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Barber museum in Birmingham. Beyond belief!

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Triumphter

Triumphter

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www.barbermuseum.org

Barber Motorsports Museum | Largest Motorcycle Collection

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, in Birmingham, Alabama, is home to the world's largest motorcycle collection.
www.barbermuseum.org www.barbermuseum.org

I love this place. Spent the day there on Saturday. The largest motorcycle collection on display in the world. And a magnificent facility with a racetrack and grounds that would make royalty smile.

If you have not gone, your life is incomplete. If you have, you yearn to return.

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Went out there a year or so ago. Me and another rider were headed there for a meet and stopped by the museum. He asked me "I hear people spend hours in here. Not sure how that's possible. I figure we'll be in and out in 30 minutes." We spent ten minutes just looking at the stuff there was to see before you paid for your admission. We spent several hours there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
 
Went there for the first time last year for the Vintage Motorcycle Festival. Now I'm planning on doing a car track weekend there in June hopefully.

I describe the grounds as being like Augusta with a race track in the middle.
 
gixxerjasen said:
Went out there a year or so ago. Me and another rider were headed there for a meet and stopped by the museum. He asked me "I hear people spend hours in here. Not sure how that's possible. I figure we'll be in and out in 30 minutes." We spent ten minutes just looking at the stuff there was to see before you paid for your admission. We spent several hours there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
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Yeah, when you walk in, your realize you have made a mistake in terms of how long you will need. It is like the Smithsonian of motorcycles. Then there are the grounds and track, which is world class.

That building, is all museum.

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I had been to Barber previously for the AMA races many years ago, but lost track of time and didn't see the museum. I wasn't going to be in Birmingham a second time and miss it.
 
Been several times, a few vintage festivals and often when i lived on the Alabama/Georgia state line area. Did a few track days there on the ZRX fantastic track
Have not been since the museum expansion was complete, time for a road trip
 
Went about 6 years ago for the 45th Mustang Anniversary Celebration. We bought weekend passes to the museum and spent lots of time there. Words just cannot describe it. Besides, the museum, there is a warehouse full of stuff too. We met Mr. Barber on Sunday as the museum was closing. Nice man, made his money with a dairy farm. He liked old motorcycles and Lotus race cars.
 

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I spent 2 days there back in 2015 & it's everything you've ever heard about & more. What a fantastic collection of bikes & even some cars. My 1st day, they had just received Paul Newman's Lotus Elite race car.

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Also, Kawasaki had one of their team riders testing the new (at the time) Ninja H2R on the track... awesome machine.

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A trip to Barber is an awesome experience!

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redden68 said:
Went about 6 years ago for the 45th Mustang Anniversary Celebration. We bought weekend passes to the museum and spent lots of time there. Words just cannot describe it. Besides, the museum, there is a warehouse full of stuff too. We met Mr. Barber on Sunday as the museum was closing. Nice man, made his money with a dairy farm. He liked old motorcycles and Lotus race cars.
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Looooove your car!
 
budzrex said:
Have not been since the museum expansion was complete, time for a road trip
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This year is one of the anniversary years for the Vintage Festival and should be one of thee years to attend. Bet it's gonna be a really fun event.
Great time to hang with other enthusiasts at the museum.
Parking is free for motorcycles almost anywhere around the track. Auto parking is off-site remote with a shuttle. Bring your bike!

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www.barbermuseum.org

Barber Vintage Festival | Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

www.barbermuseum.org www.barbermuseum.org
 
Tourmeister said:
Are the bikes organized by any kind of theme or just random?
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There are some themed areas and the place is somewhat organized by era. There is a lot of extra space. It is a massive collection but it is mostly very open with room for a few times what they have....which is already the largest collection in the world.


You have to go.

Group get together? :)
 
If you can plan your visit ahead of time, call and schedule a private tour. I don't remember the exact amount, $35-40, but you're taken to areas that you can't tour alone like the 1st floor where the cars are and also to the storage area where stuff not on display is kept.
 
Do the tour if you have time. The first floor, which is usually closed to the public, was open for the Mustang Anniversary. You can see lots of old outboard motors hanging on the walls, some of the areas where they do restorations and for that weekend, they had the 2 seater Mustang prototype and Job 1, first production Mustang off the assembly line. They were on loan from the Ford Museum. Very special.
 
When I went the last time about 10 years ago...The Barber had 3 staggered floors of display bikes + the lower level shop area.

Now I read that there are 5 floors. Dont kno if that includes the lower or not

EDIT: I checked online & looks like there was a completely new wing added to one side of the orig building

Sent from my LGL62VL using Tapatalk
 
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One of the really impressive things there is the lighting on each and every bike. Even a non photographer like myself armed with a cell phone can come away with decent pictures. I'd love to see what some of our photographers on the forum here can walk out of there with.

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Thanks for sharing. Might make this a destination for our next motorcycle trip. Surely there are good roads getting there from Houston!
 
There are some nice roads in northern LA....dont kno bout down south....I didnt have much luck finding east/west routes last year coming from MS

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Jesse H said:
Thanks for sharing. Might make this a destination for our next motorcycle trip. Surely there are good roads getting there from Houston!
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When I went, we had a bunch of folks ride in from all over for a meet. Here's one guy's routes from Lafayette to Jemison, which should get you close on either end. he knows that area well and knows all the good roads so it'd be a good one to follow.
Day 1 - https://goo.gl/maps/pztyUVfadQX4iNg26
Day 2 - https://goo.gl/maps/tbH2NtRS7ARqUTre8

Full RR here:
 
If you have issues with heights you will need to medicate before you go in.
It makes me a little sad when I visit, so many bikes there that have never turned a wheel in anger.


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Just did a short visit today.
It was my third time there.
 

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