FROM ACROSS THE POND
1959 A10 Rocket 650 twin. This was BSA in her prime.
THE BARBER MOTORSPORTS MUSEUM
THE WORLD’S LARGEST
MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM
They call it “The Chase”
BY ANDY TALLONE
Classic-British-Motorcycles.com
LOTS TO SEE IN ALABAMA
On a recent business trip to Alabama, I had four hours to kill before
my return flight out of the Birmingham International Airport. I’d
always heard about the Barber Motorsports Museum, so I thought
it would be a great way to while away a few hours. Certainly better
than sitting in those flat, uncomfortable chairs in the airport. When
I arrived at the Museum, I was immediately awestruck by the
perfectly-manicured grounds, the spotless building and the rather
bizarre statuary out front depicting three oddly contorted naked
men wearing capes, each riding on the axle of a motorcycle wheel.
A little too artsy for my tastes, and I began to think this might be a
very long four hours. But the moment I stepped through the doors of
the immense building, I knew I was home. There before me, visible
from the front door, were literally hundreds of motorcycles arrayed
in various floor displays, stacked up on racks lining the walls, even
Christmas Tree-fashion (a 3-story tall Christmas tree), all nicely lit
and and tastefully presented. This was no normal museum where
everything was lined up in neat rows. The building itself has four levels
that line the inner walls of this huge round structure with the entire
center of it open from floor to ceiling, creating a huge open space.
As it turns out, the Barber Motorsports Museum is the largest collection
of classic motorcycles in the world! There are over 1,400 bikes on
display!! Holy cow...will 4 hours be enough? In the end, the answer
was no. It occurred to me that I should have brought my big camera.
But I was traveling light this trip, so all I had was my iPhone.
And while fully charged, I knew the battery life might be my limiting
factor. As it turned out, I was right. In the course of the next few
hours, I took hundreds of pictures of motorcycles of every type:
classic bikes, racing bikes, antique bikes, movie bikes, choppers,
cafe racers, modern bikes...and lots and lots of British bikes.
And after all, that’s what life is all about, right? Well, maybe not
for normal people, but for me, I had a hard time containing my
drool...at least until my camera shut down, signaling the end of
my fantasy.
A “Christmas Tree” of bikes!
1,400 bikes with lots of room to move around.
14 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
September 2016
www.thunderroadscolorado.com