JoeRides

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

2012-02-25T16:00:00.001-06:00

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum began life in 1988 as a private collection of George W.Barber, owner of Barber Dairies. They first opened their doors to the public in March of 1995 at a location on Birmingham’s Southside and operated there until November 2002. In September 2003, the museum re-opened at the famed Barber Motorsports Park, a first class world known motorsports track that entertains major events such as AMA Superbike, Barber Vintage Festival, Sports Car Club of America, WERA regionals, and have recently added Honda Indy Grand Prix race. If that weren’t enough, the track plays host to several dozen track time events and driving schools through groups like Sportbike Track Time, Penguin Roadracing School, Porsche Club of America, BMW Car Club, RideSmart Motorcycle School and Rezoom Motorsports just to name a few.

The museum, sitting proudly on a hill overlooking the track, is the first building you see as you enter the Motorsports Park and is home to a collection of over 1200 vintage and current day motorcycles. Add to that a large collection of race cars that include the likes of Lotus and you have what is likely to be the largest collection of its kind in North America and the world. Visit the museum and you’ll be presented with approximately 600 of the 1200 motorcycles in their collection that is spread out over five floors. Each floor display of a motorcycle includes a brief description of that bike which includes the year, make-n-model, engine size, the country of origin along with a tidbit of information on the motorcycle. The floor displays are situated in a way that enables you to walk right up to the bike (please don’t touch) and get an up close and personal look and make pictures if you like (no tripods please).

Barber Vintage Museum’s exhibit has gone on the road with twenty-one of their motorcycles which were featured in the famed Art of the Motorcycle exhibit at Guggenheim’s New York, Bilbao Spain, and the Field Museum in Chicago. Motorcycles from the Barber collection were also featured in a special exhibit presented by the Birmingham Museum of Art. Over 200 manufacturers from 20 different countries are represented through common street bikes as
well as rare Grand Prix racers. Admission to the museum is a reasonable $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 4-12 and free for children 3 and under with group rates available. Memberships have their rewards and Barber Motorsports Museum members are no exception. Each member enjoys free admission to the museum as well as discounts on museum store items and a discount on a single adult admission when accompanied by a member. Members are also invited to attend special “members only” events.

So, if you are a motorsports enthusiast and you haven’t been there yet, the Barber Motorsports Vintage Museum should be at the top of your bucket list of places you should go to. Even if you're not a motorsports enthusiast, the museum offers a look at history told through the evolution of technology used in the motorcycle industry and is a must see. For a quality visit, plan on spending three to five hours in the museum as each bike on display has a story to tell. For more information including museum membership and details on schedule of events, go to www.barbermuseum.org.

Preparation to ride.

2012-02-19T01:11:00.006-06:00

I believe this winter will go down as one of the most brutal of all times, at least for riding that is. Here in the south, we typically can count on two to three good weekends a month of winter riding. But this winter has been different, with practically every weekend since December 1^st.having temps in the mid to low 40s and almost all of them included the threat of precipitation. Die hard riders can deal with the low temps but I’ve never talked to anyone that enjoys riding in the rain much less a cold rain.

So what do we do with all the down time on those frigid Saturdays now that football season is wrapped up? Well, it’s a great time to prep your bike for that first good weekend of 2012, and since safety is a top priority, you should start by performing a safety check on your bike. So pull up a rolling stool, pen-n-pad and a digital camera if you have it and let’s get started.

First, go around the bike checking every nut and set screw that provides structural support or secures something that you would miss if it fell off like a fender, head light, or a wheel....... ensuring that all are tight to specs or your comfort. If you find that you are missing a screw or nut, make a note of it with your pen-n-paper and with your digital camera, snap from different angles, a couple of shots of the part location. I’ve found that it is easier to show what part you need rather than try to describe it. It’s not a bad idea to buy two of the missing screw or nut and keep the spares in a pouch or baggie somewhere on the bike. Chances are if it fell off once it will fall off again.

The electrical system is obviously a vital part of our bike and historically is one of the prime factors in roadside failures. So starting with the battery, check the main cables for a clean and secure connection cleaning any corrosion you see with a battery spray cleaner. Re-connect or tighten the main cables and any other connections that are made at the battery including fuse holders and fuses. While on electrical, hopefully your bike has been connected to a battery tender or you’ve been cranking it every week or so, otherwise the first electrical failure just might be the battery itself. It’s a good idea to have a fuse kit that includes spare fuses for each fuse type on your bike.

Tire inspection is next and it really helps if you have a hydraulic lift handy, as getting the wheels off the ground makes this process much easier. If you don’t have access to a motorcycle lift then you’ll have to do a roll and inspect. This is a little more difficult, especially on large bikes, but it’s worth the effort. With a bright shop light in hand, you roll each wheel slowly while you inspect the tread looking for any cuts, nails or abnormalities. If you find anything suspicious and you’re uncertain to the hazard of it, snap a shot of it with the camera and X mark the side wall in line with the spot should you need to get it to the dealer. Oh, don’t forget the air pressure.

Probably one of the easiest things to do on the bike, oil and filter changes, are the life blood of the engine and should be done regularly. I hit mine about every three thousand miles, plus or minus a few hundred and I do it myself. It’s ok if you’re not comfortable with doing this yourself but it should be the first thing you do before you roll off on that first spring road trip. The fuel filter is one of those out of site out of mind parts on your bike but take it from me, it can strand you hundreds of miles away from home at the most in opportune time, so consider replacing it when you get that oil change.

