October 2021 We Ride On

[Nelsdou]

Destination: the Harley Davidson Museum at Milwaukee, WI. Coming from Kansas City, I and several other riders would take in the National Motorcycle Museum at Anamosa, Iowa along the way to Milwaukee. There was a window of good weather for the next four days so off we went.

The National Motorcycle Museum is located on Highway 151 on the west side of Alamosa and is chocked full of motorcycles and related memorabilia and well worth the visit. I noticed many bikes there are on loan to the museum from various collectors including other museums. Some very neat antiques there going back to bicycle prototypes and all kinds of imaginable power sources. No motorcycle museum would be complete without famous showmen and movie stars; it's all there in spades.

More to follow:

[gitano]

Cool stuff! Great pictures! Love the x-rays and the Ariel in particular.

I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go there. I was TOLD I would quit riding after I had a bad crash. If I went there, I'm afraid it would have me 'dreaming' again.


Paul

[Nelsdou]

After exiting the National Motorcycle Museum, we HAD to drop in at J&P Cycles, a major on-line distributor of all things motorcycle related. Just happens to be in Alamosa, Iowa as well. Word was that they had something to do about supporting the location of the National Motorcycle Museum, good on them for that!
Since we were in the "neighborhood" it was suggested if we headed northwest, we could take in "Field of Dreams" up the road at Dyersville, Iowa. So we did, and it was a great weather day to take it in.
Then riding east we tore across Wisconsin to lay up in Waukesha, WI, then headed on into Milwaukee the next morning. The Harley Davidson Museum is fairly new, built in the mid-2000's I believe in a renovated industrial area. We parked our bikes across the Museum at the HD restaurant and gift shop. My ride is the black Triump Tiger.
The entrance to the HD Museum is quite impressive with super tall stainless steel doors inside exterior entrance, reminding me of the movie Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and the gang go into see the wizard.
The hall going into the museum features some of the oldest HD's in existance. Another exhibit is on the WWII bikes that are mostly Army, but here is one for you Navy sailors.
More to come:

[gitano]

You ride a Triumph!?

I WAS a Harley guy before our generation got old and "everyone" HAD to have a Harley. (Think .30-06 or 6.5 Creedmore.) If I was riding today, I don't know what I'd be riding. Probably some form of custom bike. A 'chopper' if you will, but it wouldn't look like the two I used to have. A compact, muscular-looking thing most likely. Still... No future in that for me. I'll live vicariously through your adventures, Nels.

More pictures!

Paul

[Nelsdou]

Yes, a Triumph. Like Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" and The Fonz from Happy Days.

Last set: Excellent exhibit of the the wall of HD fuel tanks in chronological order from the beginning showing the paint colors and styles and differing badges through the years. If you're trying to decide on a paint scheme, this is a good place to pick your desired paint colors.

Interesting old dirt bike and the factory support in the original dirt tracker series going way back.

Another wall series, this time of the HD engines. Lots of cut-aways and hands on crank 'em models in the same room. Check out those opposed boxer style engines upper left hand corner. Newest engines on the right side of the photo.

Last, but not least, there is always an over-the-top, can't be outdone example of a motorcycle creation. Just about everything but the kitchen sink on this Harley.

[gitano]

Great stuff, Nels! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Paul

[Hunterbug]

I would love to have an old Triumph. They were cool.

[Nelsdou]

Vintage triumphs get pullled out of a garage storage once in a while here in the KC area and I've been tempted to buy and "restore" one as a project. Fortunately, there is a local expert who I had the luck to consult that has accomplished several stunning triump restros to her credit. She gave me the insight to many of the challenges that could have one stuck in your garage for a long time if one didn't have the long reach of resources to the old Triumph parts and tooling. Plus given the old bikes were right foot shift, left foot brake which is opposite today's conventional bikes dampened my pursuit of that. At my age I gotta keep it simple.

With that said, my next wheeled adventure will be to roll with some riders to the Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka Ks this week as the weather is still warm. The museum is supposedly moving to Las Vegas sometime next year, so why not before the weather turns cold!

[Nelsdou]

Well the 2nd of December weather forecast was to be in the low 70's (F) so nine riders including myself made plans to motor over to the Evel Knievel museum in Topeka Ks. The museum is said to be scheduled next year to move to Las Vegas, so why wait any longer on an excuse to ride!

I did not particularly follow Knievels career closely back in his heyday and probably forgotten even more, so the museum visit for me was kind of a trip down memory lane.

After a brisk morning ride of about one and half hours we arrived. The museum contains an extensive amount of news material and early TV coverage going back to Evels (Robert Craig) childhood days as well as many motorcycles, riding suits, his transport truck and a plethora of memorabilia. Robert was quite a character well before his stunt riding days. One of his ventures was a hunting guide service in Montana that got him into hot water with the US Dept of Interior. Pushing the limits seemed to part of his DNA.

One article caught my attention about his motorcycle jump at Caesars Palace. "On December 31, 1967 John Derek recruited his wife (actress Linda Evans) to operate one of his cameras to film Evel Knievel's motorcycle jump of the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Veges. Evans captured the iconic images of Knievel's devastating crash as the jump failed."

Wow. As a boy watching Big Valley on TV who could forget Linda Evans!

One of the great stories at the museum is the restoration job of the Knievel Transport Truck which was pulled from a junkyard and completely restored back to it original condition, which like Evel Knievel, over-the-top lavish and colorful.
Check out the photos attached.

[gitano]

Paul