The MisterEd 8000; Grande Tour of America

An Afternoon of Bikes
 
Today was one of the few days of the trip that I had planned in advance before I even left Oregon.  I had wanted to stop a the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame Museum since before I left.  The fact that they were hosting the exhibit "Heroes of Harley Davidson" a the time was a bonus.



I departed clearfield at 7:00 AM after a quick breakfast a the hotel.  It was still quite wet, although nowhere near as bad as it had been on Monday.  After managing to miss most of the Tuesday morning commuter traffic near Pittsburgh, I rolled off I-70 in to Pickerington, Ohio around 11:30 AM and found the AMA without too much trouble at all.

The whole museum is impressive - you should go when you have a chance.

As is fitting for a motorcycle association, the cages park in the rain while the bikes get a nifty garage!


I was travelling at the tail end of the big Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary party, so I was beginning to encounter a lot of people that were heading home from Milwaukee.  There were people at the AMA Museum from Germany, Japan, England and all over the USA.

Inside the front door, a famous Holywood bike:


Downstairs, a bit of a surprise -


Yup - it's a wooden motorcycle.  Actually it's an 1885 Daimler 'Einspur' - it was a testbed for a 1/2 HP 264cc automobile motor designed by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach.

They also have this little wonder:


Ol' Sylvester built a number of powered vehicles in his time, but he bought it on this steam powered velocipede on June 1, 1896 on the Charles River Bicycle Track in Cambridge, Mass.  The newspaper article is from the Boston Daily Globe, June 2, 1896.

The museum also has a nice collection of motorcycle related art:




Upstairs, the "Heroes of Harley-Davidson" exhibit was going on:


Replica of what the original H-D worksho may have looked like


A couple of early board-track racers


H-D's contribution to the military


Land speed record machine and Leo Payne's "Turnip Eater"


Logo look familar??


Hill cllimb, anyone?


I liked this little exhibit - and not just because it had a copy of my bike, either.  It was neat to see 100 years of technology represented in one display.


The exhibit didn't shy away from the bad years, either.


Bike were shown in mint condition ...


... and in original unrestored condition.


Eric's work was also recognized


Hall of Fame rider's rides are showcased in front of the Hall of Fame wall









A small part of the "Wall of Fame"

The Hall of Fame alone was worth the trip.  To see all the names of so many great riders and their accomplishments was exciting and sobering at the same time.  The "Wall of Fame" contains names from Soichiro Honda to Arthur Davidson to Ignaz Schwinn; it showcases great racers from Bob Perry to Ralph Hepburn to Joe Weatherly; it honors enthusiasts and supporters from Pappy Hoel to Malcom Forbes to Jay Leno.  It's an amazing list of deeds and doers.

A few links