Motorcycle Museums

[mikesim]

After visiting the St Francis, IA Motorcycle Museum with Phil and watching the discussion on the forum, I think it would be a fun project for us to list and recommend the motorcycle museums that we have visited. After discovering the museum in St. Francis, I was struck by the idea that there must be dozens of museums in the middle of nowhere that many of us have never heard of. The list would give everyone an opportunity to visit them if we are in the neighborhood. Perhaps Mellow could create a category for this and perhaps even subdivide it by locale. In any event, here goes with my list.

Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum
Leeds (Birmingham), AL
The ne plus ultra of motorcycle museums widely recognized as the worlds largest display of restored motorcycles. A must see for any motorcycle enthusiast. A gift shop on the premises and located within Barber Motorsports Park. If you can come during Vintage Motorcycle days in October, so much the better. Admission charged

Mungenast Motorcycle Museum
St. Louis, MO
Dave Mungenast, the founder was the first Honda dealer in St. Louis. An avid motorcyclist and International Six Days Trial winner he was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame. The collection is an early history of Honda and Penton with a few other marques displayed. Admission is free

Moto Museum
St. Louis, MO
The Moto Museum is part of Moto Europa, a Triumph, Ducati and KTM dealer. The museum displays mainly early European marques but also has an example of hillbilly engineering with an all wooden motorcycle powered by a chainsaw engine. A great motorcycle themed restaurant, The Triumph Grill is also on the premises. Admission is free.

AMA Vintage Museum
Pickerington, OH
Part of the AMA headquarters complex the museum displays motorcycles and memorabilia from early riders and racing machines. Lots of documentation of the early days of motorcycling in the US. Free admission to AMA members

St Francis Motorcycle Museum
St. Francis, IA
A gem in the middle of nowhere! A variety of marques of all vintages are on display and a knowledgeable docent is there to guide you through the display. A $7 donation is requested.

Texas Motorcycle Museum
Vanderpool, TX
Located in Texas Hill Country and very near to the "Twisted Sisters" farm roads. The museum has a nice display of a variety of marques especially focusing on early Brit bikes. The "Twisted Sisters" are a series of farms roads that are the Texas equivalent of the Tail of the Dragon. Much fun! Food available in their restaurant. Admission charged.

National Motorcycle Museum
Anamosa, IA
Founded by John Parham of JP Cycles fame, the museum features all marques and models and has on the display the original, authentic Captain America motorcycle of Easy Rider fame. Also displaying several of Evel Knievel's mounts that were used in his famous jumps. While in the area be sure to visit JP Cycles outlet store a few miles from the museum. Admission charged.

Wheels Thru Time
Maggie Valley, NC
Just a short ride off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Wheels Thru Time features exclusively motorcycles manufactured in the US and every single one runs! Probably the finest collection of old Crockers, Hendersons and Excelsiors that you will find anywhere. A large display of vintage outboard motors and early snowmobiles as well. A must see if you visit the Smoky Mountains.

That's it for me so far. In July I plan on two more additions to the list when I go to the Midwest Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club Rally in Iowa.

Mike

 

[NewTo700V]

Motorcyclepedia in NY is pretty nice. They have an Indian timeline, one model from every year of production. There's a ton of other bikes too.

I think they're closed for COVID right now.


There's a couple of museums around San Diego as well. Even the San Diego Automotive Museum has a nice collection of bikes

 

[Phil Tarman]

The only one I've been to before St Francis was the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette. I was in Pilkington and intended to go to the AMA Museum a couple of years ago after I'd been to the WV Rally, but my knee was bothering me and I decided I'd just sleep instead of spending a day walking around a museum on a hard floor. I needed to get ready for Eric Trow's Stay'n'Safe rider's training course on the weekend after the Rally.

 

[coaster]

The Vintage Motorcycle museum in Solvang California, which is located near Lompoc, is worth a visit.

 

[Fieroguy]

Motorcyclepedia in NY is pretty nice. They have an Indian timeline, one model from every year of production. There's a ton of other bikes too.

I think they're closed for COVID right now.