Visibility, or the lack of, is probably the number one cause or excuse used in motorcycle accidents. Remember to do this each and every time before you start out on a ride.... roll your bike to a point where it is clear to walk around, crank her up, and starting at the rear, go around your bike checking each light ensuring that it is working properly. Brake lights can be difficult to see when operating the controls and can be checked by reflecting off another vehicle or a mirror. In the writing of this article, I discovered that my front brake, the brake I use 95% of the time, was not engaging the brake light.

Now let’s get to the fun stuff, the clean up. Believe it or not, damaging dust particles will settle on your bike over the course of winter hibernation. So to ward off those harmful dust boogers, I keep my bike under cover whenever it’s park it in the basement. However, a cover is only part the story. A thorough cleaning and wax are the real secret to an eye popping shine. I’ve been using Eagle One Nano Wax spray wipe-n-shine and micro fiber cloths to clean my current bike and the finish looks as good as it did when I bought it back in 2007. Wheel cleaners will depend on the type of wheels you have. For my aluminum wheels, I use Black Magic Wheel Clean. Now you may prefer a different wax or cleaner and that’s ok. Just remember, a clean bike is a happy bike.

Well that takes care of my bike. What about yours, are you ready for the first ride of 2012?

Ride on and let your sould shine!

JoeRides

Her name is Harley

2011-06-24T23:59:00.015-05:00

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Her name is Harley and she rides a motorcycle. You might think that’s a typical name for a biker but you would be wrong as Harley is anything but typical. You see she is a one and a half year old mix breed female dog rescued from a heartless roadside abandonment and her favorite ride is on a Honda Gold Wing. Her best friend Wade, whom she rides with, has been a motorcycle enthusiast for over forty years and has owned around thirty different bikes in his time. Most recently, he and Harley ride a Honda Gold Wing as well as a Harley Davidson Road King.

According to Kimberly, Wade’s wife, “he wasn’t much of an animal lover when they were first married but that changed over time” through their experiences with a dog that she loved for over eighteen years. Kimberly rides with Wade on occasion and has even ridden a bike of her own at one time, but now she gives up her passenger seat to Harley or Gold Wing. Wait a minute; shouldn’t that be on a Gold Wing? No, actually Gold Wing is a four-year-old mix breed female that too was rescued from eminent death by roadside abandonment. “Gold Wing”, Kimberly said, “took to riding immediately” but unlike her adopted sister Harley, “prefers riding on the tank” and usually on the Road King.

Gold Wing and Wade

When asked if they did any long distance touring on their bikes, Wade said, “my current job in sales and industrial design doesn’t allow for much extended travels via motorcycle right now.” He went on to say that they have trailered their bikes on vacations and ridden them then but nothing long distance. But Harley probably holds the record in their family of pets for the longest duration of time spent in the saddle, two and a half hours according to Wade. Like any hard-core biker, both Harley and Gold Wing dress the part usually donning goggles and a helmets that are topped with a bright safety orange mohawk hair piece. Wade secures both Harley and Gold Wing with a special harness and seat-belt like straps that prevent them from accidentally falling from the bike as they ride.

Now I have photographed Wade on several occasions as he rode to the summit of Mt. Cheaha but on this particular Saturday, I was fortunate to catch him with Harley in the passenger’s seat. “Mt. Cheaha is close to where I live” said Wade, “so on nice days we make a loop, riding up one side of the mountain and down the other.” On that day it was a nice day to ride and Harley certainly appeared to be enjoying it. What impressed me were her manners as she and Wade cruised by. Not once did she bark or appear anxious as many dogs would, when she saw me, a stranger, standing there on the side of the road. “She never barks” said Wade, “nor does Gold Wing when they ride”. Instead it appeared as though she knew why I was there, knew what I was doing and she knew she had to pose for that perfect picture, which she did. No, as I said before, Harley is anything but typical.

Shots from the Tail of The Dragon

2011-06-12T15:50:00.139-05:00

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One of the Shinbone Valley Hooligans from Alabama on the Dragon's Tail June 8th 2011

I traveled to Robbinsville NC, known for the tail of the dragon, to test my skills of shooting riders as they maneuvered the twists, turns and switchbacks of the dragons tail. Little did I know that I would be shooting one of my regulars from Alabama, Jeremy, as he was dragging knees through the curves on US129. As it turns out, the Dragon's Tail is the third unscheduled location where I've shot Jeremy in action. Our first encounter was on a popular stretch of road just outside of Leeds Alabama, Highway 25, that I liked to call "Hwy25 Switchback to 29Dreams". Later came Mt. Cheaha and now on the infamous US129 better known as The Dragon's Tail. The Dragon's Tail or Tail of The Dragon as some call it, offers up to riders in eleven miles, 318 turns, twists and switchbacks that challenge the skills of novice and veteran riders alike, winning at times as evident from the body parts (bikes) that hang from the "Tree of Shame" found at the Deal's Gap riders resort.

Jeremy is member of an extremely talented group of Alabama riders as evident from this shot of him, that call themselves the "Shinbone Valley Hooligans". Sounds like a rowdy bunch doesn't it? But to the contrary, they are a great group of guys and gals that simply love sport-bike riding both on the street and on the track. Even though I ride a clunky, in comparison to what they ride, Suzuki M109r, they invited me to join and participate in their forum discussions, an honor that I will never forget. When they aren't sweeping the curves along the back roads of Alabama, the Hooligans are participating in track days on two well known Alabama tracks, the Barber Motorsports Park and the Talledega Gran Prix Raceway better know as Little Talledega. There they fine tune their riding skills by laying it all out, gaining experience and confidence with every lap they make around the track.

For more photos of Jeremy and others riding the Dragons' Tail that day, go to www.JoeRides.com and look for the Dragon's Tail US129 Deals Gap 2011 gallery.