The Weekly 3

I have always been into motorcycles. My very first motorcycle was a yellow Honda Trail Bike. From there, I got a 2-stroke Kawasaki and started to get addicted to jumping.

Eventually, life changed. Mainly, I got a driver’s license and I no longer spent time riding around the motocross track I had around my house. I joined the military at 17 years old, and it was another three years before I got my next motorcycle, which was a Suzuki GSXR.

Luckily, I lived through that dumb stage of life. My GSXR was eventually stolen while I was living in California, and I was without a motorcycle until 2009.

I’m not sure if you can really count my motorcycle in 2009 as actually having a motorcycle, because it was a wrecked Ducati Monster. The entire front end was missing, and essentially it was just a frame, motor and back wheel.

My dad did pretty much all the work in an attempt to bring it back to life, but ultimately we failed to ever get it restarted due to an ECU and red programming key issue. I even sent the ECU to Italy, and we still couldn’t get the computer to talk to the rest of the bike.

In the end, I sold that bike on eBay to Ferrari of Mexico, which is pretty cool. I’m sure they got it started, and with today’s technology, if we did it again it would probably be easier to reprogram, but at the time it was not.

I’ve pretty much had at least one motorcycle in my possession for the last 16 years. At one point I had four Yamaha DT bikes which are vintage 2-strokes. I still have my mother-in-law’s DT360, which is now on display at Miles Through Time Automotive Museum. It’s also the only monoshock DT360 now in the world.

My most recent motorcycle is a BMW K100RS which I turned into a cafe racer, and then it got to spend a year at the Ultimate Driving Museum during their motorcycle exhibit, which was super cool. 

The sad thing is, in all these years I’ve had motorcycles, I haven’t actually ridden that much. I’ve had a few back surgeries, which has hindered my ability a bit. 

The real culprit, though, is time. One riding season turns into two and two turns into decades. I’m in Georgia, and I’ve been noticing more riders out lately, and then it gets me pondering. Should I be riding too?

Whether or not my body or time allows me to ride, I still love motorcycles. There would be way more motorcycles on display in Miles Through Time Automotive Museum if I could get people to commit to bringing them. 

It is way more difficult to get motorcycles on display than it is cars. We’ve had two motorcycles officially donated, two are mine, and four are currently on loan. We may have four more coming soon though. 

You don’t have to be a rider to appreciate motorcycles. There are some amazing museums you can visit dedicated entirely to motorcycles.

Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum has bikes on display dating back to 1910 and all the way up to modern bikes. They have all kinds of brands on display as well which is interesting to see how the different makes compare with each other.

Motorcyclepedia Museum is 85,000 square feet of motorcycles. They have over 600 motorcycles on display dating back to 1897. This museum may only be second to Barber.

The AMA Motorcycle Museum is more niche. This museum is centered around motorcycle racing and the people who have shaped its history.

There are a lot of amazing motorcycle-themed museums you can visit. To see them all click HERE.

If you ride, stay alert and alive. If you’re on the road at all, keep an eye out for motorcycles, especially as the weather keeps getting better. 

If you need an excuse to ride or drive somewhere, just open up the MAP and find a museum to visit.

If you want to see more, visit the Weekly 3.

Plan your next trip, discover your new favorite, or find the nearest museum

 Sean Mathis
Creator of Automotive Museum Guide
Founder of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum

P.S. Make sure you follow AMG on Facebook and join the FB Group to see what’s going on at all the museums.