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National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa
Mark Mederski National Motorcycle Museum
The year 2020 was a very tough year for all of us. Hopefully by the time you read this we are getting back to seeing our friends at events and getting out and riding our motorcycles. But one good thing is certain; the doors of the National Motorcycle Museum are open every day. Your motorcycle is probably ready to take you there!
In the small eastern Iowa town of Anamosa, northeast of Cedar Rapids, is a surprisingly large and complete motorcycle museum. Over 550 motorcycles are on dis- play plus about 50 bicycles, even a very early bi-plane. Here you will be immersed in American motorcy- cling history with bikes from around the world. Machines from Moto Guzzi, Douglas, Indian, Honda, Triumph, Velocette, Maico, BMW and of course Harley- Davidson, plus dozens more brands all await your visit. European mak- ers like NSU, Ducati, Moto-Guzzi, Parilla and BMW are here, plus British marques such as Velocette, Brough, Vincent, Douglas and of course BSA and Norton.
The British are largely responsible for the “cafe racer” class of motor- cycle and those bikes are here, too. Great interest in road racing in Britain and on the Continent drove riders to strip their street bikes of unneeded hardware, fit clip-on han- dlebars, megaphones and rear-set foot controls and blaze the public roads emulating the Manx Norton, BSA Gold Star and Velocette rac- ers. Soon Italian, then later Japanese manufacturers brought us factory-made cafe racers like the Ducati 900SS, MV Agusta 750S. Next we saw the Harley-Davidson XLCR and Kawasaki Z1R.
The Museum’s collection includes stock, custom and competition machines we have ridden here in America for nearly 120 years. Overall, American motorcycles are
Backdropped by an early motorcycle shop, a 1937 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead honestly shows it mileage.
best repre-
sented;
there’s
even a
1908 “strap
tank” Harley
and a Flying Merkel
racer in original condition. Sears, Merkel, Thor, Excelsior, Henderson, Curtiss, Reading-Standard are among early American brands on display in the Museum, but many Indians and over 65 Harley-Davidsons, too.
About a dozen video monitors run a variety of historic programs that help you put motorcycles into their period contexts; Beverly Hills Board Track Racing near the board track display shows what motorcycle racing looked like 100 years ago. Diorama-type exhibitions include a restored 1920’s Shell Motor Oil service station. In addition to a large early bicycle dis- play, there’s a bicycle repair shop and a period motorcycle shop recreation, a hillclimb course and an early Harley- Davidson retail setting; a large collec- tion of parts in original packaging is pretty amazing to look at.
The 600 piece toy collection includes tin and cast iron and great and rare pedal cars. Thousands of printed docu- ments like advertising posters, manu- als, post cards, photos and even origi- nal paintings are on display plus riding gear and race trophies. It’s no wonder the National Motorcycle Museum was voted the Iowa Tourism Outstanding Attraction a couple of years ago.
Anamosa, Iowa is set in the Mississippi River bluffs. Getting there offers great wide open hilly winding roads, light traffic, perfect for heavy weight cruising or sport bike riding. The National Motorcycle Museum and these fine roads are in the heart of America. On your way to about any- where you can add Anamosa, Iowa to your routing.
We hope you make plans to visit the National Motorcycle Museum soon. Plan your visit at nationalmcmuse- um.org, or call 319-462-3925. H
Wooden Track.
A restored 1920 Shell Motor Oil service station is outfitted with pumps and contains an amazing collection of petroliana.
Photographs, paintings, prints and bronze sculpture depict racing from the early 20th
Century.
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