NZ is the home of the PE Suzuki, they were regularly sold in large numbers and at great prices, also NZ MX rules had an 'Enduro Class' at the time, so they could be raced regularly and also rego was easy so they could be ridden to work.
Suzuki ruled in NZ because of the Coleman's, you had an importer where the owners actually raced motorcycles at an international level, rather than just looked at it as a business. That doesn't happen that much these days.