The Knuckleheads are coming! And so are the Fat Boys, Panheads and Silent Gray Fellows. Over a century of Harley-Davidson’s finest motorcycles will be on display for Harley-Davidson: Building a Legend. From its humble beginnings in Arthur Davidson’s backyard shed to its preeminent status as an American icon, visitors will learn about Harley Davidson’s fascinating history, while also getting a chance to learn about Studebaker’s role in the American automotive industry.

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was founded over 100 years ago and did what no other American motorcycle manufacturer was able to do – survive two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the rise of the Japanese imports. In fact, during these trying times, Harley-Davidson was able to flourish and grow into a trusted and beloved brand that has become synonymous with being innovative and “American Made.”

To celebrate this long history, the Studebaker National Museum has recently opened a new exhibit, Harley Davidson: Building a Legend. Though the Studebaker Corporation was never affiliated with Harley-Davidson, both companies are American icons and share similarly humble roots. According to the Museum’s archivist, Andy Beckman, “Both companies began in sheds and were operated as family businesses during their early days.” Beckman also notes that both companies would have financial difficulties in their early years but managed to pull through and to emerge stronger and with a more secure following.

Harley-Davidson: Building a Legend features 29 motorcycles dating as far back as a 1912, single-cylinder X8A that is a mere 10 years younger than William Harley’s first “motorized bicycle.” The remainder of the collection consists of motorcycles ranging from early Peashooters, police cycles, Servi-Cars, and classic Hogs. The collection includes examples of a wide range of Knucklehead, Flathead, Shovelhead and Panhead engines used throughout the many eras of Harley-Davidson. One notable motorcycle in the exhibit is a 1984 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra-Glide. While many consider this model the “definitive Harley,” this particular motorcycle is unique in that it has been owned by McDaniel’s Harley-Davidson since it was new, but it only shows 3.5 miles on the odometer!

This expansive exhibit, which runs until March 19, 2010, was made possible in part by the contributions of McDaniel’s Harley-Davidson and JC Taylor Antique Auto Insurance. Studebaker National Museum is located at 201 S Chapin Street in downtown South Bend. It is open seven days per week. For more information call the museum at (574) 235-9714 or toll free at 1-888-391-5600 or visit our website at www.studebakermuseum.org. – From a Studebaker Museum press release. 

1973 Honda Elsinore on display at the AMCA/AACA Museum
in "Fast from the Past: Competition Motorcycles of Yesteryear."

For a lot of enthusiasts, old bikes and old cars are a natural pairing. That thinking prompted last year’s alliance between the Antique Motorcycle Club of America (AMCA) and the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum (AACA), with the AMCA exhibiting at the AACA museum in Hershey, Pa. The latest fruit from this partnership is Fast From the Past: The Competition Motorcycles of Yesteryear.

We haven’t had a chance to visit the AACA museum, but everything we’ve seen and heard has us convinced it should be on the short list of every old bike and old car enthusiast. Last year, the two clubs worked together to launch the AMCA’s first exhibit, Motorcycles: 1884-1973, which quickly became one of the museum’s top-rated features. 

Now, the exhibit is being updated to tell the story of the competitive tradition of motorcycling in Fast from the Past: The Competition Motorcycles of Yesteryear. The new exhibit will bring together racing machines owned by AMCA members from throughout North America, ranging from a little 5hp 1908 Indian to a 1972 Harley-Davidson XR750 flat tracker. AMCA Foundation President Peter Gagan says, “No matter how old or new it is, there’s a Spartan, no-nonsense beauty in any motorcycle built specifically for competitive use. We will demonstrate this fact and show how designers have fulfilled their need for speed through more than a century of motorcycle history.”

1962 H-D KR on display

The exhibit will also highlight the range and diversity of motorcycle competition, featuring motorcycles from the trim, light bikes used in observed trials to the sleek, missile-like machines used to pursue the upper ranges of all-out land speed competition. Between these extremes are more than a dozen categories of motorcycle competition that will be depicted through the display of motorcycles ranging from 1908 to the late 1970s.

For more information about the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, go to www.antiquemotorcycle.org. For information, hours, and directions to the AACA Museum, go to www.aacamuseum.org, e-mail info@aacamuseum.org, or call 717-566-7100. – Richard Backus

Billy Joel with one of his new/old Harleys, a reworked Knucklehead  
(Photos by Phil Fazin)

We all know Billy Joel for his rock-n-roll piano playing, but how many knew the Piano Man is also a hardcore vintage bike fan? Turns out that Joel, whose first bike was a BSA back in the Sixties, has a collection of over 31 bikes, 20 of which he’s exhibiting at the “Billy Joel’s Motorcycle as Art and Icon” show. Oh yeah, and he’s displaying Motorcycle Classics at the event!

We found out about Joel’s planned exhibit when his publicist called to order a couple of cases of Motorcycle Classics. Turns out Joel’s not only a classic bike fan, he’s a fan of Motorcycle Classics, as well, and he wanted copies of the magazine on hand to pass out to friends and attendees during the exhibit.

Billy Joel's take on the original 1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster, this time
with modern hardware including disc brakes and belt drive.

Joel’s collection is remarkably diverse, ranging from classic mounts like a 1977 Harley-Davidson XLCR Café Racer and a 1975 Honda Gold Wing to a 1952 Vincent Rapide and a 1975 Ducati. He also has a collection of Harley-based specials designed to look like vintage Knuckleheads and Panheads.

Billy Joel's 20th Century Cycles 1945 Panhead bobber

The exhibit, which runs through Saturday, June 20, is being hosted by Christy’s Art Center in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Long Island Sound. Joel has picked 20 bikes from his collection spread across three categories, American Classics, Metric Culture and Café Racers. But the center point of the exhibit is clearly his interest in recreating vintage bikes with modern technology. Joel has teamed up with Lighthouse Harley-Davidson in neighboring Huntington Station to create his own line of bikes, 20^th Century Cycles. The bikes, which include a 1957 Sportster and a 1945 Panhead bobber, are his interpretation of how modern technology can benefit the classic lines of yesterday’s machines. The bikes use period-correct engines, but are built on newer chassis and incorporate updated electrics, suspensions and disc brake hardware. On first look, most look like an original that’s been updated, when really they’re newer machines that have been, for lack of a better description, back-dated.

Another of Billy Joel's bikes from the 20th Century Cycles collection he's creating
with Lighthouse Harley-Davidson

It’s an interesting take on building customs, and as the pics show, the results are quite impressive. The show, which also showcases Joel’s collection of vintage motorcycle signage and paraphernalia, is scheduled to end this Saturday, June 20, so if you’re in the area, get to Sag Harbor before Joel’s show takes leave. - Richard Backus

Elbow room was at a premium at the 2009 Heart of America Motorcycle Enthusiasts
annual rally, held for the first time at the Airline History Museum in Kansas City.

The June 7 Heart of America Motorcycle Enthusiasts annual rally has come and gone. And if you weren’t there, you missed one of the best classic bike shows of the year, bar none. Although we don’t have official numbers yet, it’s an easy bet that 2,500 people poured through the huge sliding doors of Hangar #9 and the Airline History Museum at the old Wheeler Airport in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

And those that came got to take in some 170 classic and vintage motorcycles spread across the expansive floor of Hangar 9, sharing space with a Douglas DC-3, a Martin 404 and outside a 1958 Super Constellation, all part of the collection of the Airline History Museum at Wheeler Airport. Bikes ranged from Joan Vandergraph’s 1917 Triumph “Trusty” (which garnered our People’s Choice award) to a wild, one-off recreation of the stillborn Norton Nemesis V8 project of the late 1990s. Vintage British iron was in high gear, with Randy Baxter himself making the trip down from Baxter Cycle in Marne, Iowa, bringing along a spectacular 1940 Triumph Tiger. Best of show went to Gene Brown and his Vincent Lightning, trailered in all the way from Denver, and there were trophies awarded in all the display classes, as well.

Lee Cowie's lovely 1947 Norton International, which he's owned for 48 years.

The HoAME club has been working hard to ramp up their show the past few years, and their considerable efforts have resulted in increased attendance and participation every year the past four years. But this year’s show was unlike anything the club’s ever done before, and it’s clear the change in venue (the previous two years were at the new NASCAR track west of Kansas City) played a major role in attracting such an impressive selection of motorcycles. The Airline History Museum is a natural fit, giving the show that extra dimension of interest that’s often lacking from the average classic bike show. If you somehow got tired of looking at fab old Suzuki Titans or Norton Commandos, you could always stroll over to the Super Constellation and check out what it was like to fly cross-country back when flying was still elegant.

Spectacular 1958 Lockheed Super Constellation "Star of America" at the
Airline History Museum in Kansas City. Check out that headroom!

The dates for next year’s show haven’t been set, but we expect it to fall around the same time frame, the first full weekend of June. We’ll post dates when we have them, and like this year we plan to be on hand again for what’s evolving into one of the great shows of the year. – Richard Backus

Lovely 1961 BSA Gold Star Catalina at the 41st Annual Hanford Vintage Show & Swap

Although it is smack in the middle of California's agricultural Central Valley, Hanford has the air of a small town in the Midwest. There is a courthouse lawn, complete with antique cannons. There is a real old fashioned, fun to walk around downtown. There is the Superior Ice Cream Dairy, the sort of place that serves can't-possibly- finish-it-all sky-high sundaes and banana splits. The county fairgrounds just outside town feature kart racing every Friday night.

Once a year in May, this sleepy little town becomes the Mecca for antique motorcycle buffs from all over the West Coast, who take over the fairgrounds and turn it into Old Bike Heaven. Hanford is about equidistant from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the fairgrounds have a nice lawn on which to display bikes. This year was the 41st annual Hanford Vintage Show and Swap, featuring over two hundred vendors of everything from rusty antique Indians to parts for 1970's British motorcycles and a hotly contested concours d'elegance.

Checking out vintage British Iron at the 2009 Hanford show

This year was also the 25th and last year for ace British motorcycle restorer Don Harrell's last barbecue, which has been taking place on the same weekend as the Show and Swap, and just 20 miles down the road. He has decided it is too much work for his family – a real shame, since the good food is accompanied by a tour of Don's immaculate restorations – eye candy at its finest. – Margie Siegal

Note: The Hanford show typically falls on the third weekend of May. To keep tabs on the exact dates for next year’s event, point your browser over to Marshall Baker’s Classic Cycle Events.