, and she hoped there would not be any repeats of the incident.