There's a couple of museums around San Diego as well. Even the San Diego Automotive Museum has a nice collection of bikes

From Motorcyclepedia's June 2020 Newsletter: "We hope to open July 10th in Phase 4 of the reopening plan. Please check our website, Facebook or call 845-569-9065 to confirm before visiting."

I will 2nd the nomination to include this museum in your travels. For the bicyclists, the owner also has a bicycle museum nearby (Newburgh, NY), The Velocipede, open Saturdays.

 

[ADK Jim]

Here's one more but not solely motorcycle, but well worth the stop and learning about the man. The Glenn H Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY. Curtiss was an amazing charter and there are two really good books about him as well. He is better known for his contributions to aviation, but his start was a bicycle racer turned motorcycle racer. As a matter of fact Curtiss was known as "The Fasters Man on Earth" when on January 24, 1907 he set the world speed record of 136.47 mph with a 40 hp V-8 motorcycle in Ormond Beach, FL (really a V-8 attached to a bicycle frame!). The record stood for an amazing number of years afterwards. He later teamed up with Alexander Graham Bell and competed both technically and in the air with the Wright Brothers as well as in the courts. This is one of the books highly worth reading. The museum is a bit of an odd collection of all his work, but if you are in this beautiful area of the Finger Lakes region of NY, you should stop by.

 

[suvcw04]

I live 120 north of the Anamosa Museum. We try to get there every 2 or 3 years. They just re-opened from the COVID19 shut down.
J&P Cycle parts used to be headquartered in Anamosa, but they moved to Texas.

 

[Warren]

This is a link listing many auto and motorcycle museums.

Ultimate List of Motorcycle History and Auto Museums in America

You can't think about the past without first understanding and appreciating your past, and there's no better place to do so than at a museum. I love visiting motorcycle museums and getting a sense of how far we have come in terms of innovation and dedication to the craft. If seeing the best...

brainbucket.rumbleon.com

 

[Chucksklrst]

If you are in Denver take a look at the Vintage Moto Museum. I found it years ago and it was full of mostly small 250 -350 bikes. Haven't been down there in a while. last time I was there is when I still owned the 79 CB650.

 

[mikesim]

Thanks for the info! BTW, in the fourth pic down, there is a purple/gold Triumph Bonneville. It is a dead ringer for my '67 Bonnie! The very early 67's were purple/gold and later '67's were purple/white. I'm told by several Triumphistas that the purple/gold combo was exceedingly rare. Further inspection of the pic show the bike equipped with the Amal concentric carbs. The very early ones like mine were equipped with the infamous Amal monoblocs. Also the bike in the pic is equipped with a "scrambler" type handle bar with the horizontal reinforcement. That was a quite popular retrofit at the time.

Mike

 

[ARKNT]

I need to make it a priority to visit some of these. As I age and the world seems to get stranger all the time reminiscing about the past makes me happy. It pulls things together.

Brad

 

[Brillot2000]

I have been to the one up in Solvang in the Fall of 2014.



Also the one in Sturgis, SD on a cross-country RV Trip back in the Summer of 2014. During that trip, we went to the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, South Dakota Air & Space Museum, and Mount Rushmore just to name a few places.



The collection on display was quite diverse and had just about every manufacturer ever in existence. My truck and trailer can be seen parked next to the museum.

 

[NewTo700V]

As good as a museum can be, I much prefer a large outdoor vintage motorcycle show. The chance to see and hear the bikes on the move is something a museum usually can't offer.

 

[DirtFlier]

I visited the Glenn Curtis museum a few years ago on a riding trip to Nova Scotia. Hammondsport is in the Finger Lakes area of NY. The museum has a lot more than airplanes and motorcycles because Curtis dabbled in lots of commercial products and for a while was even a land developer in FL!

Anyhow, his world record bike was in a glass case along one wall so I couldn't get a good shot of the left side. Here is a shot of the "final drive" using open bevel gears. And as someone else commented, it was a V8 aircraft engine fitted into a bicycle. This is obviously a recreation of that bike because I don't think Glenn made his record run with a castellated axle nut that only engaged with a few threads on the axle!