The National Motorcycle Museum

[tbone]

The National Motorcycle Museum is  located literally a few minutes away from the NEC and Birmingham International Airport at J6 of the M42.
On 16th September 2003 , the museum suffered a devastating fire, resulting in damage to 75% of the structure and some 400 machines. Due to the determination of ownership, staff and contractors, the museum doors re-opened on 1 st December 2004 . Today the museum is home to more than 650 machines, with new acquisitions arriving daily.
Since opening, this magnificent centre has become the largest motorcycle museum in the world and attracts around 250,000 visitors a year. One of the biggest attractions for many guests is the comprehensive cross-section of machines, spanning the “60 Glorious Year” of motorcycle manufacturing in this country. The museum’s aim is to preserve these pieces of history for future generations to come, as a reminder of this great nations industry, engineering prowess and work ethic. Within the five exhibition halls will be found some 650 plus machines, fully restored to the manufacturers original specifications.

Thats the blurb from the website and museum guide book, and yes, they do what they say they do.
I was actualy slightly disapointed, not with the quantity or quality but with the way in which the machines are displayed.
Most of us will have been to bike shows where you can walk around the displays, seamlessly moving from one to the next, then there are the other type, where bikes are lined up so closely next to each other that the handlebars are nearly touching, the Museum falls into the second category.
I can fully appretiate the space required to display 650 machines but feel there could be a compromise on the quantity to improve the exhibits.
The website hints at the array of manufacturers in years gone by but there is very little information available at the museum. Sure, each bike on show has its own exhibit card, which is great, but aren`t museums meant to explore past the items on show?
To me, its more a collection of motorcycles than a museum, but go, pay them a visit, and decide for yourself.

[tbone]

Andy, i took about 150 pics if you want them for later?

[tony b]

i went here a few years back on a snowball run ,9th of january it was and bloody freezing,but a fantastic place to visit.i liked the way that they have left one little corner of the museum as it was after the fire but i did feel sorry for the poor bikes ,burnt to a crisp ,but the was also a bike made entirely out of wood ,and a funny old thing with two back wheels almost touching each other ,dont know what it was but it was a nice looking  bike.

[Chevy Rick]

If you want to see an interesting display of bikes you should take a trip down my way to the New Forest and visit Sammy Millers museum, I've heard many people from away say they found it more interesting than the NMM and the entry is cheap.

[BikerGran]

I'm with Rick on Sammy Millers - it's a great afternoon out as well as there's a tes shop and other little shops (keep the missus happy?) and as well, there's a pretty good chance of seeing and chatting to the man himself!  And ver likely seeing him or one of the staff firing up some fabulous machine and riding it round the yard!

Check out the website too for ride-in days for different marques -
 http://www.sammymiller.co.uk/

[Tony oily bike]

i went here a few years back on a snowball run ,9th of january it was and bloody freezing,but a fantastic place to visit.i liked the way that they have left one little corner of the museum as it was after the fire but i did feel sorry for the poor bikes ,burnt to a crisp ,but the was also a bike made entirely out of wood ,and a funny old thing with two back wheels almost touching each other ,dont know what it was but it was a nice looking  bike.

That would mostly be a Brough Superior Straight Four (also known as a  Brough Superior Austin) as it was powered by an Austin 7 car engine & gearbox, including reverse, the idea of the engine primarily with respect to having a chair attached.

Only 10 were made from 1932 to 1934, and 8 still exist, I've just realised I know a chap who owns one, had it for donkey's years before they started fetching silly money.


piccie from http://www.broughsuperiorclub.com/pages/models/1932.htm


Been to both museums, and Sammys has a 'feel' to it, your more involved in what your looking at.


The fire at Brum did serious damage, some of the bikes you now see, were gutted wrecks, Slippery Sam being an example, see photo at bottom of posting to see how the original bike ended up.................. 

http://www.culture24.org.uk/places+to+go/west+midlands/birmingham/art25094

[Manky Monkey]

Amazing they've managed to rebuild it from that. I've seen one of those Broughs at a show somewhere. I'm sure it was local, (Basingstoke area). Triumph owners show a few years back maybe. Very odd.
Yes please TB, photos would be great. Thank you.

[Tony oily bike]

Amazing they've managed to rebuild it from that. I've seen one of those Broughs at a show somewhere. I'm sure it was local, (Basingstoke area). Triumph owners show a few years back maybe. Very odd.
Yes please TB, photos would be great. Thank you.

Andy - fair bet that one you saw was his as he's from this area ....

Re Slippery Sam- Kinda begs the question as to the legitimacy of calling it Slippery Sam when just about everything on it is from somewhere else, and anything that survived could well be structurally compromised from the fire..............

Reminds me of Trigger's (from Fools & Horses) original broom, with 5 new heads and two new handles, but at least that was evolution........ the difference being that story about the broom was funny 

[Manky Monkey]

We said the same about Taz's Dodge. We've replaced every single body panel. Is it still a '69 Charger? Debateable.

[Tony oily bike]

We said the same about Taz's Dodge. We've replaced every single body panel. Is it still a '69 Charger? Debateable.

Been spending waaaaay too long thinking about that…. So here’s a personal take on it…..

I’ve taken a 1950s motorcycle and restored it, only parts replaced were rims, spokes, exhaust, handlebars, head light rim (all useable but in tatty condition), so I tended to describe it as “restored”, as opposed to “original”, because I’d changed bits, but I still called it by its model name.

So if you take the Charger and apply the same criteria, yes you have a “ ’69 Charger”, but it’s a restored ’69 Charger.

To me original means basically how it came out of the factory; apart from standard wear n tear parts (tyres, battery, etc).

Different folk will have different ideas, is there a single right answer?? Probably not…



Back to the Slippery Sam sitting in the museum:
I’ve taken a 1960s almost-famous, quite recognisable, one-off competition bike’s rolling chassis, and fitted an equivalent engine & gearbox, so although the rolling chassis was original, the bike (as a whole) wasn’t.
What I had was a part original / part facsimile, and that’s what I told people it was who mistook it for the (complete) original.
It seems Slippery Sam is in the same boat, but you wouldn’t know it if you read the National Motorcycle Museum notes… (ahem!!)   ....and what about the poor streamliner that gained the world record at Bonneville, after which Triumph named thier twin-carb road bike............... the website says this about the exhibit that was 'rebuilt from the mangled mess (see photo) - "On September 6, 1956 this Triumph-powered projectile raised the absolute motorcycle world speed record to 214.17mph". "This" ?    

Mr tbone sir....  sorry, seem to have hijacked the thread…………..
The National Motorcycle Museum is a great place to visit, it’s considered one of the best (largest?) such museums in the world, but be warned, if you spot something you grew up with on display, you liable to find yourself  saying something like “they changed on the next model, made that flange bigger and altered the shape of the bars…….”

Sammy’s museum in the New Forrest feels like a personal collection (which I guess it is), more homley and less sterile.

The Motor Museum at Beaulieu has a pretty reasonable collection of motorcycles too, but its primarily four wheel based, with some very interesting motors.

[dmonnnkeey333]

awww i wanna go like so badly there u dont even know . I hope i get the chance to some day