Motorcycle Mecca

Frank: I have seen Motorcycle Mecca and although I may not in the future face east five times a day I think I shall probably at least look that way and say “Thank you” to Mr. Barber for creating his magnificent motorsports museum. But first I should say that it is not just a collection of motorcycles. There are race cars, everyday cars, boats, outboard motors, and more. And it is not just a museum as it also has a two and a half mile professional race track. There’s something going on here just about every day.

I’ve read about the museum, seen photos of the museum, and felt that I had a pretty good idea of what it would be like when I arrived. Wrong! I was oh so wrong. There is just no way to prepare yourself for the scope and breadth of the collection and the facility. You have to see it for yourself. In a nutshell, the museum is five huge floors with hundreds of bikes and cars on display with the floors connected by a gentle ramp I dubbed, ”the yellow brick road.” There are no ropes, no defined walkways, no glass cases, no docents, no grim faced, eagle-eyed guards hovering about to keep your proletariat self away from the displays. The motorcycles are free standing at eye level and are held up only by small wires running from the bottoms of their frames into the display stands. You can get as close as you want.

Cheryl and I arrived at about 11 AM and spent an hour on the fifth floor when we were joined by my friend Brian Slark who has been with the museum since it was just a glimmer of an idea in the back of Mr. Barber’s mind and two hundred acres of woodland. Brian explained that from the very beginning the idea for the museum was to make it as open and as friendly as possible for the visitors. That’s why it is so open and unstructured with no stairs, no walls, no barriers, and no (visible) security. They really want you to be comfortable. He took us on a behind the scenes tour of the restoration areas, the machine shops, the fabrication and remanufacturing areas, and all the neat places that a gear-head like me just dreams about. Then he took us on a driving tour of the whole facility showing us the race track (Porches were racing that day), the press building, race control, facilities maintenance, and spectator areas. The grounds are beautifully grassed and treed and there are sculptures hidden everywhere, some of which display a deep sense of humor! We stayed at the museum until about 5PM. We walked it all and saw it all but in no way did we absorb even a small portion of the exhibits. There’s just too much to see for it to fit in your mind in a day. As Brian said, “It’s an ongoing, every day something new and different experience. It will never be finished.”

I took over 150 photographs. I hope the 20 I will post will give you a small idea of the museum’s scope. One thing is for sure though, before I come back here I just gotta get a bigger, better camera, preferably one with a nice big powerful flash attachment. This place is just too big for my little camera!

So, all you biker buddies, get your butts down here! You gotta see this place!

Ride Safe,
Gearhead Frank