2017 Monterey Car Week Guide Monterey Car Week Guide 2017 Digital | Page 12

GreatGarages
Robb Talbott and the Moto Talbott Collection
GreatGarages
M OTO T ALBOTT C OLLECTION : C YCLES OF A RT
Story by David M. Brown
Photos by Randy Wilder
For Robb Talbott, vintage motorcycles are
always in the running as art.
When he was a young man, the Carmel Valley
resident read The Art of the Motorcycle published
by the Guggenheim Museum. Set against the
great Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building in
Manhattan were great cycles, exemplary for their
beauty, mechanical excellence and performance.
“For the first time, I realized that motorcycles
could qualify as art,” says Talbott, founder of the
Moto Museum in Carmel Valley.
“I started getting really excited about that idea.
When you see the cooling fins on an MV Agusta
or the sculpting of a Rickman hub, you realize
they’re art,” says Talbott, who attended Colorado
College for Fine Art and Design and is the former
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Highline Autos
owner of Talbott Vineyards in Carmel Valley.
His 170 cycles are from Belgium, Germany,
China, Italy, the Czech Republic, Japan, France,
Spain and other countries. Last August, one of
Talbott’s bikes, a rare 1925 BMW R37, won Best
of Class at the Pebble Beach Concours, the cul-
mination of Monterey Car Week in August.
“The collection is an eclectic mix of bikes
from 16 countries, including mini bikes, race
bikes, dirt bikes, choppers, bobbers, MV Agustas
and flat track, speedway and board trackers from
the early 1900s versions,” says Bobby Weindorf,
curator and restorer.
In addition, the museum has antique trans-
portation toys, a B-17 aircraft motor, vintage trucks
and more. “We have a vast selection of bikes from
2017 Monterey Car Week Guide | www.Highline-Autos.com