Barber

In 2011 I flew to North Carolina and then rode down to Birmingham, Alabama with my brother and dad. I got to ride my old Norton Interstate, which sadly was lacking in power. Here's a forum post with a lot more detail and pictures from the trip. It still made it but later teardown revealed that the hardening on the camshaft had failed and instead of lobs it was now round. But that's another story...

We were going to the Vintage Festival at The Barber Motorsport Park, an annual spectacle of vintage motorcycling. There is roadracing, motocross, trials, swap meet and show. On top of that there is the museum. The museum isn't like the icing on the cake, it's like a cake on the cake!

I was quite overwhelmed by the museum. It's massive and the bikes are superb. I couldn't get over how many bikes there were and the quality of them. Of course they can't display all the bikes they have, so there are many more waiting to be seen.

The unique thing the Vintage Festival is that they open the basement to visitors. Down there you can see the workshops where they restore the bikes plus if you're lucky they will have the door open so you can peek and see the many, many motorcycles waiting to be restored.

I'm sure you are tired of me yammering on about this place, how about some pictures? (Be sure to click on the pictures for a larger view)

I wanted to take a picture of every bike there but somehow I restrained myself. This is just a sampling of the bikes there. I hope to go back in 2013 and spend more time in the museum.

I think I've gushed enough about this place. If you can only go to one museum in the world I'm going to vote for Barber. Make it happen.