Hidden Treasure: Yanke Motor Museum

A hidden gem and a great destination, the Yanke Motor Museum in Boise, Idaho, is as good as it gets. There’s precious little information on the Internet about the Yanke collection, but trust me, the Yanke museum is worth seeing.

It’s not widely publicized and you can’t just roll up and visit its treasures; admission is by appointment only. I only came across it because I Googled “motorcycle museums in Boise” on a recent trip. The Internet might not mention that it’s by appointment only, but that’s the deal. Further complicating things, some of the GPS navigation programs get the directions wrong (we used Waze to find the address and it worked). We made the required appointment, and Tyler (one of the curators) pulled up just as we rode into the parking lot. Tyler opened the place for us, and we were amazed at its hidden treasures. The Yanke Motor Museum contains a world class automobile, motorcycle, tractor, and musical instrument collection. As you know from reading Destinations pieces, I’m a big fan of car and motorcycle museums, but I had never heard of the Yanke Motor Museum. It’s the only museum of its type in Idaho.

Ron Yanke and his wife Linda created the Yanke Motor Museum. An extremely successful entrepreneur, Ron (one of three original investors in Micron Technology, one of the world’s largest memory chip manufacturers) is unfortunately no longer with us. The Yanke family’s business empire began with their machine shop, and then grew to include sawmills, an air charter service, a firefighting equipment manufacturer, extensive timberland holdings, several real estate companies, a mechanical contracting firm, a manufactured housing company, and a couple of banks.

Kid in a candy shop

I didn’t know what to expect and when we entered the main display area (after walking through a musical instrument collection), at first we saw mostly automobiles. The automobile collection, containing vintage Packards, Cadillacs, Model As, Model Ts, and more, is impressive and plentiful, with the odd motorcycle parked here and there. We saw a Ural, a couple of Harley dressers, a few more interesting motorcycles, and a couple of custom trikes. A 1937 SS Jag replica was flanked by a stunning cherry red Harley Servi-Car and an impressive flathead Ford trike (with polished Offenhauser heads). When I asked Tyler if there were more motorcycles, he smiled and pointed to another hall. Wow, were there ever! Entering the motorcycle hall was better than being a kid in a candy shop. It is packed with vintage desert racer bikes, World War II military Harley 45s, modern bikes, custom bikes, vintage Harleys, vintage Indians, vintage Triumphs, scooters, Whizzers, vintage flat track and flathead Harley race bikes, and more. Some are customs, some are fully restored, and some are in their original unrestored condition.

The Yanke Motor Museum collection is both eclectic and extensive. It includes firefighting equipment, farming equipment, and much, much more. We saw cool military stuff, including Jeeps and a few cannons. Cannons! I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better, but when I peeked into an adjoining room, I spotted several 37mm and 25mm cartridges in various stages of the reloading process. Imagine that: Reloading ammunition for your own cannons!

We spent a couple of hours at the Yanke Motor Museum, but we could have stayed longer. Trust me on this: If you are ever in this part of the world, the Yanke Motor Museum should be on your list. MC