Barber Museum Pics. 56K stay away!

vw151 · October 29, 2009, 07:23:22 PM

I sorted through some pictures and put up the one's I like. Here they are. Sorry if the page load is long but there is some cool shit in here.

So..... favorites? The supermono is really cool. I actually thought the old school buells were really neat, the cushman scooters were unique. That Gilera 2 stroke with the single sided fork and swing arm was bad assed. For some reason though, I think the 2 stroke 499cc Bimoto might have been my favorite. That was a really cool bike and made me really curious about what it would be like to ride. I was also intrigued by the Yamaha R7. Basically Yamaha's version of the GSX-R750 but only 50 were imported to make it race legal.

The super bad assed 1000cc MV agusta was also cool and well the Britten Goes with out saying. The CF body on the 1125RR buell was neat too. It was even cool to see the 50th anniversary R1 that came with Ohlins from the factory. There were rotary engined bikes, big touring bikes, old harley's, military bikes, a sort of tree of bikes that spanned 3 floors, some old F1 cars, drag racing bikes, old antique boat motors, race cars.

There were tons of cool Ducatis as well but I suppose I'm spoiled as I actually know about and have seen many of those, honestly the supermono was the coolest ducati of them all.

Overall though, the museum is amazing. I know it's been said a million times before but the way the bikes are displayed, the way the museum overlooks the track and the breadth of motorcycles from age to rarity to commonality to type was just amazing. There were more bikes I had never seen or heard of in there than I could even mention and for each of those there were tons of common bikes. Mr. Barber does not discriminate. He has represented. I'd gladly pay to go in there again when we go back in March. It was just cool to take a break and watch the advanced track riders out the window occassionally. Mike or steven, what was the AMA guy we were watching school everyone? He was crazy fast. 1:28.6 on the day we were in the museum apparently. Basically he was passing the other advanced guys like they were trucks on the highway. He was lapping them about 2 times per session. Anyway..... enjoy!

kingbaby · October 29, 2009, 07:34:11 PM

Barber is motorcycle heaven...Period.

Thank you for the incredible pictures.

AfroStar · October 29, 2009, 08:16:02 PM

every motorcycle enthusiast should make the trip there at least once in a lifetime....makes any grown man smile...

LA · October 29, 2009, 08:26:27 PM

I was at Barber for the AHRMA? racing a few weekends ago. It was NOT the best weekend weather wise and was still one of the best weekends I've had in a very long time. The museum? Incredible! Best $15 I ever spent. I had gotten my money's worth in the first fifteen steps into the museum. The Porcupine prominently displayed at the entrance and the Ducatis, Old Blue replica and New Blue and Slippery Sam Triumph on the left. Wow! I was in a wonderland. I want to live there. Three hours is not enough. I look forward to a return trip.

And the track is landscaped like a golf course. The pits were great. We parked our very large, very cool "racing school bus" on about 50 acres of perfectly groomed grass that most golf course greens keepers wished their fairways looked like.

I just can't say enough good about the place.

Your pics are excellent. Saved em all.

Oh yea, Mike make the beast with two backsing Hailwood's TT winning Ducati is there. One of the volunteers ask me to "tell him what I knew of the bike" as I was looking/drooling at it. I told him how old Mike was when he raced it, who built it, his average speed over the course etc etc. He was impressed and asked how I knew all that stuff. I asked "how many Ducatis you got? He said none. I said, "well there you go".

I'm still mot over it.

LA

Oldfisti · October 30, 2009, 04:55:42 AM

Quote from: LA on October 29, 2009, 08:26:27 PM

Oh yea, Mike make the beast with two backsing Hailwood's TT winning Ducati is there. One of the volunteers ask me to "tell him what I knew of the bike" as I was looking/drooling at it. I told him how old Mike was when he raced it, who built it, his average speed over the course etc etc. He was impressed and asked how I knew all that stuff. I asked "how many Ducatis you got? He said none. I said, "well there you go".

LA

corey · October 30, 2009, 05:25:26 AM

man... it's like val halla.

Latinbalar · October 30, 2009, 06:42:05 AM

So why are these guys facing the wrong way? The bikes are in the other direction.

Ohh wait now they turned around.

vw151 · October 30, 2009, 06:50:09 AM

We were up there for a track day. We only managed to get signed up on Sunday so we were in the museum during the Saturday sessions. When advanced was running we stopped and watched for awhile AMA rider was Geoff May was riding and he was incredible. The view of the track from the museum is fantastic, you can see about half of it from there.

duccarlos · October 30, 2009, 07:01:39 AM

Barber has to be considered among the best tracks in the nation. I understand that history on Indy, but I would rather watch Moto GP going around Barber than the IMS infield.

vw151 · October 30, 2009, 07:10:52 AM

Quote from: duccarlos on October 30, 2009, 07:01:39 AM
Barber has to be considered among the best tracks in the nation. I understand that history on Indy, but I would rather watch Moto GP going around Barber than the IMS infield.

I completely agree, however, where would everyone sit? It doesn't exactly have the seating that Indy has.

duccarlos · October 30, 2009, 07:19:20 AM

True, but Laguna doesn't have the seating Indy has either. Plus, if you were there this past year, you would not have been impressed with the turnout. Barber can just set up some viewing stands all over. The main drawbacks are that it's in the SE that has less MotoGP fans and the surrounding infrastructure, like hotels and restaurants, are not really world class.

orangelion03 · October 30, 2009, 07:56:23 AM

Thanks for posting the photos! I had heard of the museum, but had no idea of the level of bikes they have on display! Reminds me of the Blackhawk Collection. The layout is also impressive. Will definately have to check it out if I'm in the area.

The actual TT winning Hailwood bike....dayum.

Monster Dave · October 30, 2009, 08:06:02 AM

Amazing! Now I have a place to add to my "Bucket List" of places to go before I kick it.

I love the pics of the Ducs sitting on top of wooden crates - classic.

vw151 · October 30, 2009, 09:26:42 AM

Quote from: duccarlos on October 30, 2009, 07:19:20 AM
True, but Laguna doesn't have the seating Indy has either. Plus, if you were there this past year, you would not have been impressed with the turnout. Barber can just set up some viewing stands all over. The main drawbacks are that it's in the SE that has less MotoGP fans and the surrounding infrastructure, like hotels and restaurants, are not really world class.

I have been at MotoGP the last 2 years. Yes I agree with pretty much everything you said there. Just not sure what 100k people would look like at Barber. The track is definitely cooler. Although, I would really like to ride the course at Indy 1 time, mostly because motogp road there and it's also mostly the F1 track from years prior. Always cool to watch a race on a track you've been around. Makes it all that much more impressive to see the things those guys do.

CDawg · October 30, 2009, 09:52:27 AM

I'll be there in mid-December!

Can't wait to see'em in person!

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Barber Museum Pics. 56K stay away